The framework behind the rankings
ACXPA Contact Centre CX Standards
A framework for defining and measuring what good looks like in a contact centre — balancing technical efficiency with human connection.
Developed in Australia by ACXPA and applicable to any contact centre, anywhere. This page sets out what we measure and how it is weighted. The Standards are the foundation for our Call Centre Rankings, the benchmarking services and the Certified Contact Centre programme.
The framework
What the Contact Centre CX Standards are
A practical framework for defining and measuring customer experience in a contact centre. It was built in Australia, from Australian call data — but nothing in it is specific to Australia.
It focuses on the two things a customer notices anywhere in the world: how hard it was to reach a person, and how good that person was once they got there.
Agent Mastery
The soft skills and behaviours that drive a high-quality human conversation.
70% of the Overall CX ScoreAccessibility
The ease and effort required for a customer to reach a live person.
30% of the Overall CX ScoreThe score
How the Standards are measured
The Standards produce a single figure: the Overall CX Score. It reflects how well a contact centre delivers a complete experience, across both the process and the people.
It is made of two weighted components, plus deductions for the pain points that damage an experience regardless of how well everything else scored.
Deductions are applied when significant issues occur — like being disconnected mid-call, or being pushed away from help when you have clearly asked to speak to a person.
Why is Agent Mastery weighted more heavily?
Because it is where the experience is won or lost. A customer will forgive a slow menu if the person who answers is excellent. The reverse is almost never true — a fast route to a poor conversation is still a poor experience. Accessibility gets a customer to the door; Agent Mastery is what happens once they are through it.
How often it happens
Centres are assessed monthly, so a score reflects current performance rather than a snapshot taken last quarter.
Members see the monthly results for the centres we assess, and the movement between months — not an assessment of their own centre.
The public Call Centre Rankings are published quarterly, so what is released externally reflects a settled three-month picture.
The two halves of the score
Inside the framework
The two halves of the score, in full. Agent Mastery is five competencies and 18 measured behaviours; Accessibility is 48 metrics across five categories. Switch between them below.
The five Agent Mastery competencies
Five competencies, 18 measured behaviours. Each is assessed on a live call by a trained assessor, not self-reported.
1. ENGAGE First impressions and ownership
Create a strong first impression and build trust by demonstrating ownership, personalising the interaction, and setting the stage for a successful conversation.
This moment sets the tone — where confidence, professionalism and warmth begin to shape the customer’s perception.
- WelcomeDeliver a vibrant, natural introduction that sets a positive tone.
- IntentUse definitive statements to establish confidence and ownership.
- NameSeek and use the customer’s name to personalise the interaction.
- BridgeClearly outline how you’ll assist, building customer confidence.
2. DISCOVER Understanding customer needs
Understand and explore customer needs by driving open conversations and actively listening to uncover their goals and concerns.
This competency reflects your ability to stay curious — digging beneath the surface to get clarity on what customers truly want and need.
- ConverseEncourage customers to share their needs and objectives.
- ListenDemonstrate active listening to show the customer they’re heard.
- ConfirmIdentify and validate key needs to ensure alignment and clarity.
3. EDUCATE Inform and empower the customer
Provide targeted, relevant information that builds understanding and ensures customers feel informed, confident, and ready to act.
This competency highlights your ability to explain with clarity — removing confusion and empowering the customer to decide with confidence.
- InformPresent relevant information tailored to customer needs.
- ChecksRegularly check for understanding and suitability.
- SeekConfirm the customer’s readiness to proceed or achieve resolution.
- ConfidenceCommunicate product or service details clearly and confidently.
4. CLOSE End strong with clarity and care
Conclude interactions with a strong final check, express gratitude, and leave a lasting positive impression.
The final moments of a call matter — the chance to reinforce confidence, eliminate doubt, and finish on a high note.
- CheckProactively initiate the close with a strong check for final questions.
- GratitudeShow appreciation for the customer’s time, patience or consideration.
- FarewellDeliver a warm, simple farewell that triggers a confident conclusion.
5. IMPACT Consistency, empathy and control
Build a strong connection and a seamless experience through effective communication and engagement.
The emotional engine room — where tone, empathy and control create lasting impressions and turn good service into great CX.
- VibrancyUse a consistently vibrant, natural tone to show warmth, interest and care.
- EmpathyAcknowledge and validate the customer’s needs, concerns or objections.
- ControlMaintain proactive control of the call with efficient, transparent management.
- ClarityCommunicate in plain language the customer can act on.
The five Accessibility categories
Forty-eight metrics, measured by calling your centre as a customer would. No survey, no self-assessment, and no advance notice.
Search
How easy is it for a customer to find your contact number? We assess whether it is listed on Google, clearly accessible on your website, and how many clicks it takes to get there.
Design
Whether your IVR is structured for simplicity and efficiency — the number of layers, how many options are presented, redundant or excessive messages, and whether customers are told the queue wait time.
Ease
Do the options make sense from a customer’s perspective? How clearly the menus guide the caller, whether all selections are accepted, and whether customers can progress without confusion or dead ends.
Audio
The professionalism of your voiceovers — is the tone warm, the volume consistent, the messaging concise? Every detail shapes how the customer feels before the call even begins.
Timing
How long it takes to reach an agent, including time spent navigating menus, listening to messages, and waiting in a queue.
