How Long Is Too Long on Hold? About 2 Minutes
By Sharrk Team · October 25, 2026
About two minutes is too long on hold for most callers: in a 2017 survey by Arise, a call-center outsourcing company, almost two-thirds of consumers said they would wait two minutes or less. Sharrk keeps hold time near zero for small businesses, because its AI voice agent answers every call, takes the details and either books the job or hands the caller to a person with a warm transfer.
This post is about what happens after the call is picked up. If you want to know how fast to answer in the first place, see our guide on how many rings before answering.
How long will callers wait on hold before hanging up?
The honest answer is "not long, and it depends on why they called." Surveys differ in method and age, but they point the same way: patience runs out in the first few minutes.
| Source (type, date) | What it found |
|---|---|
| Arise survey, reported on ICMI (vendor survey, 2017) | Almost two-thirds would wait 2 minutes or less; 13% said no wait is acceptable |
| Arise survey, same report (vendor survey, 2017) | 74% of people 65 and over would not wait even 2 minutes |
| TCN blog (vendor, 2014, updated 2020) | More than 60% of callers feel one minute on hold is a long time |
| Software Advice data cited by TCN (2014) | Among callers who prefer a callback, 28% are never willing to hold and just under 5% will wait 10 to 20 minutes |
| American Express survey, reported on ICMI (2014) | Customers would wait at most 13 minutes |
| Nextiva Customer Patience Benchmark (vendor survey, 400 people, 2025) | 31% would wait five minutes or less; 77% say urgency is the biggest factor |
The 13-minute American Express figure is the outer limit people reported, not a comfortable wait. The two-minute mark is the better planning number for a small business, because that is where most people in the Arise survey said they would stop.
Two details matter for home-service owners. First, the TCN post reports that after a one-minute wait, 38% of sales-line callers keep holding, compared with 65% of tech-support callers. A new customer calling about a quote is closer to the sales caller: they have other contractors to try. Second, Arise found that 14 to 15% of people will not call at all if they expect a long wait.
What do call centers consider an acceptable hold time?
Large call centers measure the wait before an agent picks up, not just the hold after. These are common rules of thumb, and the vendor pages that publish them say they are conventions, not industry standards.
| Benchmark | Common target | Source (date) |
|---|---|---|
| Service level | 80% of calls answered within 20 seconds | Verint blog (2023); CloudTalk blog (updated July 2026) |
| Average speed of answer | About 28 to 30 seconds | Verint blog (2023); CloudTalk blog (2026) |
| Abandonment rate | About 5% or lower is a common target | CloudTalk blog (2026); Verint (2023) calls under 5% strong |
| Reported average wait | 38 seconds | Electronic Distribution Today, cited by TCN (2014) |
The gap between these targets and the survey data is the point: well-run call centers aim to have callers talking to someone in well under a minute. A two-person HVAC or plumbing shop with one office line usually cannot staff to that, which is why the fix is to change how calls are handled rather than to make hold more pleasant.
Is hold time worse for a small home-service business?
Yes, because the caller usually has a problem now and a list of other companies to call. TCN cites a figure that 34% of callers who abandon a call do not call back. For a contractor, that is a lost job, not a delayed one.
Hold also tends to happen at the worst times. The owner is on a roof, the office manager is on another line, or a storm has every customer calling at once. Those are the moments a caller is most likely to be urgent, and Nextiva found that urgency is the biggest factor in how long people will wait.
What should you do instead of putting callers on hold?
The goal is to keep the caller moving forward. Four habits cover most situations:
- Answer every call. A caller who reaches someone right away, even if that someone cannot solve the whole problem, is far less likely to hang up and dial the next company. An AI answering service can pick up every call, day or night, when your team is busy.
- Take the details first. Name, phone number, address, the problem and how urgent it is. Once you have these, the caller is no longer waiting for a stranger; they are waiting for your team to act.
- Offer a callback at a set time. Software Advice data cited by TCN found 63.1% of customers prefer a callback to holding, and 48% expect it within 30 minutes. Nextiva's 2025 survey put callback preference at 75%. Give a real time, such as "by 2:30," and keep it.
- Use a warm transfer with hold audio when a person is needed. If the caller needs your technician or the owner, introduce them instead of dropping them into a queue. Our guide to warm transfer vs cold transfer explains when each one fits. TCN reports that informational on-hold messages keep callers on the line up to 25% longer than music alone, so if a short hold is unavoidable, tell callers what is happening.
