The Complete Customer Service, Call Centre & BPO Glossary
Plain-English definitions for customer service, call centre and BPO terminology including AHT, FCR, CSAT, SLA, IVR, FTE, omnichannel support, QA and WFM.
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Customer service glossary
Customer service, call centre and BPO terms explained
Customer service and business process outsourcing come with their own language. Terms such as AHT, FCR, CSAT, SLA, IVR, FTE and workforce management are commonly used when planning, running or measuring a customer support operation, but they are not always immediately clear to businesses evaluating an outsourced support partner.
This glossary from RH International Ltd. - RHI explains the most important terminology used across customer care, call centres, BPO operations, technical support, live chat, email support, WhatsApp customer service, quality assurance, workforce management and AI-assisted customer support.
Whether you are planning to hire a dedicated customer service team, reviewing the performance of an existing contact centre or trying to understand an outsourcing proposal, these definitions will help you ask better questions and compare providers more confidently.
Find a term quickly
Use the letter links to jump through the glossary. Priority SEO terms such as BPO, AHT, FCR, CSAT, SLA, FTE, IVR, omnichannel support and WFM can later become their own deeper glossary pages.
A
Abandonment Rate
Abandonment Rate is the percentage of customers who end a call or leave a queue before connecting with an agent. A low abandonment rate usually indicates that customers are being answered quickly and staffing levels match incoming interaction volume. If 1,000 customers call and 20 disconnect before reaching an advisor, the abandonment rate is approximately 2%.
ACW - After Call Work
After Call Work, often abbreviated as ACW, is the work an agent completes immediately after finishing a customer interaction. It can include updating the CRM, selecting a call disposition, writing notes, scheduling a callback or documenting the resolution. Reducing unnecessary ACW can improve productivity without compromising quality.
ACD - Automatic Call Distributor
An Automatic Call Distributor is a telephone system that automatically distributes incoming calls among available customer service representatives. Calls may be routed according to language, department, skill, customer priority or agent availability.
Adherence
Schedule Adherence measures how closely a customer service agent follows their assigned working schedule. It normally considers login times, breaks, meetings, training sessions and scheduled customer-handling periods. High adherence helps a contact centre maintain sufficient staffing during busy periods.
Agent Assist
Agent Assist refers to technology that gives representatives real-time information while they are assisting a customer. Modern AI-powered agent-assist systems may suggest answers, retrieve knowledge-base articles, summarise conversations or recommend the next action. The agent remains responsible for the customer interaction.
Agent Occupancy
Agent Occupancy measures the percentage of an agent's available working time spent actively handling customer interactions or completing related after-contact work. Extremely high occupancy can result in fatigue, while excessively low occupancy may indicate overstaffing.
AI Customer Service
AI Customer Service is the use of artificial intelligence to help automate, analyse or improve customer interactions. Examples include chatbots, conversation summaries, automated ticket categorisation, knowledge retrieval, sentiment analysis and suggested responses. RHI favours AI-assisted human customer service, where technology supports agents rather than replacing human judgement.
API - Application Programming Interface
An API allows different software systems to communicate with each other. In customer support outsourcing, APIs can connect CRM platforms, ticketing systems, eCommerce platforms, telephony applications, WhatsApp and reporting dashboards.
ASA - Average Speed of Answer
Average Speed of Answer measures how long customers typically wait before their call is answered by a customer service representative. Lower ASA usually improves customer experience, although the right target depends on the service and customer expectations.
AHT - Average Handle Time
Average Handle Time measures the average time required to complete a customer interaction. It normally includes talk time, hold time and after call work. A lower AHT is not automatically better, because customer satisfaction and first-contact resolution should also be considered.
B
Back Office
Back-office services are operational activities that usually do not involve direct customer conversations. Examples include data entry, document processing, bookkeeping, invoice processing, administrative support, HR administration and record management.
Bilingual Customer Support
Bilingual customer support means customers can be assisted in two languages. For example, an RHI Hindi-English bilingual team can communicate with customers in either Hindi or English depending on their preference.
