What is total hold time?
Emily Wilson
Updated on April 08, 2026
What is total hold time?
Hold time is the total amount of time a caller spends in an agent-initiated hold status. The point is, hold time needs to be watched and action taken when it’s out of variance.
How long is an acceptable hold time?
No hold time is acceptable. 30 seconds to 1 minute. 1 minute. 1 minute to 2 minutes.
How long do you wait on hold before hanging up?
According to research from Velaro, all it takes is waiting on hold for one minute and almost 60% of customers will hang up. In a survey of “more than 2,500 consumers, nearly 60% of respondents believe that one minute is too long to be on hold,” PRWeb reports.
What to say when you put someone on hold?
Sample Ways to Put a Caller on Hold Smith, can you please hold while I retrieve your file?” [pause for a response] “Thank you. I will be back in a minute.” [return to the call] “Thank you for waiting, Mr. Smith. I can now help you.”
How is hold time calculated?
The average hold time is calculated by adding up all inbound customer call hold times and dividing that by the number of inbound customer calls answered by the agent or interactive voice response (IVR) system. Increase their call handling staff to meet demand.
What is the KPI for call center?
Average Handle Time Average handle time is the elapsed time from when an agent answers a call until the agent disconnects. It is one of the most commonly analyzed KPIs in the call center industry as it is directly related to caller satisfaction.
Why does being on hold take so long?
People are on hold for hours because of call volumes and agent shortages. Some are able to take their calls and chats from home, working around slower Internet connections or children nearby.
What’s the longest someone has been on hold?
The longest hold time on record was 17 minutes. But, they told the paper, if Kahn can produce his telephone log, he will be reimbursed for the call. He has also been confirmed on his flight.
Should you hang up when on hold?
You should hang up now. Unless they tell you that your call is important to them. Then stay on. Add about 5 minutes for every time they tell you that your call is important to them.
Can customer service hear you on hold?
Be careful what you say when a call centre puts you on hold – they could still be listening. Yep, that’s right, the operator on the other end of the phone could be hearing your abuse because calls are often recorded even when you’re waiting.
How do you professionally put someone on hold?
Allow us to present you with five important steps to properly placing customers on hold:
- Ask permission.
- Provide a time frame.
- Return to the call in the time frame given.
- Thank the customer.
- Apologize for the wait.
When you are on hold Can they hear you?
The agent that puts you on hold will hear nothing while you’re on hold. The exception to this is if they actually only muted their mic, making you think you’re on hold. Some configurations of recording software will record you even while on hold or in an IVR queue.
When do you find out your hold time?
Hold times should normally be determined prior to marketing of a product and 119 following any significant changes in processes, equipment, starting and packaging 120 materials.
What’s the maximum hold period for a hold time study?
A representative sample of the batch of material or product subjected 162 to the hold-time study should be held for the defined hold period. The maximum hold 163 period for each category of material should be established on the basis of the study by 164 keeping the material in either the original or simulated container used in production.
How long has Delta been on hold for?
@Delta @JordanFurbeeTV Same here. Been on hold for over an hour. Can someone please respond to my DM for help? @KimManturuk @Expedia Was it an actual 10-hour run or was that just your time on-hold with Expedia?
How long was Qantas on hold the other day?
@JennaPrice @Qantas Over two hours on hold the other day. Gave up. Surely they can hire more staff. I’ve had a pretty sucky experience with @SixFlags customer service the past few days.