--- title: How to Help Your Call Center Reduce Wait Time and Abandoned Calls description: Many businesses rely on phone services to stay in touch with their customers and employees. All too often, customers are put on hold, and if the call is not picked up quickly, they hang up. See how your business can reduce wait time and abandoned calls to improve the customer service experience for callers! image: https://www.abetteranswer.com/hubfs/Annoyed%20Girl%20on%20Phone-small.jpg --- [![A Better Answer Call Centers](https://www.abetteranswer.com/hs-fs/hubfs/optimized/ABA_Logo_-_June_Picture_Blue_Trademark%20(1).png?width=135&height=146&name=ABA_Logo_-_June_Picture_Blue_Trademark%20(1).png "A Better Answer Call Centers")](https://www.abetteranswer.com) We'd Love to Hear From You:[1-866-442-9500](tel:1-866-442-9500) [![GET A FREE QUOTE](https://hubspot-no-cache-na2-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/cta/default/131482/50344ecf-861c-4fe6-a146-a87233d09839.png)](https://hubspot-cta-redirect-na2-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/cta/redirect/131482/50344ecf-861c-4fe6-a146-a87233d09839) [**search](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/how-to-help-your-call-center-reduce-wait-time-and-abandoned-calls#) # A Better Answer Blog ## How to Help Your Call Center Reduce Wait Time and Abandoned Calls by [Jessica Brown](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/author/jessica-brown), on Aug 30, 2020 2:52:00 PM ![how to avoid abandoned calls](https://www.abetteranswer.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Annoyed%20Girl%20on%20Phone-small.jpg?width=1000&name=Annoyed%20Girl%20on%20Phone-small.jpg) Many businesses rely on phone services to stay in touch with their customers and their employees. All too often, customers are put on hold, and if the call is not picked up quickly, they hang up. Businesses should do what they can to avoid putting customers on hold for more time than it takes to transfer a call. It might sound like an impossible goal, but there are several things businesses can do to reduce hangups.   ## **4 Reasons Why Customers Abandon Calls** Before making decisions about improving phone service, businesses should understand why their customers are **abandoning calls**.  ### Poor Customer Caller Experience The most common reason why customers hang up a call is because of poor customer experience. Employees might be difficult to hear, they may not know where to direct the call, or the quality of the call might be poor. There are numerous reasons why a customer might be disappointed enough in their experience to hangup.  **Download:** [Improve your customer service with these 3 strategies!](https://www.abetteranswer.com/customer-service-toolkit) ### Phone Lines are Busy or Cannot Be Reached If a customer calls and continually gets a busy signal, they will eventually stop calling. The same will happen if the customer calls, and no one answers.  ### Waiting Without Explaining Customers will not wait if they do not know why they are waiting. As the clock ticks, customers will begin to overestimate how long they have been waiting. Some businesses have [automated messages](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/how-to-do-customer-service-the-right-way-say-goodbye-to-automated-messages) that tell their waiting customers that they are important and to continue to hold. But, if no one actually picks up and the customers hear this message repeatedly, they will hang up. Sometimes, customers will call back after they’ve hung up, but it’s not a guarantee.  ### Waiting and Doing Nothing No one likes to wait, and customers are more impatient than ever. If they do not know why they are waiting, and there is no sound coming from your end of the phone, customers will hang up. As they wait with nothing to do, they will grow impatient and abandon the call.    ## **How Do You Calculate the Percentage of Abandoned Calls?** When you want to improve your **telephone service**, you should collect data to learn what is and isn’t working. If you have abandoned calls, then you should look closely at how many and when they tend to happen. Abandoned calls can become a key performance indicator (KPI), but first, you have to get benchmark data. Once you do that, you can then set goals to reduce the number to see if your staff is doing better in attending customers they put on hold.  When you want to calculate the abandonment rate, you collect the number of incoming calls in a set period. Then, you gather the number of calls that were actually handled. To get useful data, choose a period of time, like a month or a quarter. Then, subtract the calls handled from the actual calls received. Divide that number by the calls received. You will get a percentage that shows you how many are abandoned. Unfortunately, the number does not tell you why they were abandoned.    ## **How Can You Reduce Abandoned Calls in a Call Center?** It is possible to reduce abandoned calls after collecting data, analyzing it, and creating a solution that works for your organization.  ### Provide a Better Queue Experience You and your staff should look closely at the customer experience and how long they are waiting online. This is a data point that could be collected to get an accurate picture of the average wait time.  Once the data is collected, management and call center employees should talk to each other about ways to reduce wait time. Some companies will actively engage with callers to let them know why they are on hold. [Call centers](https://www.abetteranswer.com/) try to improve their services by sharing information like this with customers: ![improve call center customer service](https://www.abetteranswer.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Watch%20and%20Phone-small%20(1).jpg?width=414&name=Watch%20and%20Phone-small%20(1).jpg) - Automate wait time announcements - Share information as customers wait on hold - Play music to distract customers while they wait - Gather required information from customers before putting them on hold ### Implement a Customer Call Back There is one sure-fire way not to have callers abandon a call: setting a call-back time. Rather than asking customers to wait, call centers arrange a call-back time, so the customer knows when the phone will ring, and they can talk to their agent.  This technique is called “[virtual queuing](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtual_queue)” or “virtual hold” - because the customer is still waiting to talk to an agent, but they are waiting with an expected call back. The key to success is actually having agents call them back.  Some organizations will also have agents call back abandoned numbers during slow times. This can only be done when customer information is collected upfront or when call centers gather phone numbers from a caller ID service.  ### Establish Channels of Communication  Another useful way to reduce abandoned calls is to set up different channels, so customers do not have to call into the same line. This lets customers have a personalized experience while taking away some pressure on the call center. Customers can reach agents with direct phone lines and leave messages for call-backs. ### Improve Training of Customer Agents Training is another necessity, especially for **call-center employees** and agents. Call-center employees need to learn how to speed up their calls to reduce abandoned calls. And, agents need to do the same, so their customers aren’t waiting too long to talk to them.  ### Prepare a Better Schedule for the Customer Agents Some organizations look at phone data, so they can make staffing changes to meet the demands of a busy call center. Automated technology can look at historical data to predict when call centers will be busy. They can then suggest staffing ideas based on 15-minute intervals. They can also adjust agent schedules so they are available during peak phone hours.  ### Hire More Agents Lastly, if the phones are overwhelmed, and agents do not have time to attend to all of their customers, then it might be time to hire more agents.  *Abandoned calls* are necessary to measure success when providing customer satisfaction. Fortunately, there are several realistic steps organizations can take to speed up their phone service and reduce abandoned calls. [![Get your guide to a great customer experience. Download now](https://hubspot-no-cache-na2-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/cta/default/131482/481830cd-7542-4a01-81e5-1dfa8b21e0cc.png)](https://hubspot-cta-redirect-na2-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/cta/redirect/131482/481830cd-7542-4a01-81e5-1dfa8b21e0cc) - [Tweet](https://twitter.com/share) ### About this blog A Better Blog is your number one resource for what’s trending in the call center industry. Stay tuned to this page for articles, blog posts and other insights from a company that’s been the best in the business for almost half a century. ### Subscribe to get more great content! ### Recent Posts ### Posts by Topic - [Blog (57)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/topic/blog) - [Better Service (52)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/topic/better-service) - [News (36)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/topic/news) - [Better Business (33)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/topic/better-business) - [Call Handling Heroes (33)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/topic/call-handling-heroes) - [Awards (29)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/topic/awards) - [Testimonials (21)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/topic/testimonials) - [ATSI (19)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/topic/atsi) - [Answering Service (17)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/topic/answering-service) - [Better Communications (15)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/topic/better-communications) - [Customer Service (15)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/topic/customer-service) - [Articles (12)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/topic/articles) - [Customer Experience (6)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/topic/customer-experience) - [Charities (5)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/topic/charities) - [Certifications (4)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/topic/certifications) - [Small Business (3)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/topic/small-business) - [CAM-X (2)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/topic/cam-x) - [DBJ (2)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/topic/dbj) - [call answering services (2)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/topic/call-answering-services) - [medical answering services (2)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/topic/medical-answering-services) - [Call Center (1)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/topic/call-center) - [HIPAA Compliance (1)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/topic/hipaa-compliance) - [answering service benefits (1)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/topic/answering-service-benefits) - [answering service outsourcing (1)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/topic/answering-service-outsourcing) - [call recording benefits (1)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/topic/call-recording-benefits) - [call recording for business (1)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/topic/call-recording-for-business) - [ecommerce answering service (1)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/topic/ecommerce-answering-service) - [enhancing customer experience (1)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/topic/enhancing-customer-experience) - [hiring an answering service (1)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/topic/hiring-an-answering-service) - [outsourcing during recession (1)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/topic/outsourcing-during-recession) - [startups (1)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/topic/startups) - [streamline business (1)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/topic/streamline-business) [see all](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/how-to-help-your-call-center-reduce-wait-time-and-abandoned-calls#) ### Blog Archive - [January 2026 (1)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2026/01) - [October 2025 (1)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2025/10) - [April 2025 (1)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2025/04) - [January 2025 (3)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2025/01) - [May 2024 (2)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2024/05) - [April 2024 (2)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2024/04) - [September 2023 (4)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2023/09) - [June 2023 (2)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2023/06) - [April 2023 (1)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2023/04) - [March 2023 (1)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2023/03) - [February 2023 (1)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2023/02) - [December 2022 (2)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2022/12) - [November 2022 (5)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2022/11) - [June 2022 (1)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2022/06) - [May 2022 (3)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2022/05) - [March 2022 (2)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2022/03) - [February 2022 (4)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2022/02) - [November 2021 (1)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2021/11) - [October 2021 (1)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2021/10) - [August 2021 (1)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2021/08) - [July 2021 (1)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2021/07) - [June 2021 (4)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2021/06) - [May 2021 (5)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2021/05) - [April 2021 (3)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2021/04) - [March 2021 (3)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2021/03) - [February 2021 (5)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2021/02) - [January 2021 (4)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2021/01) - [December 2020 (3)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2020/12) - [November 2020 (4)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2020/11) - [October 2020 (1)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2020/10) - [September 2020 (3)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2020/09) - [August 2020 (3)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2020/08) - [July 2020 (2)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2020/07) - [June 2020 (2)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2020/06) - [May 2020 (2)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2020/05) - [April 2020 (2)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2020/04) - [March 2020 (1)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2020/03) - [February 2020 (2)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2020/02) - [January 2020 (2)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2020/01) - [December 2019 (2)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2019/12) - [November 2019 (2)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2019/11) - [October 