How to Calculate Average Handling Time in Excel (2 Easy Ways)

In this article, we will learn how to calculate average handling time in Excel. Average Handling Time or AHT is a metric that is often used to evaluate the performance of employees in call centers or other customer care offices. Here, we will discuss two easy methods to find AHT.

What is the Average Handling Time?

Average Handling Time or AHT is the time taken by an employee to help a customer. It refers to how quickly an employee can solve a customer’s problem. Generally, call center software tracks the entire call between the customer and the employee. Lower average handling time means an employee takes less time to solve a customer’s problem.

Parameters of Average Handling Time

There are four parameters to calculate average handling time. These are Talk Time, Hold Time, After Call Task, and Number of Calls.

Talk Time: Talk time means the amount of time an employee spends talking with a customer. Suppose, an employee takes 92 calls a day. The amount of time he spends on these calls for talking with customers is the total talk time of that employee. Talk time generally refers to the total talk time of an employee.
Hold Time: Hold time means the amount of time an employee keeps the calls on hold. Here, we must also consider the total hold time.
After-Call Task: It is the time taken to complete a customer’s problem after ending a call. It depends on the type of call center. For example, health-related call centers may take some time to resolve an issue while other call centers may take less time.
Number of Calls: It is one of the most important parameters of AHT. It means the total number of calls an employee receives in a certain period.

Equation of Average Handling Time

To find the average handling time of an employee, we need to sum up the total talk time, total hold time, and total after-call task time. Then, divide it by the number of calls.

=Average Handling Time=(Total Talk Time+Total Hold Time+Total After Call Task Time)/Number of Calls

After Call Task is sometimes expressed as ACT in short form.

How to Calculate Average Handling Time in Excel: 2 Ways

1. Calculate Average Handling Time with Formula in Excel

To explain this method, we will use a dataset that contains information on the Number of Calls, Talk Time, Hold Time, After Call Task time of some employees of a call center. We will calculate the Average Handling Time in the AHT column of our dataset. We will use the same dataset in the second method.

Let’s follow the steps to learn this method.

STEPS:

In the beginning, select Cell G5.
Secondly, type the formula:

=SUM(D5:F5)/C5

Now, press Enter to see the average handling time of John.

Here, the SUM Function sums up the talk time, hold time and after-call task time. Then, this summation is divided by the number of calls to find AHT.

Then, use the Fill Handle to see the AHT of all employees.

Finally, you will see results like below.

Here, John’s AHT is 0:04:02. It means John’s average handling time is 4 minutes and 2 seconds or 242 seconds. From the dataset, we can see Sam has the least average handling time.

2. Find the Average Handling Time Manually in Excel

We can also compute average handling time manually in our Excel worksheet. We will use the previous dataset to demonstrate this method.

Pay attention to the steps below to know more.

STEPS:

In the first place, select Cell G5.
Then, type the formula:

=(D5+E5+F5)/C5

After that, hit Enter to see the result.

Here, the formula takes input from Cell D5, E5 & F5 and adds them. Then, it divides them by Cell C5 which contains the number of calls.

Next, drag the Fill Handle down to see the results.

After dragging the Fill Handle down, you will see the AHT of all employees.

Benefits of Average Handling Time in Excel

Average Handling Time is used as a metric to evaluate both customer satisfaction and employee performance. But it is not the only metric to evaluate these things. Again, improved average handling time has some benefits that can greatly help both customers and employees. If a company improves its AHT, it will certainly improve customer satisfaction, and the quality of an employee and will also reduce costs.

Download Practice Book

Download the practice book.

Average Handling Time.xlsx

Conclusion

We have described two easy and quick ways to calculate average handling time in this article. We have also discussed the parameters and benefits of average handle time here. I hope these methods will help you to find average handling time very easily. Furthermore, the practice book is added at the beginning. Download it to exercise the methods. Last of all, if you have any queries or suggestions, feel free to ask in the comment section.