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Title
988 Lifeline Performance Metrics
Summary
The data below represent 988 Lifeline monthly performance. This data represents the performance of the overall national network, which includes data from all 988 Lifeline network centers.
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Overview
Overview
March 1, 2023 – March 31, 2023
- Total Routed Contacts: 371,822
- Offered Calls to the Veterans Crisis Line (VCL): 64,078
The 988 Lifeline data for March 2023, showed an increase in overall volume compared to March 2022. March 2023 includes contacts from the LGBTQ+ pilot.
The 988 Lifeline answered 164,337 more contacts (calls, chats and texts) and significantly improved how quickly contacts were answered.
The average speed to answer across all contacts decreased from 168 seconds to 36 seconds.
In March 2023 vs. March 2022, calls answered increased by 47%, chats answered increased by 136%, and texts answered increased by 1299%.
988 Lifeline Routed Network Contacts (Excludes VCL*): 371,822
| Calls | Chats | Texts | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Routed* | 243,417 | 61,146 | 64,259 | 371,822 |
| Answered | 214,894 (88%) |
63,019 (98%) |
63,778 (99%) |
341,691 (92%) |
| Abandoned | 28,523 (12%) |
1,127 (2%) |
481 (1%) |
30,131 (8%) |
| Average Speed of Answer (ASA) | 00:00:34 | 00:00:31 | 00:00:45 | 00:00:36 |
| Average Contact Time | 00:13:40 | 00:23:43 | 00:49:08 | 00:22:09 |
*Additional detail concerning VCL calls is only available from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)
2023 Performance Metrics
Overview
February 1, 2023 – February 28, 2023
- Total Routed Contacts: 404,194
- Offered Calls to the Veterans Crisis Line (VCL): 57,970
The 988 Lifeline data for February 2023, showed an increase in overall volume compared to February 2022. February 2023 includes contacts from the LGBTQ+ pilot.
The 988 Lifeline answered 161,678 more contacts (calls, chats and texts) and significantly improved how quickly contacts were answered.
The average speed to answer across all contacts decreased from 192 seconds to 35 seconds.
In February 2023 vs. February 2022, calls answered increased by 48%, chats answered increased by 247%, and texts answered increased by 1599%.
988 Lifeline Routed Network Contacts (Excludes VCL*): 346,224
| Calls | Chats | Texts | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Routed* | 226,634 | 59,225 | 60,365 | 346,224 |
| Answered | 199,377 (88%) |
57,854 (98%) |
59,772 (99%) |
317,003 (92%) |
| Abandoned | 27,257 (12%) |
1,371 (2%) |
593 (1%) |
29,221 (8%) |
| Average Speed of Answer (ASA) | 00:00:33 | 00:00:31 | 00:00:44 | 00:00:35 |
| Average Contact Time | 00:13:16 | 00:23:22 | 00:49:04 | 00:21:51 |
*Additional detail concerning VCL calls is only available from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)
Overview
January 1, 2023 – January 31, 2023
- Total Routed Contacts: 450,434
- Offered Calls to the Veterans Crisis Line (VCL): 66,363
The 988 Lifeline data for January 2023, showed an increase in overall volume compared to January 2022. January 2023 includes contacts from the LGBTQ+ pilot.
The 988 Lifeline answered 189,102 more contacts (calls, chats and texts) and significantly improved how quickly contacts were answered.
The average speed to answer across all contacts decreased from 181 seconds to 40 seconds.
In January 2023 vs. January 2022, calls answered increased by 57%, chats answered increased by 264%, and texts answered increased by 1608%.
988 Lifeline Routed Network Contacts (Excludes VCL*): 384,071
| Calls | Chats | Texts | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Routed* | 248,634 | 71,058 | 64,379 | 384,071 |
| Answered | 218,391 (88%) |
68,397 (96%) |
63,491 (99%) |
350,279 (91%) |
| Abandoned | 30,243 (12%) |
2,661 (4%) |
888 (1%) |
33,792 (9%) |
| Average Speed of Answer (ASA) | 00:00:33 | 00:00:39 | 00:01:03 | 00:00:40 |
| Average Contact Time | 00:13:17 | 00:23:18 | 00:48:56 | 00:21:42 |
*Additional detail concerning VCL calls is only available from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)
2022 Performance Metrics
December 1, 2022 – December 30, 2022
- Total Routed Contacts: 434,033
- Offered Calls to the Veterans Crisis Line (VCL): 62,378
The 988 Lifeline data for December 2022, showed an increase in overall volume compared to December 2021. December 2022 includes contacts from the LGBTQ+ pilot.
