Question

Consider a troubleshooting call center, where customers wait on hold until a representative is available. Currently, there are six representatives on duty at any one time. A representative talks with a customer for an average of 16 minutes. Records show that average time for a customer to wait on hold is 36 minutes. a. On average, how many customers are on hold for the entire call center? Show all work. b. If the service were improved so that the average number of customers on hold per representative was 1.5, what would be the average wait time for a customer (in minutes)? Show all work.

Answer 1

Time taken by a representative with a customer averages to 16 minutes.
Average time for a customer to wait on hold in 36 minutes.

a). Average no. of customers which are on hold for the entire call center:-
Average no. of customers which are on hold per representative at a time = 36 minutes / 16 minutes = 2.5 customers per representative at a time.
For the entire call center = 2.5 customers * 6 representatives = 15 customers at at time.

b). If the service were improved so that the average number of customers on hold per representative was 1.5, then the average time of waiting for a customer is 16 minutes * 1.5 = 24 minutes on an average for a customer.