Why is contacts queued (enqueue timestamp) larger than contacts queued in amazon connect Dashboard

The discrepancy between "Contacts queued" and metrics based on enqueue timestamps in Amazon Connect is a common observation and occurs by design.

"Contacts queued" specifically counts the number of contacts placed in a queue. However, this metric doesn't equal the sum of "Contacts handled" and "Contacts abandoned" as you might expect. There are several factors that contribute to this discrepancy:

1. Outbound contacts: Contacts initiated by agents through CCP are counted towards "Contacts handled" but not "Contacts queued."

2. Contacts transferred out from the queue: When contacts are transferred to another queue within a customer queue flow, they are counted towards "Contacts queued" for both the initial and destination queues, but not towards "Contacts handled" or "Contacts abandoned" for the initial queue.

3. Callbacks: These can cause significant discrepancies in metrics. For example:

• If an agent transfers a contact to a callback queue after it enters the initial queue, "Contacts queued" counts this contact twice.
• If a callback is set up to use a different queue, the "Callback contacts" metric for the callback queue is used, not the primary queue.
• When a customer opts for a callback, two contact records are created - one for the initial inbound contact and another for the callback contact, each with their own enqueue timestamps.

It's a best practice to view historical metrics independently rather than trying to make them equal each other, as the underlying formulas for these metrics are complex and account for various scenarios in contact handling.
Sources
Resolve discrepancy between metrics in Connect | AWS re:Post
Amazon Connect real-time metrics example for a queued callback flow - Amazon Connect

The "Contacts Queued" metric and "Contacts Queued (Enqueue Timestamp)" metric serve different purposes and are calculated at different points in the contact lifecycle.

"Contacts Queued" typically refers to the number of contacts that entered a queue and "Enqueue Timestamp" is usually the time when a contact enters a queue.

"Contacts Queued" is a more complex metric that's updated only upon contact disconnection. It follows a comprehensive formula:

Contacts Queued = Contacts handled – Contacts handled outbound + Contacts abandoned + Contacts transferred out queue + Callback contacts.

For example, agents might transfer out contacts from a queue to an external party using "Transfer to phone number". There's no metric that captures these contacts. This calculation method can lead to apparent discrepancies since it accounts for various contact handling scenarios.

As mentioned in the docs, the "Contacts Queued" metric is specifically updated when a contact has been disconnected and therefore reflects the timestamp associated with the disconnection. [+]https://docs.aws.amazon.com/connect/latest/adminguide/historical-metrics-definitions.html#contacts-queued-historical

In contrast, the "Contacts Queued (Enqueue Timestamp)" metric is updated immediately at the moment a contact enters the queue. [+] https://docs.aws.amazon.com/connect/latest/adminguide/historical-metrics-definitions.html#contacts-queued-by-enqueue-historical

In Summary, The "Contacts Queued (Enqueue Timestamp)" metric represents the count of contacts placed in the queue and is updated immediately when a contact is enqueued. This metric is based on the contact event stream dataset for in-flight contacts, rather than completed contacts. A key difference is that this metric aggregates data based on the ENQUEUE timestamp, whereas the standard "Contacts Queued" metric is a contact record-driven metric that gets incremented when a contact disconnects.

Resources: [+] https://repost.aws/knowledge-center/connect-metrics-discrepancy

[+] https://repost.aws/knowledge-center/connect-calculate-contact-time-in-queue