Hold Time (Explained)

Hold time

What is a hold time?

Hold time is the time that a customer must wait for a call to get connected to an agent.

Hold time is a part of the AHT call center formula because it provides a better insight into overall agent performance and the contact center’s productivity.

By tracking and reviewing the hold time, the company can manage their support staff. For example, if the holding time is too long, they should train their staff in a way that the hold time decreases. Thus, customers will be more satisfied with their service.

Another thing that can improve this is by hiring more agents to take care of phone calls and train agents according to their area of expertise.

Frequently asked questions

What does hold time mean?

Hold Time is the amount of time a caller remains on hold during an IVR call before giving up or being sent to the live agent or disconnected. This allows you to assess whether customers have to wait a long time for a connection, or whether it is running smoothly. If the time is too long, it means that you have to try to reduce this time.

How can you measure hold time?

You can measure hold time by adding up the time customers spend waiting for the connection to be established with the agent, dividing it by the number of contacts or attempts to make contact. The higher this ratio, the more frustrating it can be to maintain this communication channel.

Is there a way to improve hold time?

The hold time can be improved by educating employees to be able to handle requests more efficiently. If there are too many applications for the number of employees, you should consider hiring new employees. Customer service in other communication channels can also help to reduce the downtime. Thanks to this, customers will be able to choose a communication channel that is more appropriate for them.

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