After Conversation Work

After Conversation Work (ACW) is a configurable period of time given to service agents immediately after a customer interaction ends, during which the agent can complete wrap-up tasks without being assigned a new interaction. This time is used for writing notes, updating case fields, setting follow-up tasks, or dispositioning the conversation.

A service agent ending a conversation isn't done - they need to log notes, update case fields, set follow-ups, and decide on a disposition before they're ready for the next interaction. Without explicit time for this, agents either rush through wrap-up (and produce sloppy data) or stall the queue (and miss the next call). After Conversation Work (ACW) is the configurable buffer that separates the two: a defined number of seconds or minutes during which the agent isn't routed new work and can finish the loop on what just ended.

The reason calibration matters is that ACW is a productivity dial. Set it too short and reps cut corners on case data; set it too long and queue throughput drops. Watch the actual time agents need to wrap up real conversations (a stopwatch helps), set ACW close to that median, and revisit when the case mix changes meaningfully. The right number for tier-1 password resets is wildly different from the right number for tier-2 escalations.