The 988 Lifeline answered 172,164 more contacts (calls, chats and texts) and significantly improved how quickly contacts were answered.
The average speed to answer across all contacts decreased from 172 seconds to 44 seconds.
In December 2022 vs. December 2021, calls answered increased by 48%, chats answered increased by 263%, and texts answered increased by 1445%.
988 Lifeline Routed Network Contacts (Excludes VCL*): 371,655
| Calls | Chats | Texts | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Routed* | 241,555 | 70,616 | 59,484 | 371,655 |
| Answered | 210,880 (87%) |
67,853 (96%) |
58,718 (99%) |
337,451 (91%) |
| Abandoned | 30,675 (13%) |
2,763 (4%) |
766 (1%) |
34,204 (9%) |
| Average Speed of Answer (ASA) | 00:00:35 | 00:00:46 | 00:01:54 | 00:00:44 |
| Average Contact Time | 00:13:40 | 00:23:26 | 00:49:49 | 00:21:55 |
*Additional detail concerning VCL calls is only available from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)
November 1, 2022 – November 30, 2022
- Total Routed Contacts: 402,798
- Offered Calls to the Veterans Crisis Line (VCL): 55,457
The 988 Lifeline data for November 2022, showed an increase in overall volume compared to November 2021. November 2022 includes contacts from the LGBTQ+ pilot.
The 988 Lifeline answered 154,585 more contacts (calls, chats and texts) and significantly improved how quickly contacts were answered.
The average speed to answer across all contacts decreased from 187 seconds to 36 seconds.
In November 2022 vs. November 2021, calls answered increased by 38%, chats answered increased by 289%, and texts answered increased by 1227%.
988 Lifeline Routed Network Contacts (Excludes VCL*): 347,341
| Calls | Chats | Texts | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Routed** | 222,285 | 72,134 | 52,922 | 347,341 |
| Answered | 195,083 (88%) |
70,525 (98%) |
52,337 (99%) |
317,945 (92%) |
| Abandoned | 27,202 (12%) |
1,609 (2%) |
585 (1%) |
29,396 (8%) |
| Average Speed of Answer (ASA) | 00:00:33 | 00:00:32 | 00:00:54 | 00:00:36 |
| Average Contact Time | 00:13:21 | 00:22:49 | 00:49:57 | 00:21:29 |
*Additional detail concerning VCL calls is only available from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)
**Contacts that are routed to a center after the person listens to the call greeting or are sent to a counselor after answering a pre-chat or pre-text survey. A system update on September 22, 2022, improved Vibrant’s ability to see when calls abandon en route to the first center. As such, routed volume is somewhat lower than what was reported before September 2022.
October 1, 2022 – October 31, 2022
- Total Routed Contacts: 401,800
- Offered Calls to the Veterans Crisis Line (VCL): 52,455
The 988 Lifeline data for October 2022, showed an increase in overall volume compared to October 2021.
The 988 Lifeline answered 141,032 more contacts (calls, chats and texts) and significantly improved how quickly contacts were answered.
The average speed to answer across all contacts decreased from 170 seconds to 36 seconds.
In October 2022 vs. October 2021, calls answered increased by 31%, chats answered increased by 234%, and texts answered increased by 1230%.
988 Lifeline Routed Network Contacts (Excludes VCL*): 349,345
| Calls | Chats | Texts | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Routed** | 230,928 | 68,425 | 49,992 | 349,345 |
| Answered | 200,190 (87%) |
67,603 (99%) |
49,566 (99%) |
317,188 (91%) |
| Abandoned | 30,909 (13%) |
822 (1%) |
426 (1%) |
32,157 (9%) |
| Average Speed of Answer (ASA) | 00:00:35 | 00:00:27 | 00:00:52 | 00:00:36 |
| Average Contact Time | 00:13:25 | 00:22:46 | 00:48:36 | 00:20:55 |
*Additional detail concerning VCL calls is only available from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)
**Contacts that are routed to a center after the person listens to the call greeting or are sent to a counselor after answering a pre-chat or pre-text survey. A system update on September 22, 2022, improved Vibrant’s ability to see when calls abandon en route to the first center. As such, routed volume is somewhat lower than what was reported before September 2022.
