Giva’s List of 25 Top Call Center Statistics for 2024

Call centers are a mission-critical component of numerous types of businesses, from banks to healthcare providers, telecoms to airlines.

Call center managers operate in a world of data, statistics, Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), customer satisfaction, and dozens of other metrics. It can be difficult to know which call center productivity metrics are the most important.

It's also useful for customer service and experience (CX) leaders to know what's going on across the sector. So, we've put together this comprehensive list of call center stats and call center performance data points, to give you a top-level overview and more granular information.

In this article, we've divided these 25 call center stats into the following sections to make it easier to find what you're looking for:

• Growth of the Call Center Software & AI Market
• Critical Challenges to Call Center Productivity
• Challenging Customer Preferences and a Changing Landscape
• Current Call Center Industry Benchmarks
• How to Keep Customers and Staff Happy

Here are 25 of the most important call center stats that customer success managers and call center leaders need to know.

Growth of the Call Center Software & AI Market

Call centers are big business. Almost every Fortune 500 and similar-sized organization needs one or more call centers to ensure their customers are looked after, to solve customer problems, reduce churn, and keep revenue flowing in.

Even the largest organization will quickly go out of business if they lose customers. With that in mind, many CEOs have started to see customer happiness and the customer experience (CX) as mission-critical and no longer a cost center. Instead, customer service is being seen as a profit-generating operation by C-Suite leaders.

Hence, the need for customer service software (SaaS), AI tools, and other solutions to better meet the needs of customers, managers, and staff.

1. Call center software (SaaS) market is growing fast: 23.9% CAGR between 2023 - 2030

   Call center software is currently worth around $28 billion. This includes everything from legacy IT providers and cloud-based storage giants to new AI-powered startups. It's expected to achieve a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 23.9% from 2023 to 2030. (Research report).

2. Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools are the fastest growing sub-sector of this market: Could be worth over $4 billion by 2027 globally

   There is no doubt about it, with the emergence of generative AI and other artificial intelligence-based tools, that call centers are having to adapt, adopt, and start using this technology.

   As you will see below, the AI market in the call center segment is currently worth over $900 million in North America alone. Other regions are using AI in call centers too, just at a slightly slower pace. However, this is expected to be a high-growth sector, with the market for AI call center solutions anticipated to exceed $4 billion in 2027. (Research report on AI use in call centers).

3. North America is the quickest earlier adopter of the AI call center; up to $1.36 billion by 2024

   Given the emergence of AI tools in the US, such as OpenAI's ChatGPT, it's no surprise that American call centers are early adopters of solutions designed for their needs. The North America AI call center market was already worth almost $898M in 2022, and extrapolated out at 42% continued market share of the global market, the region would be expected to have a $1.36B market share by 2024.

4. Speech analytics software is experiencing hyper-growth, too, up to 22.14% CAGR (2021-2026), potentially valued at over $5B by 2026

   Speech analytics software is another AI-powered game changer for contact centers. There are dozens of tools on the market already.

   Before speech analytics, calls were recorded and had to be picked over manually to find anything of value that could positively impact the customer experience, employee training, and process improvements.

   Now, that can be done in a fraction of the time, and the whole process is automated. It's no wonder that the speech analytics market is growing so fast, at a rate of 22.14% CAGR (2021-2026), and could be worth over $5.4B by 2026. (Speech analytics report).

5. Speech analytics can increase customer satisfaction scores up to 10% and costs down 20-30%

   A McKinsey report from 2022 indicates that when speech analytics are used, customer satisfaction increases as much as 10%. If 10% of customers churn, that can cause serious business and cash flow problems, so happier customers are more likely to stay, and it's worth putting money into new software to retain them.

   Further, costs can decrease by up to 30%, making speech analytics an even more worthwhile investment.

6. Predictive analytics improve efficiency and productivity by 60%

   Similar to the advantages of speech analytics, predictive analytics can make a huge positive impact on productivity. According to a FinancesOnline report, when contact centers implement predictive and big data analytics, productivity can increase as much as 60%. Big data projects take time.

   However, with new powerful machine learning models, including several open-source solutions from Meta's AI Lab, we can expect the adoption rate of predictive analytics to accelerate in the years ahead.

7. Global call center market is worth $339B and is expected to increase to $496B in 2027

   At present, the global call center market (market cap and revenue) is worth $339B and is expected to increase to $496B in 2027. (Statista).

   A number of factors are influencing this growth, such as aging populations in North America, Europe, and Japan, post-pandemic loneliness and social isolation (Gartner), and the need to provide a more personal service.

   Call centers are big employers in the US, employing nearly three million Americans, according to the (Statista Research Department).

8. Almost every call center will be omnichannel within a few years

   According to Sprinklr, the omnichannel consumer engagement market is expected to reach a staggering $17.92 billion in sales by 2030. Customers would be able to seamlessly switch between channels while retaining consistent and tailored experiences thanks to highly integrated consumer interactions across platforms.

   Omnichannel is becoming the norm. Freshworks states that 38% of customers want the agent who picks up the phone to solve their problem instead of being bounced around to different departments and put on hold. Agents are increasingly expected to be able to switch between communications types, too, such as calls and live chats, depending on inbound volumes.

Critical Challenges to Call Center Productivity

Call centers are facing numerous challenges, especially when it comes to employee turnover, absenteeism, overwork, stress levels, and burnout.

9. Staff turnover is still one of the most serious challenges the industry faces: Currently, between 30% and 45%

   Employee turnover in call centers is far too high. At the low end of the spectrum, it stands at 30%, going as high as 45%. Some of the main causes are stress levels, anxiety, poor management, and overwork, leading to burnout. (Replicant).

