Average call duration (ACD) shows how long calls last on average within a selected period. Teams use this metric to review call handling efficiency, plan staffing, and monitor support quality.
This guide explains why ACD matters and how to calculate it using Aloware reports.
Why average call duration matters
Agent performance review
Call duration patterns help identify coaching needs.
Longer calls may indicate difficulty explaining solutions or navigating tools.
Very short calls may suggest rushed interactions or unresolved concerns.
Staffing and workload planning
Knowing how long calls usually last helps estimate how many agents are needed during peak hours and how workloads should be distributed.
Customer experience monitoring
Call length affects how customers perceive support. Calls that are too long can feel inefficient, while very short calls may feel incomplete. A balanced average supports clearer, more effective conversations.
How to analyze average call duration in Aloware
What is average call duration?
Average Call Duration is the total time spent on calls divided by the total number of calls.
Formula:
Average Call Duration = Total Call Duration ÷ Total Calls
The result shows how much time, on average, agents spend on each call.
Sample data:
All calls: 817
Total duration: 9 hours, 43 minutes, and 1 second
Steps:
Go to the reports menu, click the settings icon, choose the activity (e.g., lines), and then click save to see the report dashboard.
Select from the list of lines and locate the total duration and all calls metrics for the desired timeframe or agent/team.
Convert the total duration from hh:mm:ss format to seconds.
Formula: Divide the total duration in seconds by the all calls value to calculate the average call duration
Average call duration = Total duration in seconds / All calls
In this case:
Total duration in seconds = (1 hour x 60 minutes x 60 seconds) + (44 minutes x 60 seconds) + 21 seconds = 6,261 seconds
Average call duration = 6,261 seconds / 31 ≈ 3.21 minutes