Blended Agent
A blended agent handles more than one type of customer interaction or campaign. For example, an agent might answer inbound calls during peak periods and handle emails, chats or outbound callbacks when call volumes are lower.
BPO - Business Process Outsourcing
Business Process Outsourcing, or BPO, is the practice of contracting specific business operations to an external specialist. BPO services can include customer service, technical support, finance and accounting, HR administration, data entry, eCommerce support and other business functions.
Business Continuity
Business Continuity refers to procedures that allow customer support operations to continue during disruptions such as connectivity problems, system outages, natural events or office closures. A strong BPO partner should have contingency plans covering technology, staffing and communications.
C
Call Centre / Call Center
A call centre is a team or facility primarily responsible for handling customer telephone interactions. "Call centre" is commonly used in India, the UK, Australia and New Zealand, while "call center" is the usual US spelling. Modern operations frequently extend beyond voice calls and are often called contact centres.
Call Disposition
A call disposition is the outcome assigned to a telephone conversation after it ends. Examples include resolved, callback required, complaint, technical issue, order enquiry, sales opportunity or escalation. Disposition data is useful for reporting and operational analysis.
Call Escalation
Call escalation happens when an agent transfers or refers an issue to a supervisor, specialist or another department because it cannot be resolved at the original support level.
Call Recording
Call recording involves securely recording telephone interactions for authorised purposes such as quality assurance, training, complaint investigation and compliance. Recording practices must comply with relevant privacy and data-protection requirements.
Callback
A callback allows a customer to receive a return call instead of remaining in a telephone queue. Callbacks can also be scheduled for sales enquiries, technical support, complaints or follow-up activities.
Chat Support
Chat support enables customers to communicate with support agents through real-time text conversations. Chat may be provided through a website, mobile application, customer portal or messaging platform.
Chat Concurrency
Chat concurrency is the number of customer conversations a live-chat agent handles simultaneously. The appropriate concurrency level depends on conversation complexity and the quality standards required.
Chatbot
A chatbot is software that interacts with customers through conversational text or voice. Chatbots can handle simple queries, gather information, route conversations or provide automated responses. More complex issues should normally be handed to a human representative.
Contact Centre
A contact centre manages customer conversations across multiple communication channels rather than telephone calls alone. These channels may include phone, live chat, email, WhatsApp, social media and messaging applications.
CRM - Customer Relationship Management
A CRM system stores and organises information relating to customers and interactions. It can contain contact information, communication history, sales activity, support tickets, notes and follow-up tasks. Examples include Salesforce, HubSpot and Zoho.
Cross-Selling
Cross-selling involves offering a customer an additional product or service that complements something they already use or purchase. Customer service teams may perform cross-selling when it is appropriate and authorised by the client.
CSAT - Customer Satisfaction Score
CSAT measures how satisfied customers are with a particular interaction, service or experience. Customers are normally asked to provide a rating immediately after an interaction. CSAT is one of the most widely used customer-service quality measurements.
CX - Customer Experience
Customer Experience, commonly abbreviated as CX, describes the customer's overall perception of a business across every interaction and touchpoint. Customer service is therefore one important part of the wider customer experience.
D
Dedicated Agent
A dedicated agent works specifically on one client's account rather than sharing their working hours across several unrelated clients. Dedicated agents can receive deeper product, process and brand training.
Dedicated Customer Support Team
A dedicated customer support team consists of agents assigned specifically to one organisation. RHI's dedicated outsourcing model starts from five FTEs, subject to service requirements.
Digital Customer Service
Digital customer service is customer assistance provided through digital channels such as live chat, email, WhatsApp, social media and in-app messaging.
E
Email Support
Email support involves responding to customer enquiries through email. Professional outsourced email support usually involves categorisation, prioritisation, response templates, service-level targets, escalation rules and quality monitoring.
