How to deal with high call volume in contact centers?
Published on Thu May 15 2025
Updated on Fri Aug 08 2025
5 minute read
Of course, not all of these statistics may matter to your business - that will depend on your targets, strategy, and whether you’re in the middle of peak management planning. However, any one of these can help you better understand how your customer experience is going and develop data-driven tactics for areas that need improvement.
What does it all mean?
If you’ve been in the game for enough time, you’ll know that no day is quite like the next. Whilst this can be for a variety of reasons, one of the biggest challenges in the industry are surges in call volumes in a contact center. And without a good peak management plan in place, they can throw any brand for a loop. A high call volume is defined as a contact center receiving a high number of inbound calls within a short period of time.
There’s pros and cons to everything.
Though it may seem like managing high call volumes is an uphill battle, there are two sides to the story. There are a few pros and cons to consider, such as:
How can you handle volumes like a pro?
As part of managing your business, one of your priorities is to ensure that your team and operation is equipped to handle times like these. There are a number of strategies you can use to effectively handle greater inbound volumes in your contact center.
Implement a call queuing system.
One of the best ways of managing high call volumes is to implement a call queuing system. This will allow your team to better handle large numbers of inbound calls by managing them in an orderly fashion. It also allows you to distribute incoming messages across various teams and even locations.
Use call deflection options.
Another effective strategy for managing surges like these is to offer call deflection options to customers. This will allow them to avoid waiting on hold for long periods of time. Some studies show that 75% of customers prefer a callback to waiting on hold.
Hire additional staff.
If you find that your team is struggling to keep up with the demand, it may be necessary to hire additional staff. This will ensure that your team is better able to handle the day-to-day of your contact center. By forecasting when there might be a surge, you can plan ahead for recruitment and training of new hires - more on that later.
Provide next-level training.
It’s important to provide training to your staff that will ensure they are equipped with the skills and knowledge necessary to manage large numbers of calls successfully, efficiently, and without compromising on customer experience. An excellent way to do this is through gamification - by creating an educational game that agents can play on their phones or desktops, you can incentivize them to improve their skills while competing for prizes or other rewards. This kind of gamification can reduce learning curves by 60% and AHT by 63%!
The benefits of outsourcing your customer service.
Keep an eye on your statistics.
Everyone knows that data is key, both in forecasting when call surges may happen and in analyzing how well your customer service agents are handling them. Some of the most important numbers to keep note of are:
You may have some avid fans.
We’ve spoken about managing high call volumes, but have you heard of high volume callers? A high volume caller is defined as a customer who calls the contact center frequently or who has a significant number of questions or requests. Usually, these individuals fall into one of two categories: they love your brand and use your products or services often, or they are having serious issues that aren’t being resolved. So while some of them may be happy with the quality of service they receive, others may become frustrated if they feel like they’re not getting the attention they need.
What’s the best way to handle a high volume caller?
- Provide them with a dedicated customer service representative that can be their first port of call when they get in touch. This way, the agent knows their history and is better informed to support their request.
- Offer them call back options to allow them a flexible way to contact you if they need further support, at their convenience.
- Give them priority access to customer service through a VIP queue. Actions like these can make customers feel prioritized and therefore, more satisfied with service.
- Create a VIP or loyalty program for frequent callers, and use advocacy language when speaking with them.
- Alert your customer success team to the potential for gathering feedback about your customer service, products, and more. This is a great opportunity to connect with your community!
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Created at Fri Mar 27 2026
5 min read
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