If you manage a team that takes calls, messages, or meetings, you probably already know you need to measure what’s actually going on—not just guess at who’s busy. The analytics tools in Ringcentral promise a lot, but only if you know what to look for and how to ignore the noise.
This guide is for team leads, ops folks, and anyone stuck figuring out “Are we actually performing well, or just busy?” You’ll learn how to cut through the clutter, set up useful reports, and avoid common traps.
1. Know What You Actually Need to Track
Before you start poking around dashboards, get clear on what you’re trying to measure. Ringcentral will happily drown you in charts, but most teams care about things like:
- Number of calls/messages handled per rep
- Average handling time
- Missed calls or slow responses
- First-call resolution (if you care about solving things on the first try)
- Team availability or talk time
Resist the urge to track everything. More data isn’t more insight. Pick 2–3 metrics that actually connect to your goals.
Pro tip: If nobody on your team knows what to do with a metric, you probably don’t need it.
2. Accessing Ringcentral Analytics
Ringcentral has different analytics and reporting options, depending on your plan (Standard, Premium, Ultimate) and what products you use (Phone, Contact Center, Message).
To get started:
- Log in to the Ringcentral Admin Portal.
- Navigate to Analytics on the left sidebar. You’ll see options like:
- Performance Reports (for voice/call data)
- Live Reports (real-time call activity)
- Quality of Service (call quality stats)
- Message Reports (for SMS/Team messaging activity)
- Pick the section that matches what you want to track. For team performance, “Performance Reports” is usually the best starting point.
Heads up: If you only see basic call logs, your account may not have access to advanced analytics. That’s a plan limitation, not something you can fix by clicking around.
3. Creating a Basic Performance Report
Here’s how to build a report that actually tells you something:
- Open Performance Reports.
- This gives you a dashboard with tons of filters and widgets.
- Set your date range.
- Start small. Try “Last 7 days” or “This month.” No need to look at a whole year—yet.
- Filter by team or user.
- Choose the group or individuals you want to track. You can add multiple users, departments, or queues.
- Pick your metrics.
- Add widgets for:
- Total calls
- Answered vs. missed
- Average call duration
- First call resolution (if available)
- You can add charts or tables. Don’t add everything—just what you’ll actually review.
- Save your report setup.
- Give it a clear name (“Support Team - Weekly Calls”) so you can find it again.
- Run the report.
- Click to generate. You’ll see live charts and tables.
What works: The drag-and-drop widgets are pretty flexible. You can compare users, teams, or time periods easily.
What doesn’t: The UI can be slow, and sometimes the filters reset if you click away. Save your report layouts so you don’t have to redo work.
4. Customizing and Automating Your Reports
Don’t spend your life exporting CSVs. Ringcentral lets you set up recurring reports.
- Customize widgets: Drag, drop, and edit to focus only on the metrics that matter.
- Export data: Download as XLS or CSV if you want to slice and dice in Excel or Google Sheets.
- Schedule reports: Set up automated emails (daily, weekly, monthly) to yourself or your team. No need to remember to log in.
To set up scheduling:
- In your saved report, look for “Schedule” or “Subscribe.”
- Enter recipient emails and set the frequency.
- Choose format (PDF, XLS, etc.)—PDF is good for quick viewing; XLS for deeper analysis.
What works: Scheduled reports are reliable and a real timesaver.
What to ignore: Don’t bother with daily reports unless you actually review them every morning. Weekly or monthly is plenty for most teams.
5. Digging Into the Data: What to Look For (and What to Skip)
You’ve got the report—now what? Here’s how to avoid analysis paralysis.
Useful things to spot:
- Obvious bottlenecks: One rep handling way more/less than others? Figure out why.
- Missed calls or slow responses: Is the team overloaded at certain times?
- Talk time vs. idle time: Are people spending more time on calls, or waiting for the phone to ring?
- Trends over time: Is performance improving, flat, or dropping?
Common traps:
- Overreacting to outliers: One weird day doesn’t mean the sky is falling.
- Judging by averages: Averages can hide who’s really struggling or excelling.
- Tracking vanity metrics: Total call volume doesn’t tell you if customers are happy—just that the phones are ringing.
Pro tip: Use the “Compare” feature to look at this week vs. last week, or this month vs. last. Gives you context, not just numbers.
6. Sharing Insights with Your Team
Numbers don’t mean much if nobody sees (or cares about) them. Here’s how to make reports useful:
- Pull out 1–2 takeaways per report. “Hey, missed calls were up Mondays at noon—can we staff up then?”
- Keep it actionable. Don’t just drop a spreadsheet—highlight what matters.
- Ask if the numbers match what people feel on the ground. If not, dig deeper.
What works: Short summaries, not data dumps. Share the “so what,” not just the “what.”
7. When Analytics Hit Their Limits
Ringcentral analytics are decent, but not magic. Here’s where things get tricky:
- Data delays: Reports aren’t always real-time. Don’t expect second-by-second accuracy.
- Quality metrics are basic: Call quality scores are a rough guide, not a full VoIP analysis.
- Integration gaps: You can’t always pull in ticketing or CRM data directly. For that, you’ll need third-party tools or manual exports.
If you need more: Look into exporting data and building your own dashboards with BI tools, or consider add-ons if your team outgrows the basics.
8. Keeping Reporting Simple (and Actually Useful)
Don’t get caught building reports nobody reads. Start small:
- Pick 2–3 key metrics.
- Schedule a weekly or monthly report.
- Share a quick summary with your team.
- Tweak as you go. If a metric doesn’t help, drop it.
Remember: The goal isn’t “more data”—it’s making better decisions, faster. If your reporting takes more time than it saves, you’re doing it wrong.
Keep it simple, review regularly, and stay focused on what actually helps your team do better work. Everything else is just noise.