Erlang - a unit of traffic

An Erlang is a unit of telecommunications traffic measurement. Strictly speaking, an Erlang represents the
continuous use of one voice path. In practice, it is used to describe the total traffic volume of one hour.

For example, if a group of user made 30 calls in one hour, and each call had an average call duration of 5
minutes, then the number of Erlangs this represents is worked out as follows:

Minutes of traffic in the hour = number of calls x duration

Minutes of traffic in the hour = 30 x 5
Minutes of traffic in the hour = 150
Hours of traffic in the hour = 150 / 60
Hours of traffic in the hour = 2.5
Traffic figure = 2.5 Erlangs
Erlang traffic measurements are made in order to help telecommunications network designers understand
traffic patterns within their voice networks. This is essential if they are to successfully design their network
topology and establish the necessary trunk group sizes.
Erlang traffic measurements or estimates can be used to work out how many lines are required between a
telephone system and a central office (PSTN exchange lines), or between multiple network locations.

Еrlang traffic models

Several traffic models exist which share their name with the Erlang unit of traffic. They are formulae which can
be used to estimate the number of lines required in a network, or to a central office (PSTN exchange lines). A
formula also exists to model queuing situations, and lends itself well to estimating the agent staffing
requirements of call centers.
The main Erlang traffic model are listed below, with links to the free online calculators on this Web site:

• Erlang B
This is the most commonly used traffic model, and is used to work out how many lines are required if
the traffic figure (in Erlangs) during the busiest hour is known. The model assumes that all blocked
calls are immediately cleared.
• Extended Erlang B
This model is similar to Erlang B, but takes into account that a percentage of calls are immediately
represented to the system if they encounter blocking (a busy signal). The retry percentage can be
specified.
• Erlang C
This model assumes that all blocked calls stay in the system until they can be handled. This model can
be applied to the design of call center staffing arrangements where, if calls cannot be immediately
answered, they enter a queue

The unit named the erlang is a statistical measure of telecommunications traffic used in telephony. It is
named after the Danish telephone engineer A. K. Erlang, the originator of queueing theory.
In the "Erlang-B" calculation, one Erlang implies a single channel in continuous use (or two channels at fifty
percent use, and so on, pro rata), usually for one hour. For example, if a bank has two tellers and during the
busiest hour of the day they're both busy the whole time, that would represent two erlang of traffic.
Typically erlang might be used to determine if a system is over- or under- trunked (has too many or too few
phone lines). It might also be used to measure traffic on a T-1, to determine how many voice lines are in use
at the busiest hour of the time period being examined; for 24 channels, if only 12 are ever in use, the other 12
might be made available as data channels. The erlang calculation also determines "grade of service" or
"blocking factor" - if a user tries to make a call during the busy hour, how likely is it that they will get a busy
signal (typically a blocking factor of 5% or 1 in 20 is considered acceptable).
There are a range of different Erlang formulas, depending on assumptions about caller behaviour when
encountering a busy tone.

• Erlang B - callers encountering a busy tone are blocked or disconnected.

• Erlang C - callers encountering a busy tone are held or queued.
• Engset formula (named after Tore Olaus Engset (1865-1943)) is also related but deals with a small
population of finite sources rather than the large population of infinite sources that Erlang assumes.