When The Forum first started 25-years ago, in March 2000, the industry standard service level was often discussed with many organisations using 80% of calls in 20 seconds. 25-years later we unfortunately, still hear and see 80%/20-seconds being quoted as “industry standard”. However, our latest research confirms what many of us have been thinking. The 80/20 is still the most common but we can see that it is now only used by a small percentage of our members. People are now finding the right service level to balance the needs of their customers and their organisations. Many organisations aren’t using a service level measure. They instead focus on ASA, (average speed of answer), or PCR (Percentage of Calls Answered).

Read More

This article was first published in the 2025 Best Practice Guide - Raising Standards

To download a full digital copy of the Best Practice Guide, click here.