Articles | HSMAI Americas

Navigating Contact Center Terms: Acronyms & Terminology Explained

Stephanie Poirier, Senior Team Leader, Sales Support & Quality Performance, Accor, Contact Center SIG Steering Committee Members

Megan Becker, Manager of Hiring and Training, Reservations, Hershey Entertainment & Resorts Company, Contact Center SIG Steering Committee Members

At the heart of guest interactions, Contact Centers often serve as the first point of contact. In the fast-paced and service-driven world of the hospitality industry, communication is key to delivering exceptional guest experiences. Internally, the same holds true — specialized acronyms and phrases have developed within the sector to streamline operations and drive greater efficiency.

These terms symbolize processes, technologies, and metrics that ensure smooth operation in hospitality contact centers. Understanding these definitions is essential for anyone working within the industry, from front-line colleagues to upper management, as they play a critical role in improving service quality, boosting performance, and ensuring guest satisfaction.

In this article, we will share the top 25 most used call center acronyms and phrases and their significance in driving success.

Term	Definition
Abandonment Rate	The percentage of callers who hang up before speaking with an agent
ACD	Automatic Call Distribution – telephony system that receives calls and distributes them to agents/representatives
ADR	Average Daily Rate – average income per occupied room a hotel earns in a set period of time; key indicator of hotel’s success
AHT	Average Handle Time – the average duration to handle a call; includes talk time and after-call work (ACW)
ASA	Average Speed of Answer – the average time it takes to answer a call
ATT	Average Talk Time – average time an agent spends talking with guests per call
BPO	Business Process Outsourcing – delegating specific tasks to 3rd party service provider to optimize internal operating costs related to HR, technologies, knowledge base, etc.
Conversion	The percentage of calls that result in a sale/reservation (some contact centers may measure the percentage of all calls, others may measure the percentage of lead calls that result in a sale)
C-SAT	Customer Satisfaction – a method of monitoring and measuring customer satisfaction levels, usually through surveys
CTI	Computer Telephony Integration – a technology that connects telephone systems to computers, enabling agents to access customer information during calls
Disposition	Status that describes the outcome of the call (booked, not booked, etc)
FCR	First Call Resolution – The percentage of calls resolved during the first contact
FTE	Full-Time Equivalent – a unit of measurement that represents the number of full-time employees an organization would have if all employees worked full-time; used to standardize headcount and assist with determining staffing levels
GDS	Global Distribution System – a computerized network that allows travel agencies to book travel services from multiple suppliers
IVR	Interactive Voice Response – plays a pre-recorded message and allows customer to respond with voice commands to select the type of service they need
KPI	Key Performance Indicators – Measures used to determine the quantity and quality of contact and support provided by individual contact center agents, and the center as a whole
Occupancy	The percentage of time agents spend actively handling calls and other work activities
PCA	Percentage of Calls Answered –
QA	Quality Assurance – an assessment process to ensure agents’ customer interactions meet hotel quality standards
Rev per Res	Revenue per Reservation –
Rev per TT	Revenue per Talk Time – measures the amount of revenue generated per unit of “talk time” during a sales call or customer interaction; measures the direct return on time spent talking to potential clients
SL	Service Level – Percentage of calls answered within a specific time frame.
Speed to Proficiency / Time to Proficiency	The amount of time it takes for a new employee to learn and develop to meet performance expectations for the role
Transfer Rate	The percentage of calls transferred by an agent
VOC	Voice of Customer – customer’s feedback about their experience, expectations, and desires for the business’s services, products, and offerings.

Now that you’ve had a chance to familiarize yourself with a number of contact center terms, it’s time to expand on the conversation and join us at our quarterly Contact Center SIG meetings, or monthly Fireside Chats! This is a unique opportunity for professionals within the hospitality contact center space to dive into the latest trends, share knowledge, and drive service excellence together. Attendees will gain invaluable insights to enhance their operations.

And be sure to join us at the Commercial Strategies Conference in Orlando next June 29-30, 2027 for an inspiring, informative event!

Session Recap: The Confidence Cocktail™: 3Cs to Command Any Room

Tess McGoldrick, Senior Director Product Enablement, Lighthouse, HSMAI Sales Advisory Board Member

This article is a summary of Karen Laos’s presentation at the recent HSMAI Commercial Strategy Conference.

Why This Matters

Poor communication isn’t just uncomfortable, it’s a trust killer. Sixty percent of employees cite it as the primary reason they don’t trust leadership, and 64% say poor communication during change caused them to lose trust entirely. For hospitality commercial leaders navigating constant change, the ability to communicate with confidence isn’t a soft skill. It’s a competitive advantage.

