(1) A measurement of the performance of a system or service. The service level is usually expressed as a percentage of a goal; for example, the percentage of time a network or system is operative or the percentage of successful transactions processed.
(2) In telecommunications applications, especially in telephone call centers, it refers to the achievement of specific goals for customer handling. These goals are usually expressed in terms of call-answering percentage, percentage of calls dropped, average hold time, average call duration and other measures of efficiency and productivity. See
SLA and
service level management system.