   When staff leave, it costs tens of thousands, as your investment in their training benefits another company, and then you must recruit and train someone new. Turnover is one of the most serious challenges industry-wide.

10. One of the main reasons for high employee turnover rates is stress and anxiety; responsible for 87% of staff leaving or sickness and absence rates

    Workplace stress levels, tension, and anxiety are "high" and "very high" for 87% of contact center employees. Call centers are stressful, and unless something is done to tackle this, turnover rates are going to remain at record levels. (Uniphore).

11. Customer Service Representative positions are projected to shrink by 4% over the next decade

    Automation, social media, self-service and mobile apps will create a natural decline in the need for customer service interaction; a 4% reduction of workers is anticipated through 2031.

    However, approx. 389,000 service representative openings are projected to be created each year. This is in anticipation of those exiting the labor force (retiring) and those who transfer to other jobs, companies or occupations. (US Bureau of Labor Statistics).

12. Absenteeism rates are highest in outsourced vs. in-house call centers (at 10%)

    Absenteeism is high in call centers because of stress and anxiety. A Cornell University study found that in-house call center teams have a 6% absenteeism rate compared to outsourced, at 10%. Absenteeism in call centers stands at 8.2 days per year, compared to other sectors, only at 7.4. (Avoxi).

13. 60% of businesses are reporting an increase in call volumes

    Despite AI-based tools, like chatbots and self-service solutions for customers, call center managers are reporting an overall increase in call volumes. That's right, according to a McKinsey study, 61% of call center managers say volumes have increased since the pandemic years of 2020 and 2021. 58% expect this to continue.

    One reason for this is that only 10% of organizations have fully rolled out, implemented, and promoted self-serve platforms and AI tools for customers, according to the same survey. Perhaps call volumes will reduce once self-serve is delivered more effectively.

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Challenging Customer Preferences and a Changing Landscape

Customers are expecting better service, with problems solved more quickly by agents and AI or self-serve tools.

14. Increased preference for self-serve or AI-based tools among customers

    Salesforce reports that self-serve, AI-based tools are becoming the first choice among the majority of customers. 65% have used self-serve, and 58% are now turning to chatbots to try and solve simple problems first.

15. Customers hate being on hold and have less patience for it. Over 60% will hang up after two minutes or less

    It isn't always possible for customers to get straight through to an agent. Call volumes spike at different times of the day, especially before work, lunchtime, and the first hour or so after work. Customers have less patience than they used to. According to a Google Consumer Survey of over 1,500 U.S. Consumers, nearly two-thirds indicated they are only willing to wait two minutes or less before hanging up. Of those, over 13% indicated that no hold time is acceptable. (Arise).

Current Call Center Industry Benchmarks

16. On average, 80% of calls are answered after 20 seconds

    Continuing on from the stat above; fortunately, 80% of calls are answered after 20 seconds. So, most customers actually get through and won't give up until the 1-2 minute mark. (Live Agent).

17. Current average handling time (AHT) is six minutes

    Industry-wide, AHT currently stands at six minutes, according to the same surveys mentioned above.

18. Current global benchmarks for first call resolution (FCR) are 70 to 79%

    First call resolution (FCR) is one of the most important metrics in contact centers. Customers are increasingly unforgiving of agents passing them on to other teams. Most would prefer the agent who answers their call, solves their query, and does so on that call. The good news is the average FCR rate worldwide is around 70 to 79% (SQM Group).

19. Banks and financial services rely on live calls more than any other communication method

    The financial services sector, perhaps because of the more complex nature of most calls and regulatory requirements, needs live contact center agents more than any other industries.

    Many customers with financial products prefer speaking to human agents. According to a GoMoxie survey of 1,000 banking customers, 60% had a negative view of chatbots and lack trust in them. 33% of this group said chatbots were not helpful in answering their questions. (The Financial Brand).

20. The highest average hold times are in the transport, hospitality, and healthcare sectors

    The highest average hold times are:

    • Transport & Logistics: 5.52 seconds 
    • Healthcare: 4.59 seconds 
    • Hospitality & Travel: 4.33 seconds (Talk Desk)

21. Industries with the longest average talk times are: the public sector, manufacturing, oil and gas

    Calls last the longest, on average, in these industries:

    • Mining, oil, and gas: 6:13 minutes 
    • Manufacturing: 4:15 minutes 
    • Government & public sector: 4:13 minutes (Talk Desk)

22. Industries with the highest call abandonment rates are: the public sector, healthcare, transport

    The highest call abandonment rates are in:

    • Government & public sector: 7.44%
    • Transport & Logistics: 7.40%
    • Healthcare: 6.91% (Talk Desk)

23. The average call center handles 4,400 calls every month, with 48 missed

    According to Live Agent, the average call center handles 4,400 calls every month; that's around 1000 per week, with 48 missed. Although this figure is only an average and doesn't account for larger or smaller operations.

How to Keep Customers and Staff Happy

24. Faster answers are essential to keep customers happy: immediate or under 10 minutes

    HubSpot's State of Service Report found that customers consider  an "immediate response" from a contact center agent to be a resolution of their problem in under 10 minutes. 90% of customers want, and in many cases, expect, an FCR in 10 minutes, especially if they've already tried self-serve and chatbots.

25. Happy and engaged employees boost profitability by 23%

    Happy and engaged employees boost profitability, and CSAT scores and reduce turnover. One survey found that an engaged workforce can increase profits by as much as 23%! Turnover is also 43% lower.

And there you have it, 25 of the most useful stats about call centers and the way innovative new solutions are impacting the industry.

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