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64TEQ Tools Contact centre seat sizer

Contact centre seat sizer · free, runs in your browser

Size a contact centre from one busy hour.

For a new contact centre, a move to RingCX or a rota that never quite fits. It uses Erlang C, the standard model the contact centre industry and every major platform use, so the number you get is the one your platform would give you, before you pay for a single seat. It runs in your browser.

Contact centre seat sizer

How many agents do you actually need on the phones?

Put in the calls you take in your busiest hour, how long each one lasts and the answer time you're aiming for. We give you the agents needed at once, the headcount to roster once holidays and breaks are allowed for, and what happens if the numbers move.

Standard Erlang C maths, the same model the big platforms use. It assumes calls arrive at random and nobody hangs up, so it errs on the safe side. Good for sizing a licence; not a replacement for workforce management.

Shrinkage is the share of paid time agents aren't available to take calls: breaks, training, holiday, sickness. Thirty per cent is typical.

Agents on the phones, headcount to roster, occupancy and average speed of answer appear here, with what changes if the calls or handling time move.

How it works

Four steps, no account.

Six numbers

Calls in the busiest hour, average handling time, shrinkage, the answer target, the seconds it must be met within and an occupancy cap. Sensible defaults are filled in.

The maths

Erlang C turns calls and handling time into workload, then adds agents until the target is met without overloading anyone.

The answer

Agents on the phones, headcount to roster, occupancy and average speed of answer, with a table of what changes if calls or handling time move.

Before you buy seats

Take the number to us for RingCentral pricing, or ask us to model the full picture with abandonment and multiple skills before a renewal.

Straight answers

Questions about this tool.

What is Erlang C?
A queueing formula from 1917 that has been the standard way of sizing call queues ever since. Every workforce management product and vendor sizing calculator uses it or a variant of it. This tool uses the standard formula, checked against textbook examples.
What is shrinkage?
The share of paid time agents are not available to take calls: breaks, training, holiday, sickness, meetings. Thirty per cent is typical, which is why 14 agents on the phones can mean 20 people on the rota.
Why does it say occupancy matters?
Above about 85 per cent agents burn out and handling times creep up, which needs more agents, not fewer. Small teams feel this first. The cap keeps the answer honest.
What does it not do?
It sizes one busy hour and assumes callers wait. Real queues have abandonment, callbacks and multiple skills, all of which we model properly with you before a renewal. Good for sizing a licence; not a replacement for workforce management.

Next

More you can do now.

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Take the result to a person.

This tool is part of our cloud telephony and contact centre work. A specialist reads what you found and says what we would do next, and if the answer is nothing, we say that.

Message a specialist on WhatsApp → Speak to a person · 0203 858 0264 Email michelle.nayee@64teq.com