In today’s call and contact centers, agents are caught in the middle of a quiet - but constant - tug-of-war.
Leadership wants faster calls, tighter metrics, and improved efficiency. Customers want patience, empathy, and solutions.
Agents are expected to deliver both: all while navigating complex systems, expanding queues, and performance metrics that rarely reflect the realities of the work.
But the issue isn’t that agents are spending too much time with customers. The real problem is where that time is being spent.
In many centers, a straightforward customer request stretches into a lengthy interaction. Not because of the conversation itself but because the agent is navigating various sites, policies, and processes that were never designed to work together.
And then, if the information can’t be found, the agent reaches out to someone for help.
In this three-part article, I explore how contact centers can reduce average handle time (AHT) without rushing either the customer or the agent.
Part 1 covered removing customer friction before the call. Part 2 (here) focuses on agent performance strategies and methods. Finally, Part 3 will discuss having the right people in the right place and the tools to help them; it will also present the conclusion.
After the Agent Says Hello
Once the customer reaches the agent, several operational factors can either accelerate or slow resolution.
1. Quality Training
Whether an agent is learning a simple, transactional queue or a highly complex one, the goal of training should be the same: prepare them for the reality of live calls.
Too many training programs rush through tools, assuming agents will figure it out...
Effective training goes beyond a single method. The strongest programs use a blend of instructor-led training (ILT), web-based training (WBT), mentoring, call recordings, job aids, and regular knowledge checks.
This mix helps agents understand not only what to do, but why they’re doing it: an essential distinction once they begin handling real customers.
Just as important, agents need time to learn the tools they’ll rely on every day. CRM applications, knowledge bases, dashboards, AI assistants, and scripts should be introduced early and practiced often using scenario-based training or scavenger hunts.
Too many training programs rush through tools, assuming agents will figure it out once they’re on the floor. In reality, uncertainty around tools leads to hesitation to use the tools, longer holds, and higher handle times.
Instead, build practice into training by:
- Allowing agents to navigate systems in safe, low-pressure environments such as classrooms.
- Using scenario-based exercises or role-playing that mirror real call types.
- Reinforcing learning through coached call reviews during nesting.
Moreover, training should emphasize FCR before speed. When agents are unsure, they compensate by placing customers on hold, escalating unnecessarily, or double-checking information. All of which quietly inflate handle time and erode confidence on both sides of the call.
And when training is rushed, agents may answer calls faster, but they often place customers on hold, escalate unnecessarily, or provide incomplete answers, leading to repeat calls and frustrating agents to the point of leaving.
But when agents feel confident in their knowledge, tools, and decision-making, handle time improves naturally.
2. Listening to Agents
Asking agents for feedback through structured surveys is one of the most practical - yet often overlooked - ways to improve both handle time and customer experience (CX).
Agents operate at the intersection of customers, systems, and policies every day, giving them visibility into operational friction.
In many ways, agents are the organization’s most underused diagnostic tools: spotting friction long before it shows up in dashboards or customer complaints.Agent feedback can uncover insights that reports often miss, such as:
- Common customer questions and effective resolution strategies.
- Repetitive issues that could be addressed through automation or self-service.
- Gaps in training, knowledge resources, or system usability.
- Process steps that create unnecessary delays or frustration.
Agents also bring valuable perspectives from prior contact center experience. Exposure to different workflows, CRM software, and performance models allows them to identify practical improvements that may reduce handle time while maintaining strong customer support.
However, collecting feedback is only the first step. The real impact comes from acting on it.
When organizations acknowledge agent input and implement even slight improvements - such as updating knowledge articles, simplifying workflows, or clarifying policies - it reinforces trust and encourages continued participation.
In many ways, agents are the organization's most underused diagnostic tools: spotting friction long before it shows up in dashboards or customer complaints.
Over time, this creates a culture where agents feel ownership in improving operations, leading to stronger engagement, better performance, and more sustainable efficiency gains.
3. Knowledge Management
If there is one area where contact and call centers unintentionally inflate handle time, it’s knowledge access.
Outdated articles, poorly structured knowledge bases, and multiple sources of truth force agents to search, cross-check, and second-guess themselves. This results in longer holds, inconsistent answers, and customers hearing the agents’ hesitancy, prompting them to call back to verify the information.
The difference comes down to how well the AI is trained and how reliable, well-structured, and concise the information in your KMS is.
Even small delays - a minute searching here, a hold there - compound quickly across hundreds of calls, turning knowledge friction into one of the biggest hidden drivers of AHT.
Modern knowledge management systems (KMS) - especially those designed for agent use during live calls - can dramatically reduce AHT by:
- Providing clear, step-by-step guidance.
- Retrieving the right information based on the call context.
- Reducing time spent searching or escalating inquiries.
Then again, to make things even easier on the agents, use AI chatbots trained on your KMS information. Here, an agent enters a question and receives a quick response, rather than trying to find the right page or quick reference guide (QRG). This supports the agent without interrupting the conversation.
But when implemented poorly, these tools overwhelm agents with too many suggestions or surface incorrect information.
The difference comes down to how well the AI is trained and how reliable, well-structured, and concise the information in your KMS is. Agents will only rely on knowledge tools they believe are accurate, current, and easy to use.
As one recurring sentiment from agent communities suggests: “If I trusted the knowledge base, I wouldn’t need to put customers on hold.”
What information does an agent need at the exact moment they are helping a customer?
Efficient KMSs reduce search time and build the agents’ trust in them. I explore this further in “Unlocking the Call Center Possibilities With KMS”, where I discuss how structured knowledge supports both agent performance and customer satisfaction.
4. Agent-Friendly Dashboards
In many contact centers, agents spend more time navigating the CRM than talking to the customer. Multiple tabs, slow load times, duplicate data entry, and unclear workflows quietly add minutes to every interaction. These minutes never show up on coaching dashboards, but influence handle time and agent frustration.
Agents often describe it bluntly in online forums:
“The call would be easy if the system didn’t fight me the whole time.”
An effective agent dashboard applies core user interface (UI) principles to reduce effort during live calls. This includes thoughtful use of color to draw attention to critical fields, a layout that follows the natural flow of the conversation, and intuitive placement of buttons and actions agents use most frequently.
Designing dashboards with agents in mind starts with a simple question: What information does an agent need at the exact moment they are helping a customer?
But rather than guessing, involve agents in the design: allowing them to navigate the dashboards, test workflows, and provide feedback. This hands-on input helps uncover what truly matters during live interactions and what gets in the way.
A few high-level principles to keep in mind include:
- Single-screen views with customer histories, account details, and case status.
- Context is carried forward, so agents don’t have to re-ask questions or re-enter information.
- Logical workflows that match real call flows: not idealized process maps.
- Fast performance, especially during peak call volumes.
When dashboards are designed around real call flow instead of system logic, agents spend less time navigating and more time resolving. This theme carries directly into staffing and tool decisions that I will cover in Part 3.