What should you say when you have to put someone on hold?
Ask first, give a time, and come back before that time is up. These sample scripts use made-up names.
Sample: short hold
"Thanks for calling Sample Heating and Air, this is Jamie. Can I place you on a brief hold for about one minute while I check the schedule? ... Thanks for waiting. I have an opening tomorrow between 8 and 10 a.m. Does that work?"
Sample: offer a callback instead
"I want to get you the right answer, and that will take a few minutes. Rather than keep you on hold, can I take your name, number and address, and have our service manager call you back by 2:30 today?"
Sample: warm transfer
"Our technician can answer that best. I am going to connect you now and let him know what is going on, so you will not have to repeat yourself. You will hear a short message while I reach him."
If you come back and still need more time, say so and offer the callback. A caller who hears from you every minute or so is far more patient than one left in silence.
How does Sharrk handle hold time?
Sharrk's AI voice agents answer every call 24/7, in 35 languages, so callers start talking to someone right away instead of waiting in a queue. The agent captures the caller's details, answers common questions and books the job onto Sharrk's own calendar, Calendly, Cal.com or ServiceTitan, with real arrival windows in ServiceTitan. Every call is logged with a transcript, recording and the fields you care about.
When a caller needs a person, Sharrk transfers live, cold or warm. A warm transfer can play hold audio for the caller, give your team member a whisper brief or a three-way intro, and check that a human actually answered before connecting. You write the transfer rules in plain words, such as "send emergency no-heat calls to the on-call tech," and the agent decides when they apply.
Mako, Sharrk's AI assistant, builds all of this from plain English. Tell Mako how you want calls handled, who should get transfers and what details to collect, and it shows every change on an Apply card, waits for your OK, and lets you Undo.
You can build and test your phone agent with Mako on Sharrk Free, which includes 2,500 one-time credits and needs no card, or schedule a demo to see a warm transfer in action.
Related on Sharrk: AI Answering Service · AI Receptionist for HVAC · Answer Every Call Without a Receptionist
Sources
- ICMI (Doug Vinson, Arise), "What Do Customers Really Think About Long Wait Times?" (March 20, 2017; updated June 22, 2022): https://www.icmi.com/resources/2017/What-Do-Customers-Really-Think-About-Long-Wait-Times (checked October 25, 2026)
- TCN, "Wait Times and Callbacks: Customer Preferences Revealed" (December 16, 2014; updated June 3, 2020): https://www.tcn.com/wait-times-and-callbacks-customer-preferences-revealed/ (checked October 25, 2026)
- Nextiva, "STUDY: Most Customers Hang Up After 8 Minutes: Here's How to Keep Them" (November 14, 2025; updated May 12, 2026): https://www.nextiva.com/blog/customer-patience-data-study.html (checked October 25, 2026)
- Verint, "5 Popular Call Center Benchmarks: How Do You Stack Up?" (November 28, 2023): https://www.verint.com/blog/5-popular-call-center-benchmarks-how-do-you-stack-up/ (checked October 25, 2026)
- CloudTalk, "Call Center Metrics: 15 KPIs + 2026 Benchmarks" (updated July 7, 2026): https://www.cloudtalk.io/blog/5-call-center-metrics-for-successful-benchmarking (checked October 25, 2026)
Frequently asked questions
How long is too long to be on hold?
For most callers, more than about two minutes is too long. In a 2017 Arise survey reported by ICMI, almost two-thirds of consumers said they would wait two minutes or less, and 13% said no wait was acceptable.
What is an acceptable hold time for business calls?
Under one minute is a safe target, and shorter is better. TCN reports that more than 60% of callers feel one minute on hold is a long time, and common call-center targets aim to answer 80% of calls within 20 seconds.
Is it better to offer a callback than to put someone on hold?
Yes, for most callers a callback at a set time is preferred. Software Advice data cited by TCN found 63.1% prefer a callback over holding, and Nextiva's 2025 vendor survey put callback preference at 75%.
Does on-hold music or messaging help?
Informational messages help more than music alone. TCN reports that informational on-hold messages keep callers on the line up to 25% longer than music alone, though cutting the hold short is still the better fix.
How can a small business avoid putting callers on hold?
Answer every call, take the caller's details first, and offer a callback at a set time or a warm transfer. Sharrk's AI voice agents answer every call 24/7, book jobs and transfer to a person with hold audio when needed.