totalincomingcalls

Totalincomingcalls is a metric used in telecom and contact center analytics to denote the total number of inbound calls received by a system over a defined period. The term may appear as totalincomingcalls or in camelCase as totalIncomingCalls, depending on the platform. It generally measures demand placed on the telephony or IVR system rather than the disposition of those calls.

The scope of totalincomingcalls can vary by implementation. In many setups it includes every attempt or start of an inbound call that enters the telephony system from an external number, regardless of whether the call is answered, routed to an agent, directed to voicemail, or abandoned before connect. Some organizations exclude calls that fail to connect due to carrier issues or test calls; others report both started and connected counts.

Calculation and data sources are typically straightforward. The metric is usually the sum of call start events captured by PBX, call routing software, or contact center platforms over the chosen period. It can be shown as counts per hour, per day, or per other intervals, and dashboards may break totalincomingcalls into subcategories such as answered, abandoned, or forwarded to voicemail.

Uses and interpretation center on workload and capacity planning. Totalincomingcalls informs staffing decisions, queue management, and demand forecasting, and it can feed Erlang-based or other staffing models to estimate required agents and service levels. It provides a baseline for analyzing trends, seasonality, and the impact of campaigns or changes to routing.

Limitations include varying definitions across systems, which complicates comparisons. Documentation of scope, data sources, and exclusions is essential, along with attention to data quality issues, time zone alignment, and privacy or retention policies related to call data. See also inbound calls, answered calls, abandoned calls, and service level.