First Contact Resolution (FCR)

First Contact Resolution (FCR) serves as a critical metric in contact centres, quantifying the percentage of customer interactions that successfully resolve the issue during the initial contact. FCR holds significance in evaluating contact centre efficiency, cost-effectiveness, and customer satisfaction, as customers tend to be more content when their concerns are addressed in a single phone call or chat session. Multiple interactions for resolution are not only less satisfying for customers but also result in higher operational costs.

How to measure first contact resolution (FCR)

Accurately measuring FCR can pose challenges and contact centres tend to do this in different ways. Some contact centres rely on self-reported assessments by agents to determine whether a contact effectively resolved the issue. Alternatively, organisations may survey customers to gauge FCR, but sample size limitations can be a drawback as well as the effort involved. Some contact  centres examine Automatic Call Distribution (ACD) data for multiple calls from the same number within a specified time frame. The current trending approach to monitoring FCR involves employing speech analytics and AI. 

In isolation, FCR as a metric provides an incomplete picture of a contact centre’s performance, but when assessed alongside other contact centre performance KPIs, it becomes a valuable piece of the performance puzzle. 

Businesses seeking to increase FCR may see a rise in average handle times as agents allocate more time to resolving issues during the initial contact. Despite this trade-off, many organisations find it a worthwhile initiative.