abandonedcalls

Abandoned calls refer to inbound telephone calls that are terminated by the caller before an agent answers or before the call is connected to a live agent. In call center analytics, abandonment is used to assess customer patience, service levels, and the efficiency of queue management. The term is commonly applied to landline and VoIP systems and may be tracked for specific periods, teams, or channels.

Abandoned call rate is the proportion of all inbound calls that are abandoned before they are answered. It is typically expressed as a percentage and can be measured in real time or over a reporting interval. Related metrics include average wait time for abandoned calls and the total number of abandoned calls. High abandonment rates trigger alerts and are often addressed in staffing and routing decisions.

Causes of abandonment include long hold times due to high volume or insufficient staffing, slow or misconfigured IVR menus, routing errors, and technical outages. Abandonment can indicate poor customer experience and, in outbound operations, can waste resources and reduce the effectiveness of campaigns.

Management and reduction strategies include accurate demand forecasting and staffing, use of overflow queues or automatic callbacks, improving IVR design to resolve simple tasks without speaking to an agent, better call routing, and ensuring reliable telephony infrastructure. Real-time monitoring and periodic reviews help keep abandonment within target levels and support service level commitments. Note: In some data sources, the metric is referred to as abandonedcalls (a concatenated form) to align with variable naming in software systems.