That's why I started with the paragraph below. In the case you mention, there is no direct revenue associated with the call center. That means you can only look at additional PROFIT, not revenue, generated due to reduced costs. You could look at customer satisfaction surveys and see if satisfaction has increased. Another potential metric is customer churn. Has customer churn increased or decreased since AI implementation? Without a specific metric attached to the call center, there is not an easy way to determine how much additional revenue is being generated due the use of AI.
Original Message:
Sent: 03-20-2026 01:18 PM
From: Izz Ansari
Subject: Return on IT Investment
Thanks for a detailed response!
I have been able to understand cost savings better.
But I think I wasn't clear - when I mean a call center, I don't mean a business of a call center. I just meant another company e.g. a mobile service provider, that has a customer support center. They install a new system to support customers. Better support will bring more revenue due to better customer experience. But how would I track or estimate the revenue increase?
The revenue may also be increasing in the same period due to better pricing, more advertisement etc. How can I estimate/isolate the benefit from that IT project to determine a ROIC to make sure it matched the business case for it?
Thanks again for engaging.
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Izz Ghanaa Ansari
Strategy Manager
Toronto, Canada
Original Message:
Sent: 03-20-2026 12:33 PM
From: David Belnap
Subject: Return on IT Investment
We need to look at revenue increase as well as expense adjustments. There is also the possibility that there is no revenue generated, such as an internal call center rather than an outsourced one. I am just using random numbers for example. Feel free to adjust them as needed for your particular case.
A great example would be an increase in number of calls handled and/or a decrease in call duration. Assuming $15/hr for agents and they handle 6 calls per hour, average call duration is 10 minutes with a cost of $2.50 ($15 / 6). If AI allows an agent to now handle 10 calls in an hour for an additional $5/hr, the new cost would be $2.00 (($15 + $5) / 10). The actual savings is 10 * (2.50 - 2.00) or $5 per hour. The call duration average has dropped to 6 minutes as well. This is the cost side of things. This works for internal call centers where there is no revenue generated from calls.
For the revenue side, if the call center charges $8.00 per call to the actual client then the revenue before AI would be 6 * $8 = $48 / hr, profit would be $48 - $15 = $33 / hr. After AI revenue would be 10 * $8 = $80 and profit would be $80 - $20 = $60 /hr. Increase from using AI is revenue increase of $32 ($80 - $48 = $32) less expense increase of $5 ( $15 - $20 = -$5) totaling $27 / hr.
On a per call basis, profit changes from $5.50 ( $8 - $2.50) to $6 ($8 - $2).
Before AI: 6 calls * $5.50 = $33
After AI: 10 calls * $6 = $60
I am showing the per hr and per call because it all depends on the drivers for revenue and expenses. Some companies use calls while other use hours.
The challenge is how to determine the cost of AI implementation. You can use number of hours in a month (30 * 24 = 720), in a year (365 * 24 = 8,760), work hours per week (8 * 5 = 40), work hours per year ( 8 * 52 = 2,080), or some other calculation your company decides on. It should match how you calculate hours for agents if you use my example above which would be work hours per week or year. $10,400 annual cost / 2,080 = $5 / hr.
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David Belnap, CMA, CSCA, CPA
<maskemail>David.Belnap@...</maskemail>
Pembroke Pines, FL
Original Message:
Sent: 03-19-2026 04:09 PM
From: Izz Ansari
Subject: Return on IT Investment
Has anyone here practically tried to calculate the Return on an IT investment?
e.g. a new software that uses AI for customer center. How do you track the return? Apart from any direct cost savings, how do you estimate the revenue increase due to better call center? Or other returns? Looking for what is done practically. Thanks!
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Izz Ghanaa Ansari
Strategy Manager
Toronto, Canada
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