One Contact Resolution (OCR) is defined as the percentage of customers who resolved their inquiry or problem on their first contact and did not use another contact channel before or after using a specific contact channel. Therefore, a simple way to think about OCR is - 'one contact and one channel' is used to resolve an inquiry or problem.

To our knowledge, SQM is the only company that measures OCR using the voice of the customer post-contact survey method and bringing important thought leadership to the industry to improve OCR.

Below are common questions that we are asked about OCR and related areas.

How to Measure OCR?

External OCR measurement is considered to be the most accurate method for measuring and benchmarking OCR. External measurement lets the customer judge whether One Contact Resolution took place; after all, their opinion is what matters the most. In most cases, a post-contact phone or email survey method is used for external OCR measurement. In addition, the external OCR method uses a standardized measurement methodology so you can benchmark One Contact Resolution.

OCR Calculation The calculation of Voice of the Customer (VoC) OCR is based on the number of surveyed customers who determined their inquiry or problem was resolved on the first contact using only one contact channel, divided by the total number of surveyed customers.

OCR Calculation Example: Based on survey results, the number of surveyed customers who determined their inquiry or problem was resolved on the first contact using only one contact channel (236) ÷ the total number of surveyed customers (400) = 59% OCR performance level.

Why use a Post-contact Survey to Measure OCR?

A post-contact survey is essential to measure OCR because it is the customer's opinion that matters most. The customer is the only one that can judge whether they expected their issue to be resolved and whether it is truly resolved. Be aware that some companies use internal measures as a proxy for the voice of the customer; however, we typically find that internal measures can tend to inflate the measure of OCR by 10% to 20%.

Essential to a post-contact survey's accuracy is that the survey is conducted on a random sampling basis and within one day of the customer's experience. These two elements are critical to the SQM methodology for surveying for the following reasons:

1. A random sample of calls ensures that the sample represents the contact center's call volume. Therefore the KPI's such as OCR, First Call Resolution (FCR), and Customer Satisfaction (Csat) are an accurate reflection of your contact center.
2. We always conduct the survey within 24 hours so that the customer's recollection of the details of the contact experience is still fresh in their minds.

What are the Differences Between FCR and OCR?

An essential distinction between First Call Resolution (FCR) and OCR is that FCR only considers using an individual contact channel and does not factor in if other contact channels were used trying to resolve an inquiry or problem. Conversely, OCR factors the number of interactions made and if other contact channels are used to resolve an inquiry or problem. Put differently, OCR is a more challenging metric to achieve than FCR because it factors in other contact channels.

What Percentage of Consumers Use Self-service over the Contact Center?

Our contact channels volume research shows that approximately 65% of consumers use self-service channels (e.g., IVR, website, and chat), and 35% use the contact center channels (e.g., call, email). However, that proportion continues to grow in favor of self-service.

When you consider that approximately 40% of customers interacting with an organization use multiple contact channels to resolve the same inquiry or problem, the OCR metric is essential for measuring customer experience (CX).

The easier it is for a customer to resolve their inquiry or problem, the higher the Csat. That is why the OCR customer experience has the highest Csat (89%) by far of all the contact channel experiences (i.e., OCR, omni-channel, and multi-channel) a customer has for resolving an inquiry or problem.

What is a Good OCR Rating? How does that Compare to FCR Ratings?

Our research shows a good OCR rate is 75%, and for FCR, it is 80%. Therefore, the good OCR and FCR rates are based on the top 5% of SQM clients achieving a world-class OCR and FCR performance level.

FCR and OCR are highly correlated. Put differently, when FCR goes up or down, so does OCR. The OCR metric is more difficult to achieve than FCR because it factors whether the customer used another channel to resolve the same inquiry or problem and FCR does not.

The contact center industry average for One Contact Resolution is just 59%. So the low OCR rate is alarming for the industry because it is saying that 41% of customers have to use multiple contacts and channels to resolve their issues. So that is a rallying cry for the industry to improve performance. This is especially true when you consider that most customers expect to resolve their inquiry or problem on the contact channel they choose to use on the first interaction.