September 1, 2022 – September 30, 2022
- Total Routed Contacts: 403,005
- Offered Calls to the Veterans Crisis Line (VCL): 52,376
988 Lifeline Routed Network Contacts (Excludes VCL*): 350,629
| Calls | Chats | Texts | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Routed | 239,135** | 66,128 | 45,366 | 350,629 |
| Answered | 200,826 (84%) | 63,064 (95%) | 45,031 (99%) | 308,921 (88%) |
| Abandoned | 38,309** (16%) | 3,064 (5%) | 335 (1%) | 41,708 (12%) |
| Average Speed of Answer (ASA) | 00:00:36 | 00:00:38 | 00:01:10 | 00:00:42 |
| Average Contact Time | 00:12:41 | 00:22:26 | 00:51:04 | 00:20:16 |
*Additional detail concerning VCL calls is only available from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)
**Due to a systems upgrade, a subset of call data in this report is projected based on historical data.
August 1, 2022 – August 31, 2022
- Total Contacts: 413,425
- Offered Calls to the Veterans Crisis Line (VCL): 52,285
988 Lifeline Network Contacts (Excludes VCL*): 361,140
| Calls | Chats | Texts | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Routed | 256,398 | 64,115 | 40,627 | 361,140 |
| Answered | 216,184 (84%) | 61,952 (97%) | 39,912 (98%) | 318,048 (88%) |
| Abandoned | 40,214 (16%) | 2,163 (3%) | 715 (2%) | 43,092 (12%) |
| Average Speed of Answer (ASA) | 00:00:36 | 00:00:34 | 00:01:25 | 00:00:42 |
| Average Contact Time | 00:11:31 | 00:22:25 | 00:52:50 | 00:18:49 |
*Additional detail concerning VCL calls is only available from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)
July 1, 2022 – July 31, 2022
- Total Contacts: 406,993
- Offered Calls to the Veterans Crisis Line (VCL): 52,368
988 Lifeline Network Contacts (Excludes VCL*): 354,625
| Calls | Chats | Texts | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Routed | 245,905 | 75,441 | 33,279 | 354,625 |
| Answered | 205,159 (83%) |
62,129 (82%) |
31,425 (94%) |
298,713 (84%) |
| Abandoned | 40,746 (17%) |
13,312 (18%) |
1,854 (6%) |
55,912 (16%) |
| Average Speed of Answer (ASA) | 00:00:39 | 00:01:36 | 00:05:37 | 00:01:33 |
| Average Contact Time | 00:11:60 | 00:22:06 | 00:49:57 | 00:18:05 |
*Additional detail concerning VCL calls is only available from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)
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Lifeline Network-wide and State-based Monthly Reports Dating Back to July 2021
Table Definitions
Contact: A call, chat or text with the 988 Lifeline.
Routed: Contacts that are routed to a center after the person listens to the greeting (calls) or sent to a counselor after answering a pre-chat or pre-text survey (chat/text). A system update on September 22, 2022, improved Vibrant’s ability to see when calls abandon en route to the first center. As such, routed volume is somewhat lower than what was reported before September 2022.
Answered: Contacts that are connected to a center and then engaged by a counselor.
Abandoned: Contacts that disconnect prior to being engaged by a counselor. Disconnection may happen for a number of reasons, including but not limited to: the person seeking contact changes their mind about seeking care at that moment; the person no longer feels they have privacy or safety in their environment; or there is a random technical service interruption, which may occur due to internet instability, carrier glitches, etc.
Average Speed of Answer (ASA): The average time a contact takes to be answered after listening to the automated greeting (calls) or answering a pre-chat or pre-text survey (chat/text). As ASAs are by nature an “average,” the experience of those contacting the 988 Lifeline at different centers in different states or times of day may experience variations in individual wait times.
Avg Contact Time: The average amount of time counselors spend talking/chatting/texting to answered contacts. As this measure is an “average,” people contacting the Lifeline may have conversations that vary widely in contact time length, depending on their individual needs.