{"id":24381,"date":"2026-10-06T12:37:23","date_gmt":"2026-10-06T12:37:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.afiniti.com\/?post_type=glossary&p=24381"},"modified":"2026-10-07T09:56:49","modified_gmt":"2026-10-07T09:56:49","slug":"what-is-containment-rate","status":"publish","type":"glossary","link":"https:\/\/www.afiniti.com\/glossary\/what-is-containment-rate\/","title":{"rendered":"What Is Containment Rate?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Containment rate is the share of customer interactions fully handled by an automated system, such as an IVR, chatbot, or artificial intelligence (AI) agent, without reaching a human agent. It is one of the most widely used measures of self-service performance in contact centers.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

How It\u2019s Calculated<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n

Containment rate is the number of interactions that start and end in the automated channel, divided by the total number of interactions that enter it.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Definitions vary in practice. Some teams count an interaction as contained only if the customer does not call back within a set window. Others count any interaction that does not transfer to an agent, including customers who simply give up. The definition in use changes what the number means.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Containment vs Resolution<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n

Containment measures where an interaction ended. Resolution measures whether the customer\u2019s need was met. The two are often confused, and the gap between them matters.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    \n
  • A customer who abandons a chatbot in frustration counts as contained, but their issue is not resolved.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
      \n
    • A customer who is contained today but calls back tomorrow often appears as two successful containments, while the actual experience was a failure.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
        \n
      • Optimizing for containment alone can push difficult interactions into cycles of self-service that would be better resolved by a person.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

        As a result, containment rate is best read alongside resolution, repeat-contact, and customer satisfaction measures rather than on its own.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

        The share of interactions fully handled by automation without reaching a human agent. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"menu_order":0,"template":"SEO-page-template.php","glossary_industries":[77],"class_list":["post-24381","glossary","type-glossary","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\r\n\t\tWhat Is Containment Rate? | Afiniti<\/title>\n\n","aioseo_head_json":{"title":"What Is Containment Rate? | Afiniti","description":"Containment rate measures the share of interactions resolved by automation without a human agent. Learn how it is calculated and why containment is not resolution.","canonical_url":"https:\/\/www.afiniti.com\/glossary\/what-is-containment-rate\/","robots":"max-image-preview:large","keywords":"","webmasterTools":{"google-site-verification":"fvA4_y8pyDh74kjtjStWC6eZTjZGlYp811mfuXRJfEc","miscellaneous":""},"schema":null,"og:locale":"en_US","og:site_name":"Afiniti","og:type":"article","og:title":"What Is Containment Rate? | Afiniti","og:description":"Containment rate measures the share of interactions resolved by automation without a human agent. Learn how it is calculated and why containment is not resolution.","og:url":"https:\/\/www.afiniti.com\/glossary\/what-is-containment-rate\/","og:image":"https:\/\/www.afiniti.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Logo-blue.svg","og:image:secure_url":"https:\/\/www.afiniti.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Logo-blue.svg","og:image:width":75,"og:image:height":23,"article:published_time":"2026-10-06T12:37:23+00:00","article:modified_time":"2026-10-07T09:56:49+00:00","article:publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/afinitiai","twitter:card":"summary","twitter:title":"What Is Containment Rate? | Afiniti","twitter:description":"Containment rate measures the share of interactions resolved by automation without a human agent. Learn how it is calculated and why containment is not resolution.","twitter:image":"https:\/\/www.afiniti.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Logo-blue.svg"},"aioseo_meta_data":{"post_id":"24381","title":"What Is Containment Rate? | Afiniti","description":"Containment rate measures the share of interactions resolved by automation without a human agent. Learn how it is calculated and why containment is not resolution.","keywords":null,"keyphrases":{"focus":{"keyphrase":"","score":0,"analysis":{"keyphraseInTitle":{"score":0,"maxScore":9,"error":1}}},"additional":[]},"primary_term":null,"canonical_url":null,"og_title":null,"og_description":null,"og_object_type":"default","og_image_type":"default","og_image_url":null,"og_image_width":null,"og_image_height":null,"og_image_custom_url":null,"og_image_custom_fields":null,"og_video":"","og_custom_url":null,"og_article_section":null,"og_article_tags":null,"twitter_use_og":false,"twitter_card":"default","twitter_image_type":"default","twitter_image_url":null,"twitter_image_custom_url":null,"twitter_image_custom_fields":null,"twitter_title":null,"twitter_description":null,"schema":{"blockGraphs":[],"customGraphs":[],"default":{"data":{"Article":[],"Course":[],"Dataset":[],"FAQPage":[],"Movie":[],"Person":[],"Product":[],"ProductReview":[],"Car":[],"Recipe":[],"Service":[],"SoftwareApplication":[],"WebPage":[]},"graphName":"WebPage","isEnabled":true},"graphs":[]},"schema_type":"default","schema_type_options":null,"pillar_content":false,"robots_default":true,"robots_noindex":false,"robots_noarchive":false,"robots_nosnippet":false,"robots_nofollow":false,"robots_noimageindex":false,"robots_noodp":false,"robots_notranslate":false,"robots_max_snippet":"-1","robots_max_videopreview":"-1","robots_max_imagepreview":"large","priority":null,"frequency":"default","local_seo":null,"seo_analyzer_scan_date":"2026-10-07 09:58:32","breadcrumb_settings":null,"limit_modified_date":false,"reviewed_by":"0","open_ai":null,"ai":{"faqs":[],"keyPoints":[],"schemas":[],"titles":[],"descriptions":[],"socialPosts":{"email":{"subject":"","preview":"","content":""},"linkedin":[],"twitter":[],"facebook":[],"instagram":[]}},"created":"2026-10-06 12:15:50","updated":"2026-10-07 09:58:32","focus_keyword":null,"additional_keywords":null,"truseo_locale":null},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.afiniti.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/glossary\/24381","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.afiniti.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/glossary"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.afiniti.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/types\/glossary"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.afiniti.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24381"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"glossary_industries","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.afiniti.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/glossary_industries?post=24381"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}