# Calculate how many support agents I need per shift

A staffing estimate by hour or shift from ticket volume, handle time, and service targets, with the math shown.

- Topic: Customer Support
- Framework: Few-Shot
- Level: Standard
- Tags: Email, Customer Support, Fill-in Template
- Source: https://www.thinkwithprompt.com/prompts/calculate-how-many-support-agents-i-need-per-shift

## Prompt

```text
Help me estimate how many support agents I need.

**Contact volume:** [TICKETS/CHATS/CALLS by hour or day of week, ideally for several weeks - paste data or averages]
**Channels:** [phone / chat / email, and the volume split]
**Average handle time per channel:** [MINUTES, including after-contact work]
**Service targets:** [e.g. 80% of calls answered in 30 seconds, email first reply within 4 hours]
**Chat concurrency:** [how many chats an agent handles at once]
**Shrinkage:** [time agents are paid but not handling contacts: breaks, training, meetings, absence - e.g. 30%]
**Hours of coverage and time zones:** [DETAILS]
**Current headcount and schedule:** [DETAILS]

Do this:
1. Calculate the workload hours needed per interval (volume x handle time), per channel.
2. For phone and live chat, estimate agents needed to hit the service target using an Erlang C approach. Explain it in plain words and show the inputs. For email, use backlog and response-time targets instead.
3. Add shrinkage to get scheduled headcount per interval.
4. Compare with my current schedule and show gaps or overstaffing by hour or shift in a table.
5. Suggest schedule changes (staggered starts, split shifts, channel moves) before suggesting new hires.

Show your calculations, state every assumption, and don't invent volume numbers I didn't provide. Note how sensitive the result is to handle time and shrinkage.
```

## What to fill in

- phone / chat / email, and the volume split
- MINUTES, including after-contact work
- how many chats an agent handles at once
- DETAILS

Free to copy and use. From ThinkWithPrompt (https://www.thinkwithprompt.com/), a library of 2,663 curated AI prompts.