Average Answer Speed

Average answer speed is the mean time a caller waits in queue before an agent picks up, counted across answered contacts only. Abandoned calls never enter the maths. That single exclusion is why the number looks better than the wait many callers felt.

The standard industry name for this is average speed of answer (ASA). OA’s average speed of answer (ASA) entry covers the identical metric, so treat the two labels as one number wearing two hats.

Buyers usually meet it as a single headline figure in a vendor’s reporting pack — with no distribution behind it and no definition attached. That is exactly where the trouble starts.

Key takeaways

• Average answer speed is the mean queue wait across answered contacts only, so abandoned callers are excluded from both sides of the calculation.
• It is the same metric as average speed of answer (ASA), just under a plainer label.
• Because it is a mean, a few very long waits drag it upward — while most callers were served quickly.
• Service level makes the better contractual target; average answer speed makes the better diagnostic.

How it works

Add up the queue wait of every answered contact, then divide by the number of answered contacts. That is the whole formula. The clock usually starts when the contact enters the agent queue and stops the moment an agent connects.

Abandoned contacts never enter either side of that division. Someone who waited four minutes and hung up leaves no trace in the average, which is how a queue can look calm on paper while callers quietly give up.

The bigger problem is the shape of the data. A mean flattens the distribution, so a small group of very long waits pulls the figure up while the typical caller was perfectly fine.

It cuts the other way too. A pile of instant pickups can hold the average down while a slow tail goes unseen — the callers who suffered are the ones the mean forgives.

Where the clock starts is the single biggest source of vendor-to-vendor incomparability. Two providers can both report honestly off completely different boundaries, and nothing in the number itself tells you which one you are reading.

So ask for the boundary in writing before you compare a single vendor number against another. A definition costs nothing and it settles arguments that otherwise run for months.

Staffing drives the rest. Push occupancy rate too high and queues form the moment a call pattern wobbles, because there is no idle capacity left to absorb the spike.

The relationship is not linear either. Adding two agents to a thin queue can cut the average sharply, while adding two more to an already comfortable queue barely moves it at all.

Reading the metric properly means asking for more than the mean. A 90th-percentile wait, a service level percentage and an abandon curve together tell you what a single tidy digit flattens away.

Time period matters as much as method. A monthly average smooths over the Monday morning spike that ruins your customers’ week, so ask for the same number by day, by hour, and by queue.

One more habit is worth building: log the definition alongside the number in your own reporting. When a vendor changes platform or routing logic mid-contract, that record tells you whether performance moved or the measurement did.

Used as a diagnostic, it earns its place. A drift upward week over week points at forecast error, unplanned shrinkage or a routing change — and it flags that faster than most dashboards manage.

Examples

Answer-speed clocks vary wildly by setting, and regulators sometimes set them for you. These three cases show how differently the same idea gets defined depending on who is waiting, who is calling, and what is at stake.

Outbound telemarketing runs on a two-second clock. The FTC’s Telemarketing Sales Rule at 16 CFR part 310 governs it.

Under that rule, an outbound call counts as abandoned if the telemarketer does not connect it to a sales representative within two seconds of the answering person’s completed greeting. That is far stricter than any inbound answer-speed target.

Public services put answer speed into policy. The US federal customer experience programme was given teeth by Executive Order 14058 in 2021.

That order established accountability for federal service delivery through High Impact Service Providers, and directed 17 agencies to take 36 specific actions to improve customer experience. OMB Circular A-11, Part 6, Section 280 sets the annual guidance.

Large agencies publish their own service targets. The US Social Security Administration issues an Annual Performance Plan and an Annual Performance Report covering service delivery.

Those documents show what a published target looks like in practice: a stated goal, a measured result, and a public record of the gap between them. Ask a vendor for the same three things and the conversation changes.

None of these map cleanly onto a commercial contact center queue, and that is the useful part. Every operation draws its own start line — so borrow the discipline of publishing the definition, not just the number.

Related terms

Average answer speed only makes sense next to the metrics it trades against. These five sit closest to it in day-to-day reporting, and each one answers a question the mean on its own simply cannot.

• Average Speed of Answer: the standard industry name for this same metric.
• Service Level: the share of contacts answered inside a fixed threshold, written as X% in Y seconds.
• Abandonment Rate: the share of callers who hang up before an agent ever connects.
• Erlang C: the queueing formula that turns forecast volume and handle time into an agent requirement.
• Workforce Management: the forecasting and scheduling practice that decides how many agents sit in the queue.

FAQ

What is a good average answer speed?

There is no universal figure, because it depends on contact type, the promise you have made, and where the clock starts. Set the target against your own service level commitment rather than a benchmark you saw quoted somewhere.

Is average answer speed the same as average speed of answer?

Yes. Average speed of answer (ASA) is the standard industry name, and average answer speed is the same calculation under a plainer label.

Why should I not use average answer speed as a contract target?

Because it is a mean, and a mean can be hit while a meaningful slice of callers waits far too long. Service level caps that tail directly by naming a threshold, which is what a contract actually needs.

Does average answer speed include abandoned calls?

No. The calculation covers answered contacts only, so callers who hang up in the queue are excluded and the reported figure reads better than the lived experience.

Where does the answer-speed clock usually start?

Most vendors start it at queue entry, after the IVR, which means menu time is excluded unless your contract says otherwise.

Compare answer-speed reporting side by side across vetted providers in the Outsource Accelerator directory.