Contact Center Cost Per Call in Saudi Arabia: How to Calculate

The cost of a contact-center call in Saudi Arabia is not salary divided by calls. It is the fully loaded cost of every paid hour, adjusted for the time agents cannot take calls (shrinkage) and the time they wait between calls (occupancy), multiplied by the full handle time, plus supervision, tools, telephony and the cost of the calls you never answer.

Below are the components, the formula for each, and a worked example with labeled illustrative inputs. Replace every input with your own payroll, workforce-management and telephony data.

The components of cost per call

Most underestimates come from leaving out one of these lines. Collect each for the same period, ideally the last three to six months.

Step 1: loaded agent cost per paid hour

Start with the full monthly employment cost of one agent, not the basic salary. In Saudi Arabia it differs between Saudi and non-Saudi staff, and under the new Social Insurance Law pension contributions are rising gradually for civilians first registered after 3 July 2024, according to Argaam's report on GOSI's changes. Confirm current rates with GOSI and your payroll provider.

Loaded cost per paid hour = total monthly employment cost per agent ÷ paid hours per month

The Labor Law sets standard working hours at up to 8 a day or 48 a week, and reduces them to no more than 6 a day or 36 a week for Muslim employees during Ramadan (Article 98, as summarized by the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development). Use your actual contracted hours. Overtime is paid at the hourly wage plus 50% of the basic wage (Article 107), so overtime-heavy months raise the hourly cost.

Step 2: adjust for shrinkage and occupancy

An agent paid for an hour does not handle calls for an hour. Two adjustments convert paid time into handling time.

• Shrinkage is the share of paid time not available for contacts. Call Centre Helper defines it as external plus internal shrinkage hours divided by total hours. Cost per available hour = loaded cost per paid hour ÷ (1 − shrinkage).
• Occupancy is handling time divided by logged-in available time. Agents wait between calls, and the smaller the team, the more they wait at the same service level. Cost per handled minute = cost per available hour ÷ 60 ÷ occupancy.

Occupancy is not a lever to push to 100%: Call Centre Helper notes that sustained occupancy above about 85% risks burnout. Erlang C staffing calculates agents from volume, handle time and service level, then adds shrinkage on top, so both factors belong in the cost.

Step 3: handle time and overheads per call

Average handle time (AHT) = talk time + hold time + after-call work, averaged over handled calls. Reported after-call work can understate reality, for example when agents finish notes in several systems after closing the call or skip the wrap-up code. Check it against a sample of recordings and CRM timestamps.

Labor cost per handled call = AHT (minutes) × cost per handled minute. Then convert monthly overheads to a per-call figure:

Calls per agent per month = paid hours × (1 − shrinkage) × occupancy × 60 ÷ AHT

• Supervision per call = monthly cost of team leaders, QA and WFM per agent ÷ calls per agent.
• Tools per call = monthly license and seat cost per agent ÷ calls per agent.
• Telephony per call = carrier rate per minute × billed minutes per call, including queue time if you pay for inbound minutes.

A worked example with illustrative inputs

The inputs below are illustrative, chosen to show the arithmetic. They are not market salary or price data. Replace them with your own.

Labor is about 80% of the total in this example, which is why handle time, shrinkage and occupancy matter more than any license price. The cost per resolved issue is a simple approximation: if one call in four needs a repeat contact, each resolved issue carries roughly one third more calls.

The cost of missed and abandoned calls

Abandoned calls cost twice: callers who try again add volume, and callers who do not may mean lost revenue or a lost customer.

Monthly cost of missed calls = abandoned calls × (share who call back × cost per handled call) + abandoned calls × (share who do not × value at risk per call)

Estimate the callback share by matching abandoned numbers to later calls in your ACD data, and value at risk from your own conversion or retention data. Keep it as a separate line.

Using the figure to make decisions

Split the cost per call by call reason. A small number of reasons often account for most volume, and their costs differ with handle time, which shows where shorter calls, better first-contact resolution or automation would save the most. Our voice AI ROI worked example applies the same cost-per-minute logic to a full business case, and the guide to Ramadan, Hajj and seasonal call peaks shows how the figure changes when overtime and reduced Ramadan hours apply. For the difference between menu-based routing and conversational automation, see AI voice agent vs IVR.

How Ranen fits into the calculation

Ranen is priced per minute it handles, and minutes after a transfer to staff are not counted, so it compares directly with your cost per handled minute. On transfer it passes a summary, the caller's intent and the steps taken, which can shorten the agent's part of the call. The ROI calculator uses the same formulas as this guide, and a demo on your own call recordings shows which call reasons it can complete end to end. Plan prices are on the pricing section.

Frequently asked questions

How do you calculate cost per call in a call center?

Divide total monthly contact-center cost by calls handled that month. To see what drives it, build it bottom-up: loaded hourly cost adjusted for shrinkage and occupancy, times handle time, plus overheads per call.

What is a good cost per call in Saudi Arabia?

There is no reliable public benchmark: salaries, Saudization mix, call complexity and handle time vary widely. Track your own cost per call by reason over time.

Should after-call work be included in handle time?

Yes. It is paid agent time spent on the call. Measure it from system timestamps, not self-reporting.

What is the difference between cost per call and cost per resolution?

Cost per call counts each handled call. Cost per resolution divides by issues actually resolved, so repeat calls raise it. It is the better measure when comparing channels or automation.

Sources

1. Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development: Actual working hours (Labor Law Articles 98 and 107)
2. Argaam: GOSI to increase pension contributions for new employees as of July 1
3. Call Centre Helper: What is the difference between occupancy and utilisation?
4. Call Centre Helper: Erlang C formula, made simple with an easy worked example