2019 (2)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2019/10) - [September 2019 (2)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2019/09) - [August 2019 (2)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2019/08) - [July 2019 (3)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2019/07) - [May 2019 (1)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2019/05) - [April 2019 (1)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2019/04) - [March 2019 (3)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2019/03) - [February 2019 (1)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2019/02) - [January 2019 (1)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2019/01) - [December 2018 (2)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2018/12) - [October 2018 (2)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2018/10) - [September 2018 (1)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2018/09) - [August 2018 (3)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2018/08) - [July 2018 (3)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2018/07) - [June 2018 (1)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2018/06) - [April 2018 (2)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2018/04) - [March 2018 (1)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2018/03) - [February 2018 (3)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2018/02) - [October 2017 (3)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2017/10) - [September 2017 (1)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2017/09) - [August 2017 (3)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2017/08) - [July 2017 (2)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2017/07) - [June 2017 (3)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2017/06) - [May 2017 (2)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2017/05) - [April 2017 (2)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2017/04) - [March 2017 (3)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2017/03) - [February 2017 (1)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2017/02) - [December 2016 (2)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2016/12) - [November 2016 (3)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2016/11) - [October 2016 (4)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2016/10) - [September 2016 (3)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2016/09) - [August 2016 (4)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2016/08) - [July 2016 (4)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2016/07) - [June 2016 (3)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2016/06) - [May 2016 (5)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2016/05) - [April 2016 (1)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2016/04) - [March 2016 (4)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2016/03) - [February 2016 (3)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2016/02) - [January 2016 (5)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2016/01) - [December 2015 (4)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2015/12) - [November 2015 (5)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2015/11) - [October 2015 (6)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2015/10) - [September 2015 (2)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2015/09) - [August 2015 (6)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2015/08) - [July 2015 (3)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2015/07) - [June 2015 (2)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2015/06) - [May 2015 (2)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2015/05) - [April 2015 (6)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2015/04) - [March 2015 (6)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2015/03) - [February 2015 (4)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2015/02) - [January 2015 (4)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2015/01) - [December 2014 (4)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2014/12) - [November 2014 (1)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2014/11) - [October 2014 (4)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2014/10) - [September 2014 (4)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2014/09) - [August 2014 (3)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2014/08) - [July 2014 (5)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2014/07) - [June 2014 (3)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2014/06) - [May 2014 (2)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2014/05) - [April 2014 (1)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2014/04) - [February 2014 (1)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2014/02) - [January 2014 (1)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2014/01) - [December 2013 (2)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2013/12) - [October 2013 (1)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2013/10) - [August 2013 (1)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2013/08) - [December 2012 (1)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2012/12) - [November 2012 (1)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2012/11) - [October 2012 (1)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2012/10) - [September 2012 (1)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2012/09) - [July 2012 (1)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2012/07) - [June 2012 (1)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2012/06) - [May 2012 (21)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2012/05) - [April 2012 (2)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2012/04) - [March 2012 (2)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2012/03) - [February 2012 (3)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2012/02) - [January 2012 (1)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2012/01) - [December 2011 (1)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2011/12) - [November 2011 (1)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2011/11) - [October 2011 (1)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2011/10) - [August 2011 (2)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2011/08) - [July 2011 (2)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2011/07) - [May 2011 (1)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2011/05) - [April 2011 (26)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2011/04) - [March 2011 (3)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2011/03) - [November 2010 (1)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2010/11) - [October 2010 (1)](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/archive/2010/10) [see all](https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/how-to-help-your-call-center-reduce-wait-time-and-abandoned-calls#) [![New call-to-action](https://hubspot-no-cache-na2-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/cta/default/131482/cbf52556-bdda-4454-845b-4e58dac2452d.png)](https://hubspot-cta-redirect-na2-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/cta/redirect/131482/cbf52556-bdda-4454-845b-4e58dac2452d) ### Contact Us ### Subscribe To Newsletter ### Connect With Us [**](https://www.facebook.com/ABetterAnswer/) [**](https://twitter.com/ABetterAnswer) [**](https://www.instagram.com/abetteranswer/) [**](https://www.linkedin.com/company/a-better-answer/) ### Want to work for A Better Answer? Fill out our online [Job Application Form](https://www.abetteranswer.com/jobs) and become a Call Handling Hero®! ©2026 A BETTER ANSWER [ Request a Quote Now! ](https://www.abetteranswer.com/get-a-quote) ```json "@context" ```