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Summary: First Call Resolution (FCR) is an essential contact center KPI that measures the percentage of customer service requests that are completely resolved during the first support interaction. In the past, FCR referred exclusively to telephone customer support. Since today’s contact centers provide omnichannel customer service across voice and digital channels, the term “First Contact Resolution” is also used.

FCR provides insight into the customer experience, agent training and performance, and the efficacy of your contact center’s self-service options.

Though the optimal FCR rate varies by industry, business size, and customer base, the industry standard for contact center FCR is between 70-75%.

The formula for FCR is: FCR = (Total Resolved Cases ÷ Total Number of Cases) x 100

 

Read on for more details about what First Call Resolution is, why it’s important, how to improve FCR, common challenges, and more.

 

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What Is First Call Resolution?

First Call Resolution (FCR) is a contact center metric measuring the percentage of customer service requests that are entirely resolved during the first interaction. An interaction is considered resolved if it requires no follow-up and when the customer indicates that no further assistance is needed.

The term “First Contact Resolution” is used interchangeably with First Call Resolution, and monitors the percent of omnichannel customer service requests resolved during the first interaction.

Most businesses define the first interaction as the initial conversation between a customer and a live agent, whether that interaction takes place via phone call, live chat, social media messaging, etc. However, some businesses consider customer conversations with automated self-service tools, like chatbots or IVR, as the first interaction–even if the customer never spoke to a live agent.

 

Your business’s FCR rate is a strong indicator of:

  • Customer satisfaction and customer experience
  • Customer service and support quality
  • Agent performance
  • The efficacy of agent onboarding and training materials
  • The quality of your customer self-service tools (online knowledge bases, IVR, chatbots, etc.)
  • If agent staffing and scheduling strategies align with current inbound call volumes
  • Average support resolution time

 

What Is a Good First Call Resolution Rate?

For call centers, the average FCR rate is 70-75%, FCR above 80% is excellent, and FCR below 60% is poor.[*]

That said, FCR benchmarks vary dramatically by call type, industry, and contact center size. Additional factors like average daily contact volume, available communication channels, and the number of available agents also influence your FCR rate. For example, while the average retail FCR rate is 78%, the average tech support FCR rate is 65%.[*]

Remember: a good FCR rate is never more important than good customer service. If an agent needs to get confirmation or assistance from a manager to give accurate and genuinely helpful advice, scheduling a follow-up takes precedence over FCR performance.

 

How to Calculate First Call Resolution

The standard formula for calculating FCR is:

FCR = (Total Resolved Cases ÷ Total Number of Cases) x 100

So, if you’ve resolved 750 cases out of 1,000 total cases, your first contact resolution rate would be 75%.

How to calculate first call resolution

 

 

How to Define FCR in Your Call Center

Accurately calculating FCR–and setting realistic FCR benchmarks for your call center–heavily depends on your business’s specific definitions of the terms “first contact” and “resolution.”

You may define a first interaction as the initial conversation between a customer and a live agent–even if the customer previously tried to resolve their issue via automated self-service tools. Or, you could say a customer’s first interaction begins when they use your website chatbot, your online knowledge base, your phone IVR system, or other automated IVAs for support.

Some businesses include multiple touchpoints in their definition of FCR. For example, a customer tries and fails to resolve their issue using your automated website chatbot. They then call a live support agent, who resolves the issue. If you opt to include multiple touchpoints in your first contact definition, this would still only count as one interaction.

Additional factors influencing how you define call center FCR include: 

  • Business Hours: If a customer first contacts your company outside of normal business operating hours, you may count the first follow-up interaction as the true “first contact”
  • Specific Channels: Which channels are included in your FCR calculations (voice only, voice+digital, etc.)
  • Call Transfers, Call Queues, and Escalations: When customers are transferred, routed, or placed in a call queue to connect with the best available agent, does this negate the possibility of first contact resolution? Does hold time impact these decisions? If the escalation matrix is initiated, will this negate the possibility of FCR?
  • Voicemails and Callbacks: If a customer leaves a voicemail message or requests an automated callback, does the “first contact” begin when the customer is followed up with, or when they contact your business for the first time regardless of the outcome?
  • Call Abandonment: Are abandoned customer calls (when callers hang up before being connected to a live agent or auto attendant) included in your FCR calculations?

