Service Level Agreements

An SLA is a contract, which describes the nature, cost and conditions of the outsourcing services offered by the service provider, which is defined by the buyer. The SLA, thus, describes the basis of a formal understanding between the developer and the client. It can better the development process and reduce the chances of project failure, besides strengthening customer relationships. Writing one requires a clear understanding of the capabilities of the company as well as a commitment to the customer.

Before implementing an Call Center SLA, you should ensure certain factors:

Your company has a certain service culture
Your company’s business initiatives drive IS activities
You are committed to the SLA process and contract

The metrics used in a call center usually include these categories:

ABA or Abandon Rate- the percentage of calls which are abandoned while waiting to be answered.
ASA or Average Speed to Answer- the average time in seconds taken to answer a call by the service desk.
TSF or Time Service Factor- the percentage of calls answered within a particular timeframe.
FCR or First Call Resolution- the actual percentage of incoming calls which can be settled without the use of a callback.

The SLA also usually includes the commitments for response, expansion and resolution time; it should also break down the various kinds of issues. Certain companies also have predefined categories, for example, major and minor outages and even troubles and service. A definition of the services provided, the measurement of performance, customer duties, warranties, disaster recovery and agreement termination are other commonly included segments in an SLA.

An SLA should also contain information on whom to contact. Internal SLAs, which are under support models, should include documentation as well as all the processes that show the responsibilities clearly.

The SLA also needs to be reviewed and maintained continuously.