Definition
Average Hold Time (AHT) in technology, particularly in call center operations, refers to the average duration a customer is placed on hold before they are connected to an agent. It includes the time a customer spends waiting in a queue and the time they spend interacting with the IVR (Interactive Voice Response) system. A lower AHT often indicates efficient call handling and superior customer service.
Phonetic
The phonetics of the keyword “Average Hold Time” is: Average: /ˈæv.Éš.ɪdÊ’/Hold: /hoÊŠld/Time: /taɪm/
Key Takeaways
- Average Hold Time refers to the average duration a customer waits on hold before their call is answered. It is a crucial metric in measuring a call center’s efficiency and customer service quality.
- Prolonged Average Hold Time can negatively impact customer satisfaction levels, as it suggests that the company’s response time is slow, causing inconvenience to the customer. Hence, businesses always aim to minimize their Average Hold Time.
- Managing Average Hold Time efficiently can also help to increase operational efficiency, as customer queries are addressed promptly, freeing up resources to handle more calls. It’s crucial to continually monitor and strive to optimize this metric to achieve excellent customer service and maximize productivity.
Importance
Average Hold Time is a crucial technology term, especially in the field of customer service. This metric denotes the average duration a customer spends on hold while waiting for a service representative to attend to his or her call.
Maintaining high customer satisfaction levels is vital as long periods of hold times can lead to customer frustration and dissatisfaction, adversely impacting a company’s reputation and customer retention rate.
Reducing Average Hold Time can result in improved customer experience, higher efficiency in service delivery, and a potential boost in business productivity and profitability. Therefore, tracking and minimizing Average Hold Time is highly important for organizations that rely heavily on telephonic customer service.
Explanation
Average Hold Time (AHT) is a critical metric in call center operations. It broadly represents a customer’s average time waiting in a queue to resolve their issues or queries. It is calculated by dividing the total hold time by the number of calls handled.
AHT plays a vital role in assessing the call center’s efficiency, effectiveness, and operational capacity, providing insight into how well it manages its call traffic and meets customer service objectives. From a business perspective, shorter AHTs are generally preferred as it indicate that customers are quickly processed, leading to higher customer satisfaction levels and increased call center efficiency.
AHT is instrumental in strategic capacity planning and staffing decisions within the call center. By tracking this parameter, managers can identify peak call times and adjust staffing levels accordingly, ensuring that customer service levels are maintained. Furthermore, AHT can be instrumental in identifying training needs for call center agents.
If AHT is longer than expected, it might indicate that agents have difficulties handling calls efficiently due to inadequate training or tools. Therefore, understanding AHT helps a business improve customer service delivery and make informed decisions regarding workforce management and training requirements.
Examples
Average Hold Time (AHT) is a metric used primarily in the call center industry to measure the time a customer has to wait before their call is answered. Here are three real-world examples of using this term:
1. Call Centers: The most common use of AHT is in customer service call centers. They constantly monitor their average hold time to evaluate their performance and efficiency. If a call center’s AHT is high, it might be a sign that they need more customer service representatives or that their current ones need more training.
2. Telecommunications Companies: Telecom companies also use AHT to measure how long their customers spend on hold. This can affect customer satisfaction, so telecom companies strive to maintain an average hold time as low as possible.
3. Healthcare Hotlines: Hotlines also use AHT to monitor their performance in healthcare. For example, a mental health hotline might aim to keep their AHT low to ensure that people in crisis get help as quickly as possible. High AHTs in this situation could literally be a matter of life or death.
Frequently Asked Questions(FAQ)
Q: What is the Average Hold Time in the technology context?
A: In the context of technology, especially in call centers or customer support, Average Hold Time is a term used to measure the average length of time a customer is kept waiting on hold before their issue is addressed.
Q: How is Average Hold Time calculated?
A: Average Hold Time is calculated by totaling all hold times for all calls over a specific period and dividing that total by the number of calls within that period.
Q: Why is Average Hold Time important?
A: Average Hold Time is an important metric as it directly impacts the customer’s experience. Extended hold times can lead to customer frustration and dissatisfaction, ultimately affecting customer relationships.
Q: What is considered a good Average Hold Time?
A: A good Average Hold Time varies by industry, but typically it’s considered ideal to keep it as low as possible. A hold time of less than 1-2 minutes in most industries is considered good.
Q: How can I reduce Average Hold Time?
A: Average Hold Time can be reduced by improving staff efficiency or using customer support technology, such as providing agents with information about a customer’s previous issues before they connect with the customer.
Q: What is the difference between Average Handle Time and Average Hold Time?
A: Average Handle Time is the total time spent handling a call, including talk, hold, and wrap-up times. On the other hand, Average Hold Time refers specifically to the time customers spend waiting on hold.
Q: Can a long Average Hold Time impact my business negatively?
A: A long Average Hold Time can lead to customer dissatisfaction and increased abandoned calls, ultimately negatively impacting your business’s reputation and customer retention rates.
Q: How can technology help improve Average Hold Time?
A: Modern customer support technologies, such as chatbots, AI, or efficient CRM systems, can significantly reduce Average Hold Time by providing instant customer support or by providing necessary contextual information to live agents, reducing the time needed to solve a customer’s issue.
Related Technology Terms
- Call Center Metrics
- Service Level
- Average Speed of Answer
- First Call Resolution
- Queue Time