 

The Benefits of First Call Resolution

A higher FCR rate means increased CSAT scores and customer spending, lower operating expenses, and a better employee experience.

the benefits of first call resolution

 

Below, let’s take a closer look at why improving first contact resolution is important, and the top benefits of a high FCR rate.

 

Higher CSAT Scores

83% of customers today expect their support issues to be resolved during their first customer support interaction–meaning your FCR rate directly impacts your customer satisfaction score.[*]

Studies show that every 1% increase in FCR directly correlates to a 1% increase in CSAT scores–and a 1.4% increase in Net Promoter (NPS) Scores.[*] On the other hand, support issues that require multiple calls to resolve decrease NPS scores by up to 24%.[*]

Maintaining a high FCR rate has an even greater impact on CSAT scores. 75% of businesses that maintained high FCR over 12 months saw an increase in customer satisfaction.[*]

 

Lower Operating Costs

Higher FCR means shorter call times, increased productivity, and lower employee turnover–three things that have a huge impact on your bottom line.

Every 1% improvement in FCR lower operating costs by 1%. Given that repeat calls make up 23% of the average call center’s operating expenses, you may experience even greater cost savings.[*]

A high FCR also helps keep operating costs low by increasing customer retention rates, meaning less spending on outbound cold calls and customer onboarding. While 19% of customers will end their relationship with a business that doesn’t resolve their issue on the first call, 95% of customers who experienced a first call resolution keep working with the company.[*]

 

Increased Consumer Spending

High FCR rates can increase customer spending from cross-selling by up to 20%.[*]

Even just measuring FCR can have a major impact on your profits. 60% of businesses that monitor FCR for at least a year see company performance increase by 30%.[*]

 

Improved Employee Satisfaction

Higher employee satisfaction rates mean increased agent retention and better performance. Every 1% improvement in FCR increases employee satisfaction levels by up to 5%.[*]

 

Challenges Affecting First Call Resolution

Lengthy call times, high employee turnover, and poor agent training are some of the biggest reasons behind low FCR rates. Below, we’ll take a closer look at the top FCR challenges, and offer potential solutions.

 

Long Call Times

Long calls up don’t just tie up agents and frustrate customers–they also impact FCR. While calls that last 1-3 minutes have a 73% FCR rate, calls over 15 minutes have an FCR of 62%.[*]

Contact center features like CRM screen pops and AI Agent Assist automatically display essential customer and internal knowledge base data on agent screens during active calls, helping to prevent long calls and lower customer hold times.

 

Poor Agent Training and Performance

55% of repeat calls are due to agent error–while an additional 12% of repeat calls are the result of poor agent training.[*]

Ensure all agent training materials are up-to-date, collect employee feedback to discover what needs improvement, and leverage automated in-call coaching tools that offer real-time agent guidance.

 

Ineffective Workflows

Inefficient workflows account for 20% of repeat calls, while 8% of repeat calls are the result of poor customer self-service options.[*]

Regularly monitor IVR call flow analytics to identify customer journey roadblocks and workflow bottlenecks, and routinely update auto attendant menu options, call routing strategies, and ring groups.

Consider adding additional self-service channels, like IVA-powered social media messaging and website chatbots, to help you handle increases in customer support requests. Ensure all self-service solutions are consistent across channels, up-to-date, and easy to use.

 

High Agent Turnover 

Call centers have a notoriously high agent turnover rate, costing business owners thousands of hours–and dollars–in hiring and retraining costs. Burnout from high call volumes, coupled with understaffing, increases agent turnover rates and lowers the quality of customer support.

The good news? A 15% improvement in FCR rates can reduce call volumes by up to 18%, resulting in less strain on agents and increased employee satisfaction. [*]

Additionally, leveraging WFM software, agent forecasting and scheduling tools, and performance gamification can increase employee engagement.

 

Best Practices To Improve FCR

While improving FCR can be a challenge, implementing the below best practices–and investing in the right contact center software–can help.

