Speed to answer
Speed to answer is the time between a call arriving and it being picked up. It is reported as an average (average speed of answer, ASA) or as the share of calls answered within a target such as twenty seconds.
Also called: average speed of answer, ASA, time to answer
It is measured from the moment the call reaches the system to the moment a person or agent answers, including any time in a queue. Contact centers set a service level against it, the common form is "80 percent of calls answered within 20 seconds", and track ASA as the average.
Speed to answer is a telephony metric about the pick-up. It is distinct from speed to lead, the commercial metric for how quickly a business follows up a new inquiry, though a slow answer is one way speed to lead goes wrong.