Key Insights

Confidence is a cocktail, not a personality trait. Karen’s frameworkcenters on three ingredients: being Clear, Compelling, and Credible — with Courage as the base. The goal isn’t to become someone different; it’s to remove the habits that dilute your presence. Start by rating yourself 1–10 on each ingredient to identify your blind spots.
Delivery can undermine great content. Fifty-five percent of communication is body language, 38% is vocal quality, and only 7% is the actual words. If you rush, people tune out. If you shrink physically, people question your authority. Hands above the table, weight evenly distributed, elbows slightly away from your torso. Thesearen’t small details, they signal whether the room should listen to you.
Minimizing language quietly signals self-doubt. Phrases like “I might be wrong, but…” or “I’m no expert, but…”aren’t humility, they’re credibility leaks. Swap them for direct alternatives: “Here’s what I’m seeing,” “I recommend,” or “Here’s my vote.” The shift feels small and lands very differently.
Clarity is a gift to your audience. BLUF — Bottom Line Up Front — applies to everything: presentations, emails, conversations. Lead with your point, then support it. Avoid the data dump. Know what you want the other person to do or feel and architect your message around that outcome.

Next Steps & Resources

Build your Celebration Portfolio: list your wins from the last 6–12 months and read them aloud. It’s a practical tool for silencing self-doubt before high-stakes moments.
Craft your PPU Introduction (Personal, Professional, Unique) and get it to 30 seconds. Practice it until it’s automatic.
Pick up Karen’s book Trust Your Own Voice or find her podcast Ignite Your Confidence for continued practice.

Curate: Money & Magic Heads to Nashville

A small room, real conversation, and an experience that holds your attention. That’s what we are cooking up for you on August 5 when Curate moves to Bar Mar by José Andrés in Nashville. With a format built for people who want to work through ideas, not sit through them. We are bringing back, by popular demand, Curate’s Money & Magic workshop.

We are keeping this one intentionally tight. It will be the kind of group where people say what they actually think and stay engaged for the whole session. The setting will certainly help – Bar Mar brings a different energy to the table, literally, with food that keep the conversation moving.

The day will challenge attendees to rethink how they process information, test assumptions, and approach complex commercial decisions. Attendees left energized, equipped with fresh perspectives and practical ways to elevate their commercial strategy.

High-performing commercial leaders don’t just move faster, they think differently. They question what feels certain, stay curious, and create space for better insights to emerge.

Org members, join us for Curate in Nashville on August 5, 10am – 2pm.

For more details and to register: https://americas.hsmai.org/eventshome/hsmai-curate/

A Note from Brian Hicks, CEO

Attending the HSMAI APAC Commercial Strategy Conference recently in Singapore was both professionally enriching and personally meaningful. It provided an opportunity to reconnect with long-standing colleagues while building new relationships across the region, reminding me of the strength and resilience of our global commercial community.

Beyond the connections, it reinforced that hospitality is entering a defining period of commercial transformation. This was reflected in the depth of our discussions – tackling today’s challenges with honesty, regional perspective, and a global mindset. This encapsulates one of the core values of HSMAI, establishing a safe environment for healthy discussion and reinforcing the value of coming together as one global network.

The conversation continues next week, June 16–17, in San Antonio at the Americas Commercial Strategy Conference. There hospitality leaders from across the Americas will gather to explore the trends and strategies shaping the future of commercial success. CSC Americas’ co-location with HITEC, hospitality’s leading technology conference, creates an ideal opportunity to further strengthen the connection between commercial strategy and technology innovation.

I look forward to seeing many of you there.

Best,

Leading Through Chaos Without Losing Your Mind

Libbi Carlson, Director of Commercial Strategy, Apple Hospitality REIT, Revenue Optimization Advisory Board Member

The year is well underway, priorities keep shifting, and the pace never quite slows down. This article comes from a discussion of the HSMAI Revenue Optimization Advisory Board on how leaders maintain clarity and sanity when the pressure feels constant rather than seasonal. The takeaway was that sustained chaos requires different leadership habits than short bursts of intensity.

Burnout shows up as disengagement, slower followthrough, and quiet apathy when teams are juggling too many priorities at once. Participants noted that stress increases when everything feels equally important and no finish line is visible. The group suggested that focus could help improve stress. By narrowing scope, shortening timelines, and defining what needs to be prioritized now, teams responded better. When leaders gave fewer goals that felt achievable, momentum could build as things get done.