Escalation Matrix
An escalation matrix defines who should handle an issue when the original agent cannot resolve it. It can specify different escalation paths for complaints, technical problems, billing issues, urgent incidents or high-value customers.
eCommerce Customer Support
eCommerce customer support handles enquiries relating to online shopping. Common tasks include order status, payment queries, shipping, delivery, product information, cancellations, returns, exchanges and refunds.
Employee Shrinkage
Employee shrinkage is another way of referring to Shrinkage: paid agent time during which employees are not available to handle customer interactions.
F
FCR - First Contact Resolution
First Contact Resolution measures the percentage of customer issues resolved during the first interaction without requiring the customer to contact the business again. High FCR can improve customer satisfaction while reducing repeat interactions and support costs.
First Response Time
First Response Time measures how quickly a business responds to a customer's initial message. It is commonly measured for email, live chat, social media and support-ticket channels.
FTE - Full-Time Equivalent
Full-Time Equivalent, commonly called FTE, is a staffing measurement representing the workload of one full-time employee. Businesses commonly purchase outsourced customer-support capacity in FTEs. RHI's dedicated support model begins with a minimum deployment of five FTEs.
H
Help Desk
A help desk provides assistance to customers or employees who need help using technology, hardware, software or internal systems. Help-desk support may be organised into different technical levels such as L1, L2 and L3.
Human-in-the-Loop
Human-in-the-loop describes an AI system in which people continue to review, approve or control important decisions. In customer service, AI may recommend an answer while the human representative decides whether that answer is appropriate.
Human Customer Support
Human customer support means conversations are handled directly by trained people rather than exclusively through automated systems. Human support remains important for complaints, emotionally sensitive conversations, complex problems and situations requiring judgement.
I
Inbound Call
An inbound call is a telephone call initiated by a customer and received by a customer-support operation. Common inbound calls relate to enquiries, orders, technical problems, complaints and account assistance.
Inbound Call Centre
An inbound call centre specialises in receiving incoming calls rather than primarily making outbound calls. Businesses frequently outsource inbound calls to improve availability, reduce wait times and extend operating hours.
Interaction
An interaction is an individual conversation between a customer and a company. It might take place through telephone, chat, email, WhatsApp or social media.
IVR - Interactive Voice Response
Interactive Voice Response, or IVR, is telephone technology that allows callers to interact with an automated menu before reaching an agent. A well-designed IVR helps route customers efficiently.
K
Knowledge Base
A knowledge base is a structured library containing product information, procedures, troubleshooting instructions, policies and approved answers. Agents and AI-support systems can use it to provide more consistent responses.
KPI - Key Performance Indicator
A Key Performance Indicator is a measurable value used to assess performance. Common customer service KPIs include CSAT, FCR, ASA, AHT, abandonment rate, first response time, resolution time and SLA achievement.
L
L1 Support
Level 1 Support is usually the first level of technical or customer assistance. L1 agents generally resolve common problems using scripts, knowledge-base articles and established troubleshooting procedures.
L2 Support
Level 2 Support handles problems requiring deeper technical expertise than L1. Issues may be escalated to L2 when standard troubleshooting does not solve the problem.
L3 Support
Level 3 Support generally handles highly specialised or technically complex problems. L3 support may involve engineers, developers or subject-matter specialists.
Live Chat
Live chat is real-time text support, usually delivered through a website, app, customer portal or messaging platform. It is closely related to chat support.
M
Multichannel Customer Service
Multichannel customer service means customers can contact a business through several channels. Unlike omnichannel support, those channels may not necessarily share conversation history or customer context.
Multilingual Customer Support
Multilingual customer support provides assistance in more than one language. RHI can support Hindi, English, Bengali, Nepali and Punjabi, with several additional Indian languages available according to staffing requirements.
N
NPS - Net Promoter Score
Net Promoter Score measures how likely customers are to recommend a business. Responses are commonly grouped into promoters, passives and detractors.
