STELLAService blog

The above comic reminded me of a call support phenomena that I have experienced on quite a few occasions. I’ve witnessed on several occasions a call wait time that turned out not to be the case. “We are experiencing a higher than normal call volume. Please stay on the line…” cooed the automatic recording. On most occasions, this is true. Other times, the expected hold time is much longer, and I sigh in relief when I am immediately transferred to a human.

So how are hold times estimated? IVR, or interactive voice response, is used to estimate the hold time of calls based on the wait times of previous calls and forecasts of future calls. IVR designers collect data across days and weeks to determine the average hold times, which vary based on the time of day, day of the week, and proximity to holidays. Using this information, customer service managers can staff customer support representatives so that more are available at busier parts of the day. Further, they can design the call menu to route customers to the most efficient customer support representatives, and even create automated processes for which customer service representatives aren’t necessarily needed, such as checking order status, purchasing products, and making payments.

Giving consumers a heads up about how long to wait is a convenience to the customer, who may decide to call back at another time or to leave a voicemail with the company if that is an option. It can help prevent customers from directing their disgruntlement to the customer service representative once he or she is reached. In any case, the call hold time should be accurate. If it’s consistently inaccurate, the customer may hang up, anticipating frustration due to unrealistic estimated call hold times and tell their friends not to trust the IVR-driven process.