Cloud Based Telephony in General Practice – Support Information Overview
The Cloud Based Telephony in General Practice publication provides insight into patient demand for GP services by collecting telephony data directly from cloud telephony suppliers used by GP practices. The data helps NHS organisations understand call volumes, patient access, operational pressures, and opportunities for service improvement. It is used to support service planning, commissioning, winter demand management, and access recovery initiatives.
Key Metrics Collected
The publication reports on a range of telephony performance measures, including:
- Total inbound call volume
- Calls answered
- Calls missed
- Calls abandoned
- Call answer times
- Call waiting times
- Time before abandonment
- Call durations
- Callback requests
- Callbacks completed
- Call outcomes by day and time period
More recent datasets also include specific reporting on: [digital.nhs.uk]
- Average wait time between 8:00am and 10:00am
- Average wait time during core hours (8:00am to 6:30pm)
What the Data Is Used For
- Understanding patient demand and contact patterns.
- Monitoring GP practice telephone performance.
- Identifying peak demand periods.
- Supporting capacity and workforce planning.
- Measuring the impact of service improvements.
- Improving patient access to primary care services.
Other Useful Information
There are 7 separate metrics provided in the data collection by system suppliers. More information on the data specification can be found on NHS website: Cloud-Based Telephony Data Collection.
Inbound Calls (CBT001) – this is the total number of external inbound calls to the GP Practice, and this is provided by day and time bucket of call.
Calls ended in the IVR stage (CBT002) – these are calls where the patient/caller has ended the call during the call routing stage – for example when a patient listens to a message and presses a button to be diverted to another organisation, or when the patient decides to end the call after listening to an information message. This is provided by day and time bucket of call.
Answered calls (CBT003) – these are calls answered by a person within the GP practice. These are provided by day and time bucket of the call and the wait time the caller was waiting for the call to be answered from joining the queue or when the line started ringing.
Missed Calls (CBT004) – these are calls where the caller has expected to speak to a person either after going through the IVR and waiting in the queue or calling the GP surgery directly. These are provided by day and time bucket of the call and the wait time the caller was waiting before the call was ended (this includes voicemails). This wait time is measured from joining the queue or when the line started ringing.
Callback requested (CBT005) – these are calls where the caller has asked for a callback whilst waiting in the queue. These are virtual queue callbacks, and the system automatically calls the caller back when they have reached the front of the call queue.
Callback made (CBT006) – these are the automatic callbacks made from those where the caller requested a virtual queue call back.
Answered calls (CBT007) – these are calls answered by a person within the GP practice. These are provided by day and time bucket of the call and the duration of the call. This is provided as a separate metric to CBT003, and CBT007 and CBT003 should be equal to each other. However, there are instances where this is not the case. The specification was clarified in June 2025 and following this has improved with the majority of Suppliers providing matching totals for these metrics.
Data Collection and Coverage
- Data is submitted monthly by participating cloud telephony suppliers.
- The collection contains aggregated operational data only and does not include patient-identifiable information.
Support Notes
When reviewing Cloud Based Telephony reports:
- Compare metrics over time rather than relying on a single month’s figures.
- Consider supplier-specific differences in reporting methods.
- Review missed and abandoned calls alongside answer times to understand patient experience.
- Use peak-period metrics (such as 8am-10am waiting times) to identify access bottlenecks.
Reference:
Cloud Based Telephony in General Practice: Supporting Information