An eight-minute guide into call auditing services

What is call auditing, and why does it matter?

Call auditing is the review of call center calls to check quality, agent performance, and compliance.

• It shows a team’s strengths, weak spots, and areas to improve.
• It uses clear metrics like handling time, resolution rate, and CSAT.
• It helps clients protect their brand and keep service quality high.

Hiring a call center is more than forming a team to make and take calls. Clients also want the team to meet their standards.

Customers want quality products. In the same way, clients want quality service. After all, a call center team’s faults can hurt a brand and its trust.

This is where call auditing comes in. Like quality assurance, it points out what a team needs to fix. So read on for a quick guide to the whole process.

What is call auditing?

Call auditing, also known as call center performance evaluation or a call center audit, is the review of call center work for quality. It measures a team’s efficiency, effectiveness, and compliance.

A good audit finds a company’s chances to grow. In addition, it shows strengths, weak spots, and gaps to fix. Its results are then compared with top companies as a benchmark.

Experienced agents, supervisors, or internal auditors can run internal call auditing. Meanwhile, audit reports give clients a clear view of what works and what needs work.

Why call auditing is important

Call auditing goals fall into two groups. First is a general audit, which covers most or all goals. Next is a specific audit, which covers just one or a few.

So call auditing is done for these purposes:

• Improve performance and spot gains in speed and quality
• Guide decisions during mergers, market shifts, and strategy changes
• Check compliance and find quality wins
• Weigh risks before new business moves
• Spot chances to upgrade tools and setup

Aspects to check in call auditing

Call auditing can use the same tools as call quality assurance. Still, it works on a larger scale. So audits can follow the client’s priorities and needs.

When auditing calls, internal auditors look at these areas:

• Inbound and outbound calls, by type, cost, and effect
• Customer experience and satisfaction ratings
• Agent performance and skills

Call auditing KPIs

Like basic quality assurance, call auditing sorts these areas into key performance indicators (KPIs). Tracking a few clear call center metrics keeps the review focused.

Call quantity

The number of inbound and outbound calls in a period shows a team’s efficiency. Usually, a rise or fall in calls hints at how happy customers are.

CSAT and NPS help measure satisfaction. Meanwhile, internal call auditing finds the root cause of any bad feedback. So clients can use a simple checklist to score each call.

Average calls per agent

In line with measuring call quantity, the daily average per agent also matters.

Studies say a call center agent takes up to 50 calls per day, whether inbound or outbound. Still, this can rise or fall with demand.

More calls than agents can handle is a clear sign. As a result, the team may need more staff.

Call handling time

Meanwhile, call handling time shows how fast agents resolve queries. It counts the time from picking up to after-call work time (ACWT).

A high handling time means customers wait too long. So it may point to slow answers, long queues, or a clunky process.

Because of this, the team may need better training or more staff.

Resolution rate

Not every issue gets solved on the first call. Still, this opens a chance to lift the resolution rate. A strong first call resolution score often points to skilled, well-trained agents.

How agents handle calls affects the time to close a task. For example, it depends on how fast they pull up data, know the product, and stay friendly.

Call abandonment

An abandoned call often means the customer waited too long. As a result, it can drive churn and lost sales.

Call abandonment usually comes from a high average speed of answer (ASA) or handling time. During heavy volume, agents may juggle many calls at once.

So a company should fix its process or hire more agents.

Forecast accuracy

Finally, call quantity ties to forecast accuracy.

More calls than forecast means agents may be overworked. Fewer calls, meanwhile, means agents are underused.

Customer satisfaction metrics

Beyond call metrics, auditors also check how happy customers feel during a call. Strong scores here link to better customer satisfaction overall. They look at these:

• Customer satisfaction score (CSAT)
• Net promoter score (NPS)
• Customer effort score (CES)

Call auditing best practices

The client and the provider should shape the call auditing steps together. As a result, they get accurate results and a stronger team.

Here are some best practices for call auditing in a call center team.

Have proper auditing guidelines

First, the team must set clear rules for call auditing.

These should cover the goals, the full process, and the metrics for each call. Companies share their auditing checklist to guide the review. For example, tools like Process Street help build one.

Focus on the issue appropriate to the goal

Some metrics matter more than others, based on the goal. So internal auditors should focus on the ones that lift the team most.

Assign a point person to the team

Having proper communication is the key to good call auditing. Whether the team sits miles away or a few hours apart, they must check in at each step.

This is why a point person helps. For example, the team can pick the team leader or the operations manager. Regular call center coaching then turns audit notes into real habits.

Keep call records and details as much as possible

Next, always keep records of each call to be audited. This includes transactions, daily accounts, and related notes.

Call centers save their best calls and good feedback as proof of a high CSAT. As a result, reports stay accurate.

Develop and impose corrective measures

Finally, act on the results. This should be the last step in the call auditing process.

Businesses should use their findings to prevent bad experiences and improve service. In addition, they should track these fixes over time to see if they work.

Call auditing software

To audit calls well, teams need the right software. Good tools help them work faster and see progress clearly. The best call center quality assurance software makes scoring and coaching much easier.

A good call auditing tool has these features:

• Scorecard creation and custom fields
• Deep analytics and reports on call performance and quality
• Third-party integration, especially with CRM software
• Tools for agent feedback and coaching

With that in mind, here are some tools a call center team can use.

Talkdesk

Talkdesk is a leading contact center platform for customer-first companies. It is an all-in-one service tool. For example, it offers call recording, workflow automation, ticket creation, and CRM integration.

Ameyo

Ameyo gives individual call insights through its agent self-monitoring feature. Moreover, it lets supervisors monitor calls in real time. It also records calls so auditors can review them later.

Nice CXone

Like Talkdesk, Nice CXone offers an all-in-one contact center platform. As a result, auditing gets easier for teams and clients. It blends strong omnichannel routing with workforce automation in an open cloud setup.

Process Street

Process Street is a bit different from the rest. Still, call and contact centers use it to build SOPs, manage workflows, and organize monitoring with checklists. For example, it offers checklist templates that users can edit at will.

Call auditing companies

As much as possible, clients should pick an outsourcing partner they can trust for call auditing. Today, most BPOs in offshore countries offer this service.

So companies must build clear communication and a strong bond with their provider.

Frequently asked questions about call auditing

What is the difference between call auditing and quality assurance?

Quality assurance checks single calls against a standard. Call auditing, meanwhile, reviews the whole team’s quality, compliance, and results on a larger scale.

Who performs call auditing?

Experienced agents, supervisors, or internal auditors run it. In some cases, an outsourcing partner handles the audit for the client.

Which metrics matter most in a call audit?

Handling time, resolution rate, and call abandonment are key. In addition, CSAT, NPS, and CES show how happy customers feel.

How often should a call center run audits?

It depends on volume and goals. Still, regular audits work best, since they catch issues early and track fixes over time.

Do you need software for call auditing?

Yes, in most cases. Good tools speed up scoring, reporting, and coaching. As a result, results stay accurate and easy to share.

Key takeaways

• Call auditing reviews call center work for quality and compliance.
• It relies on clear KPIs like handling time, resolution rate, and CSAT.
• Best practices include set rules, a point person, and good records.
• The right software makes scoring, reporting, and coaching faster.
• A trusted outsourcing partner can run audits for the client.