Another technique that participants leaned on was blocking time for deep work, meeting-free time, or even recharge days, both for their whole team as well as individually. This created breathing room without reducing accountability. One participant also pointed out that boundaries held up best when leaders modeled them consistently. Examples included, turning off notifications, delaying emails sent at night to the following working day, and clearly stepping away set expectations without policy changes. One participant offered a perspective that reduced unnecessary pressure: “we’re not saving lives.” The group acknowledged that the work is important, it isn’t necessary to be in constant emergency mode.

The conversation also encouraged reflection and celebration on progress already made during the year. Some board members noticed confidence returned when achievements were named and visible. Another tactic was to have honest capacity conversations to prevent burnout caused by overpromising.

Time-off surfaced as a leadership responsibility, rather than a personal perk. Participants emphasized taking vacation fully and disconnecting while away. Teams followed suit when absence was respected and modeled.

Leaders recognized that it needed to be tailored to individuals, because what recharges them might frustrate another, so flexibility was important. The best tip was to focus on the outcomes instead of being married to one specific method.

Recommended Reading

Recommended Team Questions

How can we spot burnout before it happens, and what are some signs to look for?
What works for you, your team, and your company to keep burnout at bay?
If burnout does happen, how can we get back on track?
How can we as leaders motivate our teams through stress?

Digital RFPs and the Speed Question

Megan O’Neil, Convention Sales Manager, MGM Grand and The Signature, Rising Sales Leader Council Member

This article comes from a recent discussion of a sales Rising Leader Council focused on digital RFPs, lead response time, and the growing pressure to reply faster than ever before. As AI tools and automated platforms become common, planners increasingly expect nearimmediate acknowledgment, sometimes within hours, sometimes sooner, and often without regard for internal complexity. Speed is clearly influencing outcomes, but the conversation challenged whether being first consistently matters more than being clear, accurate, and reliable.

Several leaders shared that fast responses can help when no relationship exists, particularly because early replies make planners look good internally and signal professionalism. That benefit, however, comes with a cost because rapid replies immediately establish an expectation for ongoing responsiveness across the entire sales cycle. Miss that cadence later, and the initial advantage can quickly disappear, sometimes taking trust with it.

A recurring theme was the value of acknowledgement over completion. A timely message confirming receipt and setting a delivery timeline often carries more weight than a rushed proposal lacking accuracy or internal alignment. Internal processes frequently slow responses, especially when revenue review, inventory validation, or brand standards are involved, and those delays are felt by planners even when the reasons remain invisible.

Personalization was repeatedly cited as the real differentiator. Smaller, simpler programs can usually support faster turnaround without sacrificing quality. Larger, more complex programs rarely can. Pushing incomplete or overly generic proposals in the name of speed risks missing the client’s actual needs and undermining confidence early.

One comment summarized the prevailing sentiment clearly: “If you tell me when you’re going to get back to me, sometimes that’s just as good as getting right back to me, because at least I know you’ve acknowledged receipt.”

The discussion ultimately reinforced that speed alone does not win business. Setting expectations, delivering what was asked for, and following up with intention continue to matter just as much, and sometimes more.

Recommended Readings

Questions for Teams

Are planners expecting a proposal or response in an unrealistic timetable?
How do you benchmark “good enough” response time, and how does speed factor into winning or losing business?
In the push to respond as fast as possible, are personalization and accuracy being compromised?

Teaching Profitability Without Turning Sales Into Accountants

Kate Brown, CHSL, Regional Vice President Sales, Aimbridge, Sales Advisory Board Member

During a recent HSMAI Sales Advisory Board discussion the group discussed how sales pressure has shifted toward profitable revenue, not just volume. Sales teams are expected to deliver margin without being taught how profitability works inside hotels. Many sellers have never been shown how concessions, space allocation, and food commitments affect the P&L. That gap shows quickly in deal quality, negotiation confidence, and friction with operations teams.

Sales leaders on the call talked about moving past pace and volume and into deal quality. Teaching profitability does not require turning sales teams into finance professionals, participants shared that profitability becomes practical when sellers can see how a group actually performs, before and after arrival. To do this, sales leaders walk their teams through the P&L to offer context. Once sellers understand cost per occupied room, food costs, labor, and flow-through, they stop selling blind

Financial literacy was seen as the biggest tool for long-term behavior change. Some highlights included:

Displacement analysis reframed as profitability analysis
Fast inputs and simple outputs speed decision-making
When margin replaces rate as the focus, negotiations tighten
Operations become a partner because they share a language

The group stressed that its best when reinforcement happens consistently through regular commercial rhythms. Weekly commercial calls anchored in P&L performance keep profitability top of mind and post-event reviews close the loop between forecasted profit and actual results.