Nearshore Outsourcing
Nearshore outsourcing means outsourcing work to a country or team relatively close to the client's home market. It can offer advantages such as similar time zones, cultural familiarity and easier collaboration.
O
Occupancy
Occupancy is another way of referring to agent occupancy: the share of working time spent handling interactions or related after-contact work.
Offshore Outsourcing
Offshore outsourcing means outsourcing business processes to a provider located in another country, often in a different geographical region. India is one of the world's established destinations for customer service and BPO operations.
Omnichannel Customer Support
Omnichannel customer support integrates different service channels so conversations and customer context can move smoothly between them. For example, a customer might start on WhatsApp, continue by phone and later receive an email without repeating the entire problem.
Outsourced Customer Service
Outsourced customer service means a specialist external organisation manages all or part of a company's customer-support operation. Businesses may outsource support to extend hours, gain specialist staff, increase scalability or avoid building large internal teams.
Outbound Call
An outbound call is initiated by a company or its customer-service partner. Examples include callbacks, appointment confirmations, customer follow-ups, retention calls and service updates.
Overflow Support
Overflow support provides additional customer-service capacity when an internal team cannot handle the current interaction volume. It is useful during peak seasons, marketing campaigns, unexpected call spikes or staff shortages.
P
Peak Period
A peak period is a time when customer interaction volumes are significantly higher than normal. Examples may include festivals, major sales events, product launches, billing cycles or service disruptions.
QA - Quality Assurance
Quality assurance is the structured process of evaluating customer interactions to ensure agents follow approved standards. QA can include call monitoring, chat reviews, email audits, scoring, coaching, calibration, compliance checks and process improvement.
QA Calibration
Quality calibration is a process in which different quality reviewers assess the same interaction and compare scores. The objective is to ensure everyone applies quality standards consistently.
Quality Scorecard
A quality scorecard is the evaluation framework used to assess customer interactions. It may measure greeting, communication, accuracy, compliance, empathy, resolution and documentation.
Queue
A queue is the group of customer interactions waiting to be handled. Queues may exist for calls, emails, live chats, WhatsApp conversations or support tickets.
R
Resolution Time
Resolution time measures how long it takes to completely resolve a customer problem. It differs from response time because a fast reply does not necessarily mean the underlying issue has been solved.
Retention Support
Retention support focuses on helping businesses retain customers who are considering cancelling or leaving. Agents may investigate the problem, explain available options or present approved retention solutions.
RTA - Real-Time Adherence
Real-Time Adherence monitors whether agents are following their assigned workforce schedules during the working day. Supervisors can use RTA information to make immediate staffing adjustments.
S
Sentiment Analysis
Sentiment analysis uses technology to estimate whether a customer conversation appears positive, neutral or negative. It can help identify dissatisfied customers or interactions requiring additional quality review. Sentiment should be treated as a support signal rather than an infallible judgement.
Service Level
A service level defines the performance target expected for a particular customer-support operation. One common example is the percentage of calls answered within a defined number of seconds. Service levels vary according to the service, channel and agreement.
SLA - Service Level Agreement
A Service Level Agreement is a documented agreement defining expected service standards between a customer and service provider. It may contain targets for response time, availability, call answering, ticket resolution, escalation, reporting and uptime.
Speech Analytics
Speech analytics uses software to analyse recorded or live voice conversations. It may identify keywords, trends, silence, sentiment, compliance phrases and recurring customer issues.
Staffing Forecast
A staffing forecast estimates the number of agents required to handle expected interaction volumes while achieving service targets.
Shrinkage
Shrinkage is paid agent time during which employees are not available to handle customer interactions. It can include breaks, training, meetings, coaching, leave, absenteeism and system downtime. Workforce planning should account for shrinkage when calculating required FTEs.
SOP - Standard Operating Procedure
A Standard Operating Procedure is a documented set of instructions explaining how agents should perform a particular task.
Supervisor
A supervisor manages and supports a group of customer-service representatives. Responsibilities often include performance management, escalations, coaching and real-time operational support.
