Marketing, sales and customers

Average handle time (AHT)

  • Marketing, sales and customers

Definition

The average time spent dealing with one customer contact, including hold time and follow-up work.

Also called

AHT, Average handle time

Example

3,000 minutes across 500 calls gives an AHT of 6 minutes.

For your role

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Why it matters

It affects staffing costs and customer waiting times.

Where it is used

Contact centre dashboards and staffing plans.

How to calculate it

(Talk time + hold time + follow-up time) ÷ number of contacts

Worked example

3,000 minutes across 500 calls gives an AHT of 6 minutes.