Erlang What?

So what's all the hype about Erlang C? What does this have to do with leading a help desk?

Erlang is a unit of traffic measurement. It is measured by looking at the usage time for all resources divided by the total time interval. It is used for telecommunications design, architecture, and call centers. It's a great fit for the help desk as well.

On the help desk, Erlang C is a way of calculating the number of analysts needed for each hour of the day. Inputs into the formula are simply:

• the number of calls received in the hour you're looking at
• the average duration of these calls (in seconds)
• the acceptable average delay (in seconds)

Although you can calculate the number of analysts for each hour on your own, you can simply use one of the freely available Erlang C calculators available on the web, like http://www.erlang.com/calculator/erlc/.

Remember that for each hour of coverage, you'll need to do a separate calculation, since call volumes vary throughout the day. You can use this information to schedule analysts. Depending on the variability of the volume of calls, you may need to consider using part-time analysts during certain hours.