Nobody calls customer service because they want to wait on hold. The time a customer spends on hold before speaking with an agent is one of the clearest signals of how well a contact center is actually running and one of the fastest ways to lose a customer if you get it wrong. This article covers what average hold time means, what good looks like across industries, how to calculate it, and what actually works when you need to bring it down.
Average hold time refers to the average duration a customer spends on hold during a call, from the moment an agent places them on hold to the moment the conversation resumes. It's one component of a broader metric called Average Handle Time (AHT), which captures the full duration of a customer interaction including talk time, hold time, and after-call wrap-up work.
Hold time in call centers specifically measures the pauses within a live call. When an agent needs to check account details, consult a supervisor, or look up a policy, they place the customer on hold. That waiting period is hold time.
It's worth separating these two metrics clearly:
High hold times within calls usually point to one of two things: agents who don't have the information they need to answer confidently, or processes that require unnecessary escalation before a decision can be made.
Hold time benchmarks vary by industry and channel, but a few reference points are widely used across contact center operations:
| Metric | Benchmark |
|---|---|
| Average hold time per call | Under 40 seconds |
| Maximum hold before check-in | 60 seconds |
| Average Speed of Answer (phone) | 10–40 seconds |
| Live chat response time | 30–90 seconds |
| Email response time | 1–5 business days |
| Social media response time | Within 1 business day |
| Ticket response time | 2–3 hours |
These are starting points, not fixed rules. A technical support line handling complex software issues will naturally run longer than a billing inquiry queue. What matters is measuring against your own baseline and moving it consistently in the right direction.
The numbers on customer patience are more uncomfortable than most contact center managers want to admit. In a survey of over 2,500 people, over half of callers (54%) hang up within eight minutes of being placed on hold, with many abandoning the call even sooner. The study also revealed that 6% of respondents wait no longer than two minutes, while a total of 31% are only willing to stay on hold for five minutes or less.
The customers most likely to wait through extended hold times are often the ones with the most serious problems and the least patience for a bad experience once they finally reach someone.
Hold time doesn't exist in isolation. It sits alongside a set of contact center KPIs that together describe how an operation is performing. Common benchmarks:
| KPI | Typical Target |
|---|---|
| Average Handle Time (AHT) | 4–6 minutes (varies by industry) |
| Average Hold Time | Under 40 seconds |
| First Call Resolution (FCR) | 70–75% |
| Call Abandonment Rate | Under 5% |
| Average Speed of Answer (ASA) | Under 28 seconds |
| Customer Satisfaction (CSAT) | 85%+ |
Financial services and healthcare contact centers tend to run higher AHT because the queries are more complex. Retail and telecom tend to run lower. The key is knowing what your industry baseline looks like and whether your team is above or below it.
The formula is straightforward: Average Hold Time = Total Hold Time Across All Calls ÷ Number of Calls Handled
To determine the average hold time per call, pull the total amount of time agents placed customers on hold during a given period, then divide by the number of calls in that same window.
For Average Speed of Answer (ASA), the calculation includes more components:
Ideally, IVR queue time and ring time should each sit between 1–5 seconds. When ASA climbs, it usually means call volume has outpaced available agents or routing logic is sending calls to the wrong queues.
Extended hold times in a call center are a symptom, not the root problem. The root roblems are usually:
At Simply Contact, a project to reduce AHT for the Italian and English lines at Wizz Air involved structured agent scripts, targeted tooling, and regular call reviews. The result was a 30% reduction in AHT. The Italian line came in below the contractual target.
The challenges going in were typical: agents waiting too long for supervisor input, significant performance variation between team members, and turnover that reset the learning curve repeatedly. None of those are unusual problems. What made the difference was treating each one as a specific, solvable process issue rather than a general performance problem.
Efficiency in a contact center can be measured using several key metrics: talk time, hold time, after-call work time, and available (idle) time. Talk time refers to the actual duration of a call, excluding any periods when the call is on hold or the time spent on after-call tasks. Hold time occurs when a call is temporarily placed on hold using an ACD system; during this time, callers typically hear hold music. It's crucial to reassure customers that they remain connected during these pauses.