These conversations explain why TRevPAR matters. One participant summarized the shift clearly: “It’s no longer dates, rates, and space, it’s also profitability.”

Recommended Reading

Questions for Teams

How are you teaching profitability concepts in a sales-friendly way and embedding profit-focused decision-making into daily selling behaviors?
How do you measure hotel profitability?
What drives hotel profitability?
How can sales & revenue contribute to hotel profitability?
How can you upsell/cross-sell effectively to drive profitability?
Why does TRevPAR matter?

Rethinking Revenue Talent: What Today’s Graduates (and Hiring Managers) Still Miss

In a recent discussion of HSMAI’s Revenue Advisory Board, the conversation took a lively turn: are hospitality graduates actually ready for the commercial roles companies need today? And just as important — are we ready for them?

One participant summed it up perfectly: “The problem isn’t the people being hired — it’s the people doing the hiring.”

The Talent Gap Isn’t Where You Think It Is

Everyone agrees that, surprisingly, traditional hospitality degrees don’t deliver the breadth commercial teams need and expect. But the gap isn’t only technical. It’s mindset.

Hiring leaders want:

People who can think, not just operate a system
Curiosity strong enough to pick apart messy problems
Comfort working with ambiguity instead of waiting for perfect data
Analytical thinking from fields far outside hospitality

Ironically, the most traditional candidates — the “lifers” — may struggle the most. Teams are finding huge value in mixing hospitality-trained professionals with data engineering, analytics, and computer science grads who challenge assumptions and rethink long-established approaches.

The Real Bottleneck: Leaders Stuck in an Old Model

Several Advisory Board members noted that the issue isn’t whether graduates can learn the industry.They can. Quickly. The blocker is hiring managers who are still expecting candidates:

To accept “junior” salaries
To have the savvy of 50 years experience
To already have a perfect local-market knowledge

The fix is cultural. Organizations need a reset in how they evaluate potential, how they prioritize skills, and how they train new hires. The industry drags its feet on this — and it’s costing teams great talent.

The Soft Skills That Matter Most (and Rarely Get Taught)

Across every comment, one theme frequently arose: technical skills are teachable; communication is not optional.

Commercial roles require:

Clear, confident communication
Persuasion without ego
The ability to translate analysis into action
Knowing how to adjust tone for every stakeholder — ownership, GM, sales, ops, finance

One speaker called it “storytelling,” and that’s exactly it. If the team can’t sell the strategy internally, it won’t succeed.

There was even an unexpected suggestion: improv comedy. Turns out, improv builds the one thing analysts often lack — the ability to think out loud, stay steady under pressure, and handle impossible questions without freezing. The industry might not be adding improv classes to curriculums anytime soon, but the point landed: commercial teams need practice communicating, not just calculating.

Hospitality Degrees Don’t Have to Be a Limitation

Another important insight was offered: the skills hospitality programs teach are transferable — when reframed correctly. Graduates can succeed in service-driven fields like retail, luxury goods, travel, entertainment, and even specialized areas such as customer experience design.

Perishability — the core concept behind hotels, airlines, and event-based revenue — is its own superpower. Commercial students trained in it often find other industries easier, not harder, to navigate.

How the Industry Can Actually Help

Participants were clear: hospitality programs do better when they have more exposure to real work. Students want:

Real data, not textbook cases
Real challenges from real businesses
Hands-on projects
Applied analytics
Commercial problems with imperfect information

Academic programs struggle to source those projects without industry partners raising their hands.

That’s where our community can have the most impact.

Recommended Team Discussion

These prompts can help internal teams align around what matters most:

What are the actual must-have skills for our early-career commercial roles — and which “requirements” are we ready to eliminate?
How open are our hiring managers to candidates outside hospitality? What would make them more confident?
Which soft skills (communication, persuasion, storytelling) are consistently missing on our team, and how can we develop them intentionally?
Where could automation or self-taught skills matter more than formal degrees in our hiring decisions?
What real-world projects could we share with universities so future graduates are more prepared for our environment?

Rising Leaders on the Benefits of Association Membership

Tre Wilke IV, National Sales Manager, Evans Hotels, Rising Sales Leader Council Alumni

This article comes from Rising Sales Leaders Council members comparing notes on association involvement and career momentum. The consensus was that being engaged attracts attention, and this attraction brings opportunities within reach.

