What is an acceptable amount of call center break time?

Lori Bocklund gives advice on how much call center break time and auxiliary time to allow depending on call center shifts and other factors in this tip.

Published: 22 Oct 2008

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What is an acceptable amount of auxiliary time for coffee/restroom breaks in the call center?

Your break time in the call center depends on your shifts and, if you have a union, any negotiated agreements. Typically, call centers have two scheduled 15-minute breaks for a full eight-hour shift. You may allow small amounts of other unscheduled time for restroom or coffee breaks, but you will need to build that into your overall off-phone time budget and your adherence tolerance. Acceptable time for ad hoc coffee or restroom breaks can vary depending on where these facilities are in relation to the call center.

Dig Deeper on CRM strategy and implementation

outbound call An outbound call is one initiated by a call center agent to a customer on behalf of a call center or client.

Understanding call center occupancy vs. call center adherence Our expert Lori Bocklund explains what’s important about call center occupancy and call center adherence, and how and why both metrics are vital to the operation of any call center.

call center schedule adherence Call center schedule adherence is a common metric used in the call center to determine whether or not call center agents are working the amount of time they are scheduled to work.

call center shrinkage Call center shrinkage is a measure of how much time is lost in the call center because agents are unavailable to receive calls.

Tips for managing and improving a small call center We've compiled this list of tips for small call centers looking to manage and improve call center performance. Get tips from the experts on everything from building a new call center to evaluating small call center software.

Call center benchmarks for a small call center Find out which call center benchmarks a small call center should use to measure call center performance. Also, get tips for setting service level in a small center.

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