What is First Call Resolution?

First call resolution means that customer query is resolved in the first call itself without the need of follow up calls. The agents of outsourced call center meticulously monitor customer call and strive to fulfil customer expectations, so that the ratio of follow up calls is less. ‘Follow up’ calls increase the overall call volume, which in turn requires more customer care agents to receive calls and resolve their query. It also increases other costs. Thus, the service providers continuously measure, track the outcome of first call resolution (FCR). Companies that deliver good FCR rates are considered good call center service providers.

To increase FCR, the call center service providers perform a few measures. The professionals comprehend with the need and requirement of customer and bend down to fulfil the expectations of customer. It is very important for the professionals of the service provider to conduct a root cause analysis on the calls that were not resolved on first contact. A good root cause analysis will help to identify trends, pinpoint inefficiencies and can inform data-driven decision making. After identifying common issues, knowledge gap, training opportunities, and inefficiencies or problem. FCR is both a quality metric (correlating with caller satisfaction) and a financial metric (cost saver).

FCR is calculated using the following formula:

The total numbers of calls completely resolved during the course of the first call initiated by the customer (and therefore do not require a callback) divided by total number of calls handled by agents.

Some key ways to measure FCR:

Monitoring calls to determine if agents can provide a satisfactory answer in the first call itself
Monitoring the number of callers that call back within a 7 day period.
Monitoring the calling party number within a set period
Monitoring the reason for call
Using a post-call IVR survey
Looking at the quality of answer given by professionals