 

Get Written or Verbal Confirmation

Instruct call center agents to get written or verbal confirmation from customers to ensure that the issue has been completely resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.

Try phrases like:

  • “Is there anything else I can help you with today?”
  • “Have I taken care of everything for you?”
  • “Do you have any other questions for me?”
  • “Can I mark this issue as resolved?”

Agents may also want to confirm that this is the first time the customer has reached out about the issue by asking:

  • “Have you contacted anyone else on our team about this problem, and if so, when?”
  • “Did you use any of our self-service customer support tools before reaching out to us?”
  • “Have you tried our online knowledge base or FAQ page?”

 

Collect Customer Feedback

Collecting and reviewing automated omnichannel customer surveys offers invaluable and highly specific feedback about the customer experience–and helps you identify the causes of low FCR.

Ask customers questions about the quality of the support they received in addition to collecting standard metrics like NPS and CSAT scores.

Do customers feel agents have the skills required to assist them? Was the first agent they were connected to able to help them, or were they transferred to another team member? If they used self-service options, were they effective and intuitive?

 

Optimize Customer Self-Service Solutions 

Customer self-service tools like IVR, IVAs, chatbots, online knowledge databases, FAQs, and on-demand training webinars, and detailed product information don’t just improve FCR–they also boost customer satisfaction.

Constantly monitoring and updating automated call flow paths, optimizing omnichannel routing strategies and call menu options, and using machine learning and AI to improve customer self-service over time are essential to keeping FCR rates high.

Plus, quality 24/7 self-service lets customers independently resolve their common issues on their own schedule and preferred communication channel, keeping agents free to assist with more difficult support team requests.

 

Monitor Additional KPIs 

Real-time and historical analytics provide insight into fluctuating FCR metrics over time, making it much easier to manage issues before they spiral out of control. Monitoring additional KPIs can help you identify common reasons behind low FCR rates, such as understaffing, long call times, agent absenteeism, and low agent performance scores.

twilio analytics

 

Essential call center metrics to monitor in addition to FCR include:

  • Average hold time
  • Call abandonment rate
  • Average talk time
  • Average call volumes
  • Average speed of answer
  • Missed call percentage
  • Cost per contact
  • Call queue lengths
  • Call transfer rate

 

Agent Training and Performance Monitoring

Optimizing your approach to agent training and continued performance monitoring is one of the most impactful ways to improve FCR.

Today's contact center solutions provide performance monitoring tools far beyond standard call monitoring, call whisper, and call recording. Supervisors can offer real-time, in-conversation agent coaching via live chat, create custom scorecards to manually or automatically review agent performance, and assign recommended training modules according to agent scores.

agent assist five9

AI-powered Agent Assist integrates with your existing internal knowledge base, using Generative AI and Natural Language Processing to provide real-time, next-best-action suggestions to agents during live customer conversations.

Many quality management solutions also offer agent performance gamification and recognition tools designed to increase agent engagement while boosting productivity.

 

Leverage WFM Scheduling Tools

Inefficient, poorly planned agent schedules lead to low FCR rates and increased agent burnout.

Leveraging forecasting and scheduling tools from workforce management platforms automates and optimizes the agent scheduling process, making the most of available agents while ensuring each shift contains agents with a variety of skill sets.

nice wfm scheduler

Admins can customize forecasting scenarios, monitor agent schedule adherence, and adjust schedules in real time when facing sudden fluctuations in contact volumes. Agents can bid on shifts and request PTO, and admins can automate PTO approval.

 

Invest in the Right Contact Center Software 

While implementing the above best practices will improve FCR rates, choosing the right call or contact center software has an equal impact.

Call center solution features positively impacting FCR include:

  • CTI screen pops powered by CRM integrations
  • Customer self-service options
  • Advanced call routing options
  • Call forwarding
  • Call barge
  • Agent scripting
  • Agent Assist

These features don’t just influence FCR, but also other metrics like call hold times, Net Promoter Score, cost per call, and average call length.

 

FAQs

Below, we’ve answered the top FCR FAQs.