Diagnostic
Methodology
MarginSignal OS measures eight proprietary operating signals. Each one tracks a specific dimension of resolution economics. Here is what they measure and what data they require.
Margin Health Score
What it measures: Composite health score across all operational dimensions — the single number that answers “how healthy is this operation?”
What data it requires: Anonymized interaction-level CSV with ticket timestamps, resolution status, and agent assignment fields.
Range: 0–100, where higher values indicate healthier resolution economics. Healthy operations score 65+. Distressed operations score below 50.
Refresh: Recalculated on a 30-day rolling basis.
Cost Per Resolution
What it measures: The fully loaded cost to resolve a single customer issue to completion — including all contacts, transfers, callbacks, escalations, and channel switches.
What data it requires: Interaction-level CSV with ticket ID, timestamps, agent ID, channel, and resolution status.
Range: Dollar value per resolved issue. The gap between Cost Per Call and Cost Per Resolution is typically $35+ and represents structural margin waste.
Refresh: Recalculated on a 30-day rolling basis.
Escalation Resolution Signal
What it measures: Whether escalations produce resolutions or bounces. Distinguishes between necessary escalations and cost-multiplying dead ends.
What data it requires: Interaction-level CSV with escalation flags, receiving queue, and resolution outcome at escalated tier.
Range: 0–100, where higher values indicate escalations that produce resolution outcomes.
Refresh: Recalculated on a 30-day rolling basis.
7-Day Repeat Rate
What it measures: Percentage of customer issues that generate a repeat contact within 7 days. The purest measure of first-contact resolution failure.
What data it requires: Interaction-level CSV with customer/account ID, ticket ID, and timestamps.
Range: Industry average 20–30%. Every repeat doubles the resolution cost.
Refresh: Recalculated on a 30-day rolling basis.
Transfer Depth Signal
What it measures: Average number of handoffs per resolution. Each additional transfer adds 40–60% to resolution cost and drops CSAT by 10–15 points.
What data it requires: Interaction-level CSV with transfer events, queue assignments, and agent IDs.
Range: 1.0 means most issues resolve on first contact. 2.5+ means average issues bounce through 3+ agents.
Refresh: Recalculated on a 30-day rolling basis.
Escalation Density Signal
What it measures: The structural pressure exerted by escalation volume on operating margin, weighted by resolution outcome at the escalated tier.
What data it requires: Interaction-level CSV with escalation flags, tier routing, and resolution status.
Range: 0–100, where lower values indicate healthier escalation economics.
Refresh: Recalculated on a 30-day rolling basis.
Resolution Efficiency Signal
What it measures: How efficiently the operation converts spend into resolved outcomes. Compares actual resolution cost against the theoretical minimum cost.
What data it requires: Interaction-level CSV with fully loaded cost data, resolution chains, and outcome flags.
Range: 0–100, where higher values indicate more efficient resolution economics. The gap between actual and theoretical is your recoverable margin.
Refresh: Recalculated on a 30-day rolling basis.
Demand Leakage Signal
What it measures: Percentage of total contact volume that is failure demand — contacts that exist only because a prior contact failed to resolve the issue.
What data it requires: Interaction-level CSV with customer/account ID, ticket linkage, and resolution timestamps.
Range: Industry range 30–60% of all volume is failure demand. Lower is healthier.
Refresh: Recalculated on a 30-day rolling basis.
Methodology Note
All indices are calculated from operational data — ticket records, interaction logs, and resolution outcomes. No surveys. No interviews. No self-reported metrics. The diagnostic runs on anonymized CSV exports from your existing platforms (ConnectWise, Autotask, ServiceNow, Freshdesk, or custom CSV).
Index calculations reference established frameworks from COPC, ICMI, HDI, and published research from Deloitte and McKinsey. MarginSignal OS does not claim to have invented these measurement concepts. We have built a system that computes them forensically from operational data — which is something no BI tool or CCaaS platform does out of the box.
We do not guess. We map.