Hold time allows operators to gather necessary information or seek guidance from their supervisors. If this period exceeds one minute, the operator should check in with the client, informing them of the need for additional time and giving them the option to continue waiting or to call back later.
An extended average hold time may indicate that operators are not adequately trained or familiar with their scripts. If a call center consistently has long hold times, it may suggest the script isn't efficiently structured or lacks vital information.
Based on our vast experience, Simply Contact experts have crafted guidelines for expected response times across various communication channels:
* It's important to note that these recommended durations can vary depending on the specific client and industry in question.
As an experienced outsourcing contact center, Simply Contact caters to a diverse range of businesses. We have numerous positive testimonials from our satisfied partners, and our extensive knowledge of customer demands allows us to meet call center hold time standards effectively.
ASA, or Average Speed of Answer, has two primary interpretations. Firstly, it refers to the average time taken by an agent to answer a call. Secondly, it signifies the average duration a caller waits on the line before an agent responds. ASA serves as a key metric for gauging the service level of inbound calls and is a crucial component in measuring service availability. It's particularly useful for monitoring and analyzing the daily workload of call center agents.
The ASA can be calculated using the following formula:
| ASA = (IVR Welcome + IVR Busy + Ring time) / Calls Handled |
Here:
IVR Welcome is the automatic greeting that informs callers about the company they've reached. This initial touchpoint helps callers verify if they've contacted the correct entity. In certain cases, this component might be omitted from the ASA calculation.
IVR Busy refers to the duration a caller spends in the queue when all agents are occupied.
Ring Time, sometimes referred to as reserved time, is the span between the call being directed to an agent and the agent picking up. Ideally, both IVR Busy and Ring Time should range between 1-5 seconds.
ASA is a valuable metric that provides insights into the quality of customer service. It highlights areas of improvement, ensuring optimal service delivery.
The fastest way to reduce hold time is to make sure agents can answer questions without leaving the call. That means a knowledge base that's accurate, searchable, and organized around the queries agents actually receive. When agents can find an answer in seconds rather than minutes, hold times drop. When they can't find it at all, hold times stay high and customers spill into repeat contacts.
An IVR system handles routine queries: balance checks, account status, payment processing, store hours, without agent involvement. For customers, it's faster. For agents, it means the calls that reach them are the ones that actually need a human.
Implementing advanced call routing systems that sort contacts by query type before they reach an agent also reduces the misdirection that drives hold times up.
Wrap-up time after a call often includes data entry, case logging, and order updates,tasks that could be automated or handled by the system rather than the agent. When agents spend less time on post-call administration, average handle time falls and agents become available for the next call faster, which reduces queue time for waiting customers.
When a hold is unavoidable, the standard practice is to check back in with the customer after no more than 60 seconds. Acknowledge that you still need more time, give them a realistic estimate, and offer them the option to receive a callback instead of continuing to wait. Customers on hold who receive that check-in regularly report better experiences even when the total hold time stays the same.
Long hold times and low first call resolution rates tend to travel together. When customers have to call back about the same issue, they arrive frustrated and the call takes longer. Focusing on resolving issues during the first contact reduces hold times and improves customer satisfaction in the same move.
Average hold time across a contact center can hide wide variation between agents. One agent might consistently hold under 30 seconds; another might average three minutes. Identifying that gap and understanding what the first agent does differently,how they navigate the knowledge base, how they communicate while they work — gives you a coaching model that actually works.
Read also: How to reduce AHT (Average Handling Time)
Average hold time is a contact center metric that measures one of the things customers dislike most: waiting while they're already on a call trying to get help. Keeping it low requires agents who have the information and authority to resolve issues quickly, routing that puts customers with the right people, and processes that don't force unnecessary holds.
The benchmarks exist as reference points, under 40 seconds per hold, check in at 60 seconds, target first call resolution above 70%. Whether your operation is near those numbers or well above them, the path to improvement is the same: measure what's actually happening at the agent level, identify the specific gaps, and fix the process rather than just pressuring people to go faster.
If you're looking to improve contact center efficiency and reduce hold times, Simply Contact's team has direct experience across telecom, aviation, and other high-volume environments.
At Simply Contact, we specialize in creating personalized customer support solutions that drive business growth and customer satisfaction. Let us help you elevate your customer experience and stand out from the competition.
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