# Time selling over time on the clock

What is utilization in field sales is time selling versus time on the clock. Knockdesk is field sales software that stores that split as utilization_rate in capacity analytics: active minutes divided by clocked minutes. Clocked In versus Knocking are shift states, not a second hours column. idle_minutes sits next to that rate.

## A full clock is not a day that sold

You feel it when everyone is Clocked In and the route never starts. What is utilization in field sales is whether the shift became a walk. If you read only Clocked In, the day looks busy. If you read Knocking, you see the door. Those labels are states. utilization_rate is active over clocked. Fold idle_minutes into the walk and the stall disappears.

**Clocked In.** The shift started. Location was required. This is attendance, not utilization.

**Knocking.** The state at the door. It is not a knocking-hours column next to Clocked In.

**Idle.** idle_minutes in capacity analytics. The clock is on. The knock is not. Break is a different bucket.

## Four hundred eighty clocked, three hundred active, a rate you can recompute

Jordan clocks 480 minutes. Active route minutes are 300. idle_minutes are 120. Break is 60. 300 plus 120 plus 60 is 480. utilization_rate is 300 / 480, which is 62.5 percent. If Friday treats Clocked In as fully used time, the board shows 100 percent. If Friday folds idle into active, the board shows 420 / 480, 87.5 percent, and two hours with no knock vanish.

| Named base | Numbers | Utilization |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Active / clocked | 300 / 480 | 62.5%. The utilization_rate. |
| Idle folded into active | 420 / 480 | 87.5%. The stall disappeared. |
| Clocked In as 100 percent | 480 / 480 | 100%. Attendance dressed as selling. |
| idle_minutes | 120 | Two hours. Still on the clock. |

## Utilization is the ratio. Idle is the stall. Pace is knocks on active hours.

Contact rate is talks over knocks. Utilization is selling time over clocked time. Do not mix those percents. A crew can knock well on a short walk and still sit idle for two hours. Read both.

- [Contact rate](/glossary/contact-rate): Contacts over knocks. Skill on the door, not hours on the clock.

- [Field sales KPIs](/guides/field-sales-kpis): How utilization sits with coverage, pace, and verified visits.

- [Field sales time tracking](/features/field-sales-time-tracking): The GPS clock, Auto-Clock, and Clocked In versus Knocking.

## How Knockdesk tracks it

Capacity analytics stores utilization_rate as active minutes over clocked minutes. idle_minutes sits next to clocked, active, and break. Clocked In versus Knocking are shift states. There is no separate working-time versus knocking-time hours column. Full desk is on the pricing page.

## Keep going from the rate

- [Field sales glossary](/glossary): The hub this term opens from.

- [Field sales time tracking](/features/field-sales-time-tracking): The GPS clock and the states behind clocked versus active.

- [Field sales KPIs](/guides/field-sales-kpis): Read utilization next to coverage and knocks per hour.

- [Pricing](/pricing): Full desk is on the pricing page.

## FAQ

### What is utilization in field sales?

Utilization in field sales is time selling versus time on the clock. In Knockdesk, utilization_rate is active minutes divided by clocked minutes.

### What is the utilization formula?

Active minutes / clocked minutes. Capacity analytics stores that as utilization_rate. idle_minutes is the stall, not the walk.

### Is Clocked In the same as utilized time?

No. Clocked In is a shift state. Utilization uses clocked minutes as the base and active minutes as the selling time.

### How is Knocking used in the formula?

It is not. Knocking is a state at the door. It is not a second hours column. Do not divide by Knocking time.

### How do you recompute the example?

480 clocked, 300 active, 120 idle, 60 break. utilization_rate is 300 / 480, 62.5 percent. Folding idle into active makes 420 / 480, 87.5 percent.

### Does idle_minutes exist on the desk?

Yes. Capacity analytics stores idle_minutes next to clocked, active, and break.

### How much does Knockdesk cost?

Full desk is on the pricing page. A free trial is not open.