Skip to content
AI Dialer

Glossary · Compliance

What is Abandonment rate?

  • Also called: abandoned calls, drop rate

Reviewed by Sujan ThapaliyaLast updated

Definition

Abandonment rate is the share of calls answered by a live person that the dialler then drops because no agent was available. In the United States the FCC safe harbour caps it at 3% of live answers, measured over each successive 30-day campaign period.
The three STIR/SHAKEN attestation levels, which underpin how abandonment rate behaves in practice: A asserts both that the carrier knows the customer and that the customer may use the calling number, B asserts the customer only, and C asserts neither. A shared number pool can reach B at best, which is why number ownership keeps recurring in these definitions.
Attestation is the backdrop to most caller-ID and deliverability terms, abandonment rate included.

In practice

How abandonment rate actually works

The denominator matters and is widely got wrong: the rate is calculated against calls answered by a human, not against all calls dialled. Counting every dial in the denominator makes a non-compliant campaign look compliant.

A call also counts as abandoned when an agent is not connected within two seconds of the person's greeting. Simply staying silent does not avoid the classification.

The safe harbour additionally requires a recorded identification message when no agent is available, and that abandoned-call records are retained for demonstration if challenged.

In inbound contact centres the same word means something different: a caller who hangs up while waiting in the queue. Be explicit about which you mean when reporting.

The denominator is the whole argument: live answers, not dials.
MeasureFormulaThreshold
Outbound abandonmentAbandoned ÷ calls answered by a human3% of live answers, over each 30-day campaign
Inbound abandonmentCallers who hung up ÷ calls offeredUnder 5% for most service lines
Connect windowAgent joined within 2 seconds of the greetingRequired, or the call counts as abandoned
Wrong denominatorAbandoned ÷ total dialsMakes a non-compliant campaign look compliant

Worked example

1,000 live answers with 42 drops is 4.2%, above the safe harbour, and pacing must come down.

Abandonment rate: common questions

How is abandonment rate calculated?
Abandoned calls divided by calls answered by a live person, not by calls dialled. Using total dials as the denominator is the most common error in the field, and it makes a non-compliant campaign look compliant by a wide margin.
What is the 3% abandonment rule?
The safe harbour caps abandoned calls at 3% of live answers, measured over each successive 30-day period for a campaign. It also requires that an agent be connected within two seconds of the person's greeting, that a recorded identification message play when no agent is available, and that records be kept.
Does inbound abandonment mean the same thing?
No, and mixing them up corrupts reporting. In outbound dialing an abandoned call is one the dialer dropped on a live person. In an inbound queue it is a caller who hung up while waiting. Say which one a number refers to whenever you publish it.

Sources

  1. Combating Spoofed Robocalls with Caller ID Authentication — Federal Communications CommissionThe STIR/SHAKEN framework, the attestation levels carriers sign calls with, and the mandate requiring providers to authenticate caller ID.
  2. 47 U.S.C. § 227 — Restrictions on the use of telephone equipment — Cornell Legal Information InstituteThe Telephone Consumer Protection Act itself — the consent requirements, calling-hours limits, and private right of action.
  3. ITU-T Recommendation E.164 — The international public telecommunication numbering plan — International Telecommunication UnionThe international number format, the 15-digit maximum, and how country codes and national numbers compose.

See abandonment rate in the product

A predictive dialer calls ahead of your agents, using live answer rates and call durations to forecast when an agent will next be free. It keeps agents talking for most of the hour instead of waiting, and it is the highest-throughput dialling mode available to a contact centre.

Explore predictive dialerGet early access