How Long Do Callers Wait Before They Hang Up?

second

hero

parent_link

The multitude of customer data available to contact center platforms has executives scratching their heads at how to best leverage that data to drive business decisions. According to Dimension Data, though 58% of organizations agree analytics will help improve the customer journey, 64% still have no data analysis capability that combines data from all channels. It’s no surprise that more executives are turning to <a href="https://economicgraph.linkedin.com/content/me/economicgraph/en-us/research/LinkedIns-2017-US-Emerging-Jobs-Report">data science</a> to understand their businesses and improve against <a href="https://www.talkdesk.com/resources/ebooks/the-decision-makers-guide-to-contact-center-benchmarking/">key performance indicators</a>.
 
 
Image source: <a href="https://dimensiondatacx.com/executive-summary/analytics/">Dimension Data Global Customer Experience Benchmark Report 2017</a>
 
<img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-5940" src="https://www.talkdesk.com/app/uploads/2018/05/Dimension-Data.png" alt="Dimension Data" width="642" height="189" srcset="https://infra-cloudfront-talkdeskcom.svc.talkdeskapp.com/talkdesk_com/2018/05/23002720/Dimension-Data.png 642w, https://infra-cloudfront-talkdeskcom.svc.talkdeskapp.com/talkdesk_com/2018/05/23002720/Dimension-Data-321x95.png 321w" sizes="(max-width: 642px) 100vw, 642px" />
 
Data science is the study of the <a href="https://cacm.acm.org/magazines/2013/12/169933-data-science-and-prediction/abstract">generalizable extraction</a> of knowledge from data. It goes beyond uncovering knowledge to explain the past and is used to glean actionable insights to make better decisions and impact the future of businesses performance. Creating accurate and impactful insights requires a platform with customizable reporting—like Talkdesk—so you can measure and optimize <a href="https://www.talkdesk.com/platform/reporting-analytics/">the metrics that matter most</a> to your business.

generic_content

<h3>Oops! Looks like there's an issue loading your content experience.</h3>
This could result from one or more of several issues:
<ul>
 	<li>You have an Ad Blocker active on your browser - please review your settings and turn off the Ad Blocker for this website.</li>
 	<li>You have not accepted the Cookies needed to display the content - please open the Cookie Consent Application by clicking the “Cookie Policy” link in the website Footer at the bottom of the page to review and accept the Cookies.</li>
 	<li>Your browser privacy settings will not enable content to load - please review your browser privacy settings.</li>
</ul>
You may also perform a refresh of your browser, or close it and open a new browser after making the adjustments suggested above to ensure all new settings are deployed.
Thanks - the Talkdesk Team.

Sign up for CX and call center insights delivered weekly to your inbox.

subscribe_form

Data science is the study of the <a href="https://cacm.acm.org/magazines/2013/12/169933-data-science-and-prediction/abstract">generalizable extraction</a> of knowledge from data. It goes beyond uncovering knowledge to explain the past and is used to glean actionable insights to make better decisions and impact the future of businesses performance. Creating accurate and impactful insights requires a platform with customizable reporting—like Talkdesk—so you can measure and optimize <a href="https://www.talkdesk.com/platform/reporting-analytics/">the metrics that matter most</a> to your business.
 
Waiting time is one of the important contact center metrics. Waiting time, or <a href="https://support.talkdesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/201241145-Average-Waiting-Time-a-k-a-Average-Speed-of-Answer-ASA-">Average Speed of Answer</a>, is indicative of how organized your contact center staffing and management is and how well you can engage customers when you absolutely need to make them wait. If the importance of waiting time experience isn’t already clear to you, consider this: an <a href="https://www.contactcenterworld.com/company/blog/conversational/?page=4">AT&amp;T survey</a> found that on average customers will hang up after waiting for 90 seconds, but callers who listened to music while on hold thought a 30 second wait was only 15 seconds. Additionally, you often only get one shot at connecting with an inbound caller—according to Voice Response, Inc., about 34% of callers who hang up won’t call back, ever.
 
To understand the different factors that go into waiting time in a contact center, our data science team compared waiting times across industries. Globally, Talkdesk accounts have a low waiting time with inbound calls waiting in queue between one and a half minute or four minutes. Below are the key insights the team found after analyzing the data from our 1,400 customers. To shed further light on our analysis, we highlight two of our clients with totally different business model. First one, an online commerce enterprise with customers asking technical questions about provided software, and second one, a third party service company. Our objective was to analyze the effect of the nature of provided service in customer waiting time and their expectations.
 