For me personally, two years of HSMAI involvement have brought consistent, meaningful benefits. Community showed up first, and in a very real way, access to peers. Rising Leader Council Members spoke often about the value of understanding how other commercial teams think, price, forecast, and advocate internally. That kind of exposure sharpens your judgment, especially when decisions are needed to balance sales urgency with revenue logic. Mentorship that rising leader council members received truly mattered, because it was structured, timebound, action‑oriented, and authentic. Leadership exposure followed naturally once people grew in their confidence and comfortability.

What surprised many participants was how quickly credibility can compound. For most, joining HSMAI often started with a recommendation from a colleague or mentor, followed by uncertainty about what the experience would actually be like. That uncertainty faded fast as in-person meetings and working sessions accelerated trust, making idea sharing easier and outcomes stronger. Several members described discovering their voice by speaking up, asking better questions, and translating shared ideas back to property-level realities.

For many members, growth showed up in tangible ways. There was a stronger sense of self-advocacy, reinforced simply by being around peers doing the same. Commercial thinking expanded beyond job titles, helping people rethink not just their roles, but their long-term paths. It also challenged the idea that growth always means more travel or bigger teams. Sometimes it just means thinking differently and applying that thinking back into your day-to-day.

Looking back, there were a few things members wished they had known earlier.

Orientation matters. Knowing how chapters work, where to plug in locally, and how to find mentors earlier would shorten the learning curve.
Mentorship sprints stood out as underutilized, despite being consistently described as high-impact.
The strongest advice for new members was direct: jump in early, ask questions, and treat participation like a responsibility, not a perk.

Looking ahead, the group focused on how to raise the floor for incoming members. Pairing newer members with experienced ones came up repeatedly, especially around technology changes and evolving commercial practices. Once again, mentorship emerged as the key element that brought everything together. Members encouraged each other to share their experiences openly, at local events and beyond, to widen the pipeline and normalize early engagement.

One line captured the tone of the entire discussion: “You get out what you put in.”

It’s simple, but it’s true. When you take these communities seriously, they have a way of accelerating growth—not just in skill, but in confidence, perspective, and the relationships you carry forward.

Recommended Readings

Recommended Questions for Teams

What motivated you to join HSMAI and the Rising Leaders Council, and how does that compare to the value you have received so far?
In what ways has association involvement helped you grow personally or professionally?
What do you wish you had known at the beginning that could help new members maximize their experience?
How can Rising Leaders better support each other in 2026 and elevate council impact?

What 2026 Is Demanding from Revenue Teams

Derek Boyle, CRME, Sr. Director, Account Management, IDeaS – a SAS Company, Rising Revenue Optimization Leader Council Member

This article comes from a recent discussion of the revenue rising leaders council, where the discussion shifted from forecasting what revenue management might become to operating as if the next phase is already underway.

The conversation centered on execution. AI is no longer emerging and no longer optional, but the group was clear that access alone does not create advantage. Advantage comes from learning faster, applying selectively, and staying focused on outcomes that matter to the business. The group felt that efficiency carried more weight than experimentation, with repeated emphasis on tools that reduce friction, improve forecast accuracy, and ultimately show up in dollars rather than dashboards.

At the same time, restraint was called out as a leadership skill. AI fatigue was acknowledged openly, alongside the reality that technology is not a shortcut to strategy, nor a replacement for judgment, alignment, or clear priorities. One participant summed it up, “I think the reality is that AI is not a band-aid to fix all of our problems.”

The group had examples of how strategic revenue management showed up in practical behaviors, such as cross-training across commercial silos. By sharing systems instead of parallel workflows, you end up with fewer isolated revenue calls and more integrated conversations that include marketing, operations, and leadership with revenue positioned at the center. The role of the revenue leader continues to evolve toward translator, connector, and decision driver. Elevating revenue management now is less about proving its value and more about embedding it into how the business runs.

Recommended Reading

Review takeaways from previous meeting recaps

The Future of Revenue Management Is Strategic Leadership

8 Revenue Management Trends that Define 2025 & Beyond

EHL Insights Hospitality Outlook Report 2026

Questions for Teams

Innovation & Future Focus: What bold ideas or emerging trends could elevate revenue management in 2026? Consider technology, automation, or creative approaches that could reshape how we work—and how we measure success.
Making Collaboration Real: How can we turn the concept of breaking down silos into practical action? What steps or initiatives would make cross-functional alignment a reality next year, and how can we track progress against clear goals?
Defining Success for People & Teams: What would meaningful progress look like for revenue leaders and their teams by the end of 2026? How do we apply what we know to set tangible outcomes and KPIs that demonstrate impact?