DWS Service Desk Rescue Series: Improving First Call Resolution (FCR)

‍

As you navigate the many websites out there in google land, you will find varying definitions of what is first call resolution and how to calculate it. You will undoubtedly also come across many other definitions such as, first-time fix, first-call efficiency, first-level resolution and so on. For the purposes of this blog, we will focus solely on first-call resolution. Let's begin by defining what is first call resolution.

In the world of IT Support, specifically within the Service Desk space, before you start providing support, you will identify the types of calls you will be getting and how those calls with be categorized. For example, Software - Microsoft - MS Word - Error. Based on these levels of categorization you would identify what the Service Desk can resolve and what they have to pass to Deskside Support or other Resolver Groups. The list of Service Desk Resolvable calls then becomes your denominator for your FCR calculation. Once you begin support, you would measure how many of those Service Desk Resolvable calls you actually resolved at the Service Desk without having to reassign them to other groups or having to reopen them. This number becomes your numerator.

So the First Call Resolution then becomes: (Service Desk Resolvable Calls Closed / Service Desk Resolvable Calls Opened) * 100.

For example: MS Word error or how-to would be resolvable. Laptop not powering on would not be considered resolvable.

‍

‍

The Objective of FCR Process:

‍

The objective of the first call resolution process is to ensure that the appropriate organization and management systems, processes and procedures, technology and tools, and mindsets and behaviours are in place to drive a strong focus on the total cost of ownership and client experience.

The first call resolution is an important measure of Service Desk performance because not only does it have a great influence on the overall client experience, but it also has a large impact on the total cost of ownership.

If we look at the impact of first call resolution on the total cost of ownership we can see why it is an important measure. For example, if you know that the cost per call at the service desk is approximately $15 and if you compare that to the cost per ticket of Remote Support (level 1.5)  at $25, and if you look at the cost per ticket at deskside support (Level 2.0) to be >$100. You can see why it would be advantageous to resolve tickets more at Service Desk (Level 1) versus at Level 1.5, Level 2.0 or Higher.

If you want to take this to another level, now imagine having to users resolve their issues via a self-service website which is a lot less costly. And if you continue down the path of the shift-left strategy, can you implement automation or sense and heal technologies where the issues are automatically remediated without the involvement of support. You can see how significant cost savings can become, especially when you are dealing with 30-40-50-70K tickets a month.

If we take a look at the impact of first called resolution on the client experience, it is easy to see that if the issue is resolved right then and there on the call, the customer would be very happy and satisfied with the level of service that was provided to them. This allows the customer to return to their work with minimal disruption.

the Although I suppose one c argue that there might be some customers out there who want to prolong the
resolution of their issue, so they can avoid having to do work. :-)

In the following blog article, I talked in detail about Client Experience and how to improve it. https://jnana.webflow.io/blogs/client-experience

‍

Benefits of FCR Process:

‍

• Reduce Total Cost of Ownership. Resolving more calls at the service desk, which is less costly, than resolving calls at Level 1.5, Level 2.0 and up.
• Improve Client Experience. By resolving calls at the service desk and not have to reassign them to other resolver groups, you will allow the customer to get back to their work more quickly.
• Improve Employee Experience. By providing better knowledge management systems, quality management systems, skills/training management systems, service performance management systems, and continual improvement systems, the employees will be able to respond to and resolve calls more quickly. This will improve their experience and productivity levels.

‍

Sample List of Recommendations for FCR Process:

‍

• Strengthen skills and training management program which includes skill gap analysis at regular intervals
• Strengthen the knowledgebase and ensure there is a knowledge management program in place to provide current and accurate information
• Strengthen the total quality management program to ensure that calls, tickets, surveys and other sources of work are being looked at to improve the overall quality.
• Strengthen the service performance management program. Specifically, the reporting and measurements system to track and trend the team's performance.
• Strengthen the service performance management program. Specifically, the analytics and optimization system to ensure insights are being harvested from their performance and recommendations are being made to drive improvement.
• Strengthen the continual service improvement program. Ensure all observations and findings are being tracked in the CSI register and improvement is being made.
• Strengthen employee engagement, enablement, and empowerment systems. Specifically, implement an awards and recognition program. Having engaged and connected employees will contribute to the FCR results.

‍

‍

‍