What is call abandon rate and how do you calculate and lower it
Sado AI team · · 4 min read
In short
Call abandon rate is the share of callers who hang up before an operator answers, while waiting in a queue or a phone menu. Formula: abandoned calls ÷ all incoming calls × 100%. Calls shorter than 5 seconds are usually left out. The higher the rate, the more customers gave up waiting. An AI voice operator answers in about a second and has no queue, so abandonment caused by waiting almost disappears.
How to calculate abandon rate
- Take the day’s number of incoming calls from your PBX or virtual PBX report.
- Pick out the ones that ended before an operator answered.
- Drop calls shorter than 5 seconds: they are usually wrong numbers.
- Divide abandoned calls by the total and multiply by 100.
- Work it out by hour too, not just by day: the problem usually sits in peak hours.
How it differs from a missed call: with a missed call the phone rang and nobody picked up; with an abandoned call the person waited in a queue or menu and hung up. The result is the same, a customer with no answer (missed calls).
Example: a food delivery service in Tashkent
“Tandir Food” (name invented) works with three operators. Friday’s report (numbers are an example):
| Time | Incoming | Abandoned | Abandon rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10:00–18:00 | 180 | 9 | 5% |
| 18:00–21:00 | 190 | 57 | 30% |
| 21:00–23:00 | 30 | 6 | 20% |
| Whole day | 400 | 72 | 18% |
18% for the day looks bearable, but in the evening one caller in three gave up. For example, if 60% of them would have ordered and the average order is 120,000 so‘m: 72 × 0.6 × 120,000 ≈ 5.2 million so‘m lost in a day.
Why people don’t wait
- All operators are busy and the hold music plays on and on.
- A long phone menu: patience runs out before “press 1, press 2” ends.
- Peak hours: at lunch and dinner time calls multiply.
- At night or on a day off there’s only a recording: “Our hours are…”.
- The customer is in a hurry: someone ordering food just calls the next place.
Numbers to watch alongside abandon rate
- Average waiting time: how many seconds people wait for an operator. The longer the wait, the more hang up.
- Where they leave: in the phone menu or in the first minute of the queue. That tells you what to fix.
- Were they called back: how many abandoned numbers staff called back later.
How to lower abandon rate
- Add operators at peak times; it works, but salaries are paid every month (AI operator or call centre).
- Offer a callback from the queue: “To skip the wait, press 1 and we’ll call you back” (what is a callback).
- Shorten the menu or remove it.
- An AI operator for incoming calls: answers in about a second, no queue, more than ten calls at once, at night too.
Sado: Assalomu alaykum, Tandir Food, this is Malika, go ahead.
Caller: Two tandir go‘sht and one flatbread, to Yakkasaroy.
Sado: Okay, two tandir go‘sht and a flatbread. What’s the exact address?
Caller: Shota Rustaveli, building 45, flat 12.
Sado: Got it. The courier will call before setting off. Enjoy your meal!
More for delivery services: AI operator for delivery.
What to measure with an AI operator
Once the queue is gone, abandonment from waiting nearly goes too. Then watch other numbers: calls that dropped mid-conversation, calls that ended in an order and calls put through to a manager. All of it is in the portal under “Calls”, with recording, transcript and outcome.
You pay only for talked minutes: 800 so‘m a minute. Try it live or call 78 778 01 23.
Questions
What abandon rate is normal?
There is no single norm: it depends on the industry and the waiting time. What matters is tracking your own rate by hour and spotting the jumps at peak times.
How is abandon rate different from missed calls?
A missed call rang and nobody answered. An abandoned call is one where the person waited in a queue or phone menu and hung up themselves.
Will an AI operator bring abandon rate down to zero?
Leaving because of the queue almost disappears, since it answers in about a second. But some people still hang up during the greeting, and you see those separately in the portal.