What each number is
Contacts per resolution, cost per resolution, repeat contacts and the burden are arithmetic on your inputs. The opening profile is an assumption, labelled heuristic, and a driver still at it grades Directional. Capacity released by an FCR improvement is a conditional forecast; it becomes cash only through the capacity action you select, at that action's realization share.
Formulas
FCR + (1 − FCR) × M
M is the total contacts an issue takes when it is not resolved first time, the first one included.
Loaded cost per contact × C
The premium over cost per contact is (C − 1), the cost of repeat demand.
Handled basis: resolutions = contacts ÷ C, repeats = contacts − resolutions. Issues basis: contacts = issues × C, repeats = issues × (C − 1)
The basis is stated on the page because the repeat arithmetic differs.
Repeat contacts × marginal cost per contact
A ceiling, never a saving: FCR never reaches 100%. Marginal is the variable cost; when none is entered it is derived at 60% of loaded and disclosed.
Hourly wage × overhead multiplier ÷ 60 × AHT ÷ concurrency
Labor only, per channel; blended by the channel mix.
Repeat contacts × blended effective minutes ÷ 60 ÷ productive hours per FTE
A capacity equivalent, never a headcount cut.
Resolutions × (C − C at the improved FCR) × marginal cost
Priced at +5, +10 and +15 FCR points; the page quotes the middle step.
Released × the realization share of the capacity action you select
No action selected realizes $0. Hiring avoidance is 75%, overtime 60%, vendor reduction 90%, headcount 100%.
Rules and bands
Read as a resolution problem; the shared moderate severity line.
Colour only. It reaches no confidence axis.
The repeat path is likely understated; completeness holds Directional until M is checked.
Every line is a threshold in the registry with its rationale.
Every constant and where it comes from
Default so the tool opens on a runnable case. A volume still at this value grades evidence Directional.
Default so the tool opens on a runnable case. An FCR still at this value grades evidence Directional.
Default so the tool opens on a runnable case. An M still at this value grades evidence Directional.
Default so the tool opens on a runnable case. A loaded cost still at this value grades evidence Directional.
Default so the tool opens on a runnable case. A marginal cost still at this value grades evidence Directional.
Default so the tool opens on a runnable case. Also the fallback when no usable figure is entered, disclosed as a correction.
Default so the tool opens on a runnable case. Voice share of the channel mix.
Default so the tool opens on a runnable case. Chat share of the channel mix.
Default so the tool opens on a runnable case. Email share of the channel mix.
Default so the tool opens on a runnable case. Voice handle time.
Default so the tool opens on a runnable case. Chat handle time.
Default so the tool opens on a runnable case. Email handle time.
Default so the tool opens on a runnable case. Voice is one contact at a time.
Default so the tool opens on a runnable case. Typical chat session concurrency.
Default so the tool opens on a runnable case. Email worked one at a time.
Marginal cost derived from loaded when none is entered. Disclosed on the page and grades cost evidence Directional.
Effective handle time used when the channel mix or handle times give none. Disclosed, and holds completeness Directional.
First FCR improvement the dividend prices. Read as operational work.
Second FCR improvement the dividend prices, and the one the layers table and analyst read quote. Read as root-cause work.
Third FCR improvement the dividend prices. Read as a transformation case, never a base case.
An agent cannot work fewer than one contact at a time. A concurrency below one is an input error, corrected to one and disclosed. It reaches completeness through the correction.
Repeat demand above this reads as a resolution problem. It is the point where the shared severity bucket turns moderate, so the flag and the published band agree. Framing only.
Below this FCR, paired with a shallow M, the repeat path is likely understated. Holds completeness Directional until M is checked.
An M under this with low FCR is implausibly shallow. Paired with the low FCR line, holds completeness Directional.
Cost per resolution card turns amber above this premium. Colour only. It reaches no confidence axis.
Cost per resolution card turns red above this premium. Colour only. It reaches no confidence axis.
The one agent wage benchmark the platform cites. Staffing, Cost per Contact and Channel Shift read it. It is the occupation median, no figure of the user's own, so a driver still at it grades evidence Directional. Source: US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 (released 15 May 2026), SOC 43-4051 Customer Service Representatives, national median hourly wage.
Wage plus benefits and employer payroll burden, and nothing else. The narrowest of the three loads. Use it wherever a wage becomes a loaded hourly rate for unit metrics.
Worked example
Computed by the tool's own engine at its opening profile, with avoided hiring as the capacity action (75% of freed capacity). The tool itself opens with no action chosen, which realizes $0.
Volume: 50,000 handled contacts a month
Resolution: FCR 72%, M 2.4 contacts per unresolved issue
Cost: $7.00 loaded, $4.20 marginal per contact
Channels: voice 60% at 7 minutes, chat 25% at 9 minutes and 2.5 concurrent, email 15% at 5 minutes; $21.53 an hour × 1.3; 140 productive hours per FTE
0.72 + 0.28 × 2.4 = 1.392
$7.00 × 1.392 = $9.74, a 39.2% premium
50,000 ÷ 1.392 = 35,920 resolutions; 14,080 repeats, 28.2% of contacts
14,080 × $4.20 = $59,138 a month (a ceiling)
$2.73 per contact at 5.85 effective minutes
14,080 × 5.85 ÷ 60 ÷ 140 = 9.8 FTE
FCR 82% releases $21,121 a month (3.5 FTE); realizable at 75% is $15,841
What this tool cannot tell you
- M is the depth of the repeat path. It is rarely measured directly; a shallow M understates every repeat figure, which is why the tool checks it against FCR.
- Marginal cost is the variable cost of one more contact. A marginal derived from loaded is a placeholder and grades cost evidence Directional.
- Capacity released is a model of an FCR improvement you have not yet made. The tool does not say how to reach it; the FCR Leakage Diagnostic looks for where resolution fails.
- Channel handle cost is labor only. Platform, telephony and facilities sit in your loaded figure.