It’s worth mentioning that the industry definition of waiting time is the time a call remains in the queue and ringing until an agent answers it. If the customer is sent to the waiting queue multiple times as a result of no answers or transfers, the waiting time for the call will be the total time spent in the waiting queue across all instances. Time spent in IVR or Voice Prompts is not included in this calculation.
Global Average Wait Time
<img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-5941" src="https://www.talkdesk.com/app/uploads/2018/05/Global-Average-Waiting-Time.png" alt="Global-Average-Waiting-Time" width="422" height="410" srcset="https://infra-cloudfront-talkdeskcom.svc.talkdeskapp.com/talkdesk_com/2018/05/23002918/Global-Average-Waiting-Time.png 422w, https://infra-cloudfront-talkdeskcom.svc.talkdeskapp.com/talkdesk_com/2018/05/23002918/Global-Average-Waiting-Time-211x205.png 211w" sizes="(max-width: 422px) 100vw, 422px" />

To begin, the team examined at the waiting time for one of Talkdesk’s online commerce enterprise customers. Their customers wait for an average of seven minutes until they are picked up by an agent. Their waiting times are five times higher than the overall Talkdesk waiting time.
 
Online Enterprise: Average Wait Time
<img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-5942" src="https://www.talkdesk.com/app/uploads/2018/05/Online-Enterprise-Average-Wait-Time.png" alt="Online-Enterprise-Average-Wait-Time" width="447" height="438" srcset="https://infra-cloudfront-talkdeskcom.svc.talkdeskapp.com/talkdesk_com/2018/05/23003021/Online-Enterprise-Average-Wait-Time.png 447w, https://infra-cloudfront-talkdeskcom.svc.talkdeskapp.com/talkdesk_com/2018/05/23003021/Online-Enterprise-Average-Wait-Time-224x219.png 224w" sizes="(max-width: 447px) 100vw, 447px" />
 
To have even a better understanding we picked a service company to compare their waiting time. Our service customer keeps a very tight control on their queues. On average callers wait less than one minute and their rate of abandoned calls is lower than Talkdesk&#8217;s global KPI.
 
Service Company: Average Wait Time
 
<img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-5943" src="https://www.talkdesk.com/app/uploads/2018/05/Service-Company-Average-Wait-Time.png" alt="Service-Company-Average-Wait-Time" width="441" height="429" srcset="https://infra-cloudfront-talkdeskcom.svc.talkdeskapp.com/talkdesk_com/2018/05/23003140/Service-Company-Average-Wait-Time.png 441w, https://infra-cloudfront-talkdeskcom.svc.talkdeskapp.com/talkdesk_com/2018/05/23003140/Service-Company-Average-Wait-Time-221x215.png 221w" sizes="(max-width: 441px) 100vw, 441px" />
 
Wait time is a core measure of a contact center’s health. While the average waiting time varies across industries, there are several contributing factors including reducing <a href="https://www.talkdesk.com/blog/how-do-you-compare-average-time-in-queue/">time in queue</a> and <a href="https://www.talkdesk.com/blog/how-to-enhance-service-level-in-the-call-center/">enhancing service level</a> that you can optimize for success.

Chandler Galt

blog_author

Download this checklist to help make an informed decision about what you need in an enterprise cloud contact center solution.

col-12 offset-sm-1 col-sm-5 offset-md-1 col-md-5 offset-xl-1 col-xl-5 mr-auto align-self-center

Download Your Enterprise Cloud Contact Center Checklist

panel

social_share

Bringing generative AI to healthcare through the contact center

5 benefits of an AI-powered insurance contact center solution

How artificial intelligence helps businesses modernize customer engagement

Should customer service leaders fear ChatGPT?

card_related

Wait time is a core measure of a contact center’s health. Read this article to learn how long callers wait before they hang up and how to optimize for success.

How Long Do Callers Wait Before They Hang Up?

Please wait while we validate your privacy settings.

Chandler Galt

Download Your Enterprise Cloud Contact Center Checklist

Other blog posts.

Bringing generative AI to healthcare through the contact center

5 benefits of an AI-powered insurance contact center solution