T
TAT - Turnaround Time
Turnaround Time measures the total time required to complete a particular task or process. For example, an email support process might have a target TAT of four hours.
Team Leader
A team leader manages the day-to-day performance of a customer-service team and often acts as the first escalation point for agents.
Technical Support
Technical support helps customers solve problems involving software, hardware, systems or digital services. Technical support may be divided into L1, L2 and L3 levels depending on complexity.
Ticket
A support ticket is a recorded customer issue within a help-desk or customer-service platform. Tickets usually contain the customer's details, issue description, communication history, priority, status and assigned agent.
Ticket Backlog
A ticket backlog is the number of unresolved support tickets waiting for action. Growing backlogs can indicate insufficient staffing, complex problems or inefficient processes.
Ticket Escalation
Ticket escalation occurs when a support ticket is referred to a more senior or specialised person because it cannot be resolved at the current level.
Training Needs Analysis
Training Needs Analysis identifies areas where agents require additional knowledge or skills. It may use QA results, customer feedback, performance metrics and supervisor observations.
U
Uptime
Uptime measures how consistently a technology system or service remains operational. It is usually expressed as a percentage. Higher uptime is particularly important for systems supporting round-the-clock customer service.
Upselling
Upselling involves helping a customer move to a higher-level product, service or package when appropriate. Customer-service teams should only perform upselling within clearly defined client guidelines.
V
Virtual Receptionist
A virtual receptionist is an outsourced representative who answers telephone calls on behalf of a business. Services may include greeting callers, transferring calls, taking messages, answering basic questions and scheduling appointments.
VOC - Voice of the Customer
Voice of the Customer refers to the feedback, expectations, problems and preferences customers communicate through their interactions with a business. VOC analysis can help identify product problems, process gaps and opportunities to improve customer experience.
W
WhatsApp Customer Support
WhatsApp customer support allows customers to communicate with a business through WhatsApp. Agents can handle enquiries, order updates, complaints, appointment reminders and other authorised customer conversations. Businesses using WhatsApp for support should follow applicable WhatsApp Business Platform rules and privacy requirements.
WFM - Workforce Management
Workforce Management is the process of forecasting customer demand, scheduling employees and monitoring staffing. WFM generally includes forecasting, scheduling, adherence, shrinkage, occupancy and staffing analysis.
Wrap-Up Time
Wrap-up time is the period immediately after a customer interaction when an agent completes notes or administrative tasks. It is also commonly called After Call Work or ACW.
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Teams can be configured according to your required languages, customer volumes, operating hours and service levels. Start with a dedicated team from 5 FTEs.
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Frequently asked questions
BPO stands for Business Process Outsourcing. It involves contracting business activities such as customer service, technical support, administration, HR, finance or eCommerce operations to an external provider.
A call centre traditionally focuses primarily on voice calls. A contact centre can handle multiple channels including phone, email, live chat, WhatsApp and social media.
FTE means Full-Time Equivalent. It is a standard way of measuring staffing capacity. A team of five dedicated full-time customer-service representatives would normally be described as five FTEs.
There is no single KPI that tells the entire story. Businesses usually evaluate several measurements together, including CSAT, FCR, response time, abandonment rate, AHT and service-level performance.
No. If agents are forced to reduce handling time too aggressively, customers may receive incomplete or rushed service. AHT should be evaluated alongside customer satisfaction and first-contact resolution.
Omnichannel customer support connects different channels so customers can move between phone, email, chat, WhatsApp and other channels while maintaining their interaction context.
24/7 customer support means customers can access assistance 24 hours a day, seven days a week. It normally requires multiple staffing shifts to maintain uninterrupted coverage.
Outsourced technical support allows an external specialist team to handle software, hardware or system-related enquiries on behalf of another company.
Social Media Customer Service
Social media customer service involves responding to customers through platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, X and other social channels. It may include public replies, private messages, complaints, product enquiries and escalation management.