Hold time is the duration callers spend waiting before their call is answered or while on hold during a call. It is a critical customer experience metric that directly impacts satisfaction and abandonment rates.
How is hold time measured?
Initial hold time measures the wait before a call is first answered. In-call hold time tracks pauses when callers are placed on hold mid-conversation. Both metrics matter, though initial hold time typically has greater impact on caller perception and abandonment.
Why does hold time matter?
Long hold times frustrate callers and increase abandonment. Studies consistently show hold time as a top driver of customer dissatisfaction with phone support. AI voice agents can dramatically reduce hold time by answering immediately and handling multiple calls simultaneously.
Hold time in practice
Before deploying an AI voice agent, a company’s average hold time was 8 minutes during peak hours. After deployment, the AI answers all calls within seconds. Human agents, now handling only escalations, have more capacity and answer transferred calls in under 30 seconds. Overall customer satisfaction scores increase by 25 points.