AHT (Average Handle Time)
A call center metric measuring the average total time an agent spends on a call, including talk time and after-call work.
Average Handle Time (AHT) is one of the most widely tracked contact center Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). It measures the average duration of a complete customer interaction from the moment an agent answers to when all post-call work is finished. AHT = Average Talk Time + Average Hold Time + Average After-Call Work (ACW).
AHT is used to forecast staffing needs, measure agent efficiency, identify training opportunities, and calculate the cost per contact. A very low AHT may indicate agents are rushing through calls without fully resolving issues (leading to repeat calls). A high AHT may signal agent knowledge gaps, inefficient tools, or unnecessarily complex call flows.
Zonitel's analytics and reporting module calculates AHT per agent, per queue, per time period, and across the entire organization. Supervisors can drill into individual call records to understand what drives outliers — unusually long calls that skew the average — and use call recordings and AI transcriptions to coach agents toward more efficient resolutions.
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