Deductions
Penalties for excessive wait times, repetitive prompts, missing options for new customers, or pushing people to digital channels when they have clearly asked to speak to a person.
Why it applies to you
What Agent Mastery gives you
Agent Mastery is what we call the soft skills — but nothing in it is soft to manage. Every competency is observable, coachable and comparable, which is what makes it useful whatever your centre does. Naming the behaviours is the first half; the method for coaching them comes with certification and training.
Coach the behaviour, not the score
Eighteen named behaviours means a QA conversation is about something specific an agent did or did not do, not a number they cannot influence.
Onboard faster
Once your team runs the framework, a new starter has a written definition of what a good call sounds like on day one, instead of picking it up by osmosis over six months.
Compare across teams
Sales, service and support are measured the same way, so a strong team is visible wherever it sits and its practice can be copied.
Benchmark outside your walls
The same framework runs across every centre we assess, so you find out whether 82% is good in your sector or merely good in your building.
Objection one
“But our business is different…”
We hear it often, and it is true — every business is different. But great contact centre experiences share the same foundations: human connection, clear communication, and efficient service.
Whether you handle inbound sales, technical support, account enquiries or general service, the behaviours that drive customer satisfaction are the same. What changes is how you apply them.
The Standards do not dictate how you operate. They are an evidence-based definition of what good looks and sounds like — whatever your industry, and wherever you are. Putting that definition to work inside your own centre is what the certification programme and the training are for.
Objection two
Australian rankings, a framework that travels
Two things often get conflated, so to be explicit: the Standards are the framework, and the Rankings are one programme that uses it.
Our published Call Centre Rankings and the CX Benchmarking Program currently assess Australian contact centres, because that is where our assessor network operates. The framework underneath them makes no assumption about geography — the competencies, the behaviours and the accessibility metrics are the same whether a centre is in Melbourne, Manila or Manchester.
One thing to be clear about, wherever you are: this page publishes what we measure, not how to deliver it. The method behind it — how to score a call consistently, how to coach each behaviour, and the practice that sits under all 18 of them — is what the Certified Contact Centre programme licences and what the CX Skills courses teach.
Take action
Put the Standards to work
Four different things, and they are often confused. One is a public leaderboard, one is how you get your own score, one certifies your centre to run the framework itself, and one trains your people in it.
Call Centre Rankings
The public leaderboard of top performers by sector, published quarterly. It covers the centres we assess, and a Monthly Snapshot carries a public ranking — so it is also how a centre gets itself listed.
View the rankingsBenchmarking services
How you get your own score, in several forms: against the sector average, head to head against rivals you nominate, privately against your own criteria, or scored from recordings you already hold.
Compare the optionsCertified Contact Centre
Not an audit — a programme. A setup workshop, accreditation for the people who score your calls, training for leaders and agents, a licence to run the framework as your own standard, and the badge.
See what is includedCX Skills training
Courses built on the same competencies your team is measured against, so what you coach on Monday is what gets assessed on Friday. Individual courses, or a programme across the team.
Browse the coursesCommon questions
How do we get our own centre’s score?
There are several routes, and they all assess live customer calls against these same Standards. What changes is how far you go beyond your own score.
- Monthly Snapshot Your score against the sector average, on 23 metrics. It also earns you a place in the public rankings. Monthly, cancel any time.
- Peer & Competitor The full 48+ metrics, benchmarked head to head against three to ten rivals you nominate. A public listing is optional — you choose. Available as a trial or a three-month programme.
- Private Benchmarking The full 48+ metrics against your own criteria, with compliance checks and results workshops. Confidential, and never published.
- Call Quality Assessment We score call recordings you already have, rather than mystery shopping you.
What does not get your centre assessed is ACXPA membership. Membership shows you the results for the centres we assess; it is not an assessment of yours. Start at Get your call centre ranking for the three main options side by side, or the benchmarking services for the full comparison.
How often are centres assessed, and how often is that published?
Two different cadences, which is worth separating. Centres are assessed every month, and members see their monthly results as they land. The public Call Centre Rankings are published quarterly, so the figures released externally reflect a settled three-month picture rather than a single month’s sample.
Can we run the Standards inside our own centre?
Yes, and that is what the Certified Contact Centre programme is for. Worth being precise about what is on this page and what is not: this page publishes what we measure — the competencies, the behaviours and the metrics. It is not the method. Scoring a call consistently, coaching against each behaviour, and the practice underneath all 18 of them is the material the certification programme licences and the CX Skills courses teach.
What if our contact centre is offshore or hybrid?
It makes no difference to the assessment. We call the number the customer would call and measure the experience they receive, wherever it is answered. Many centres use the Standards precisely because they hold an onshore and an offshore site to one definition of good.
What is the difference between the Rankings and benchmarking?
The Rankings are the public, free-to-read output: a quarterly leaderboard of the top performers in each sector. Benchmarking is the paid assessment that produces a score for your centre.
They are not sealed off from each other. A Monthly Snapshot carries a public ranking, so taking one puts you on the leaderboard; a Peer & Competitor listing is optional; Private benchmarking is never published. So the Rankings tell you who is doing well, benchmarking tells you how you are doing, and one of the benchmarking options is also how you get listed.
Can we use the Standards outside Australia?
Yes. The framework makes no assumption about geography — the competencies and metrics apply to any contact centre in any market. What is currently Australia-only is the published Rankings, because that is where our assessor network operates.
