How many agents?

How many agents should be available, if 300 calls of 60 seconds duration are received? It is required that 85% of calls are answered within 30 seconds.

An example calculation

•	Click with your mouse on the radio button next to the Number of agents / operators field. This indicates that it is this quantity which is unknown and to be calculated.

•	Enter the figure 300 into the Number of calls edit box.

•	Enter the figure 60 into the Average duration edit box.

•	Enter the figures 85 and 30 into the Percentage answered edit boxes. Leave the average delay edit box blank.

•	Press the Calculate button.

After a short time, the figure 7 will appear in the Number of agents field indicating that 7 agents are required to answer these calls if the performance criteria are to remain within those set and the assumptions of the Erlang C traffic model are met.