Call Hold & Retrieve
4 min
Overview
Call Hold and Retrieve is a fundamental telephony feature that allows an agent to temporarily pause a live conversation without disconnecting the call. This gives the agent time to perform parallel tasks—such as finding information or consulting a colleague—before returning to the customer.
How It Works
When an agent is on an active call and needs a moment to step away from the conversation:
- The agent clicks the Hold button (present on the telephony panel) on their Agent Console
- The customer is placed on hold and typically hears hold music or a waiting message.
- The agent's console updates to indicate the call is currently on hold.
- To resume the conversation, the agent clicks the Retrieve (or Un-hold) button. (Note: Time spent on hold is tracked as an agent activity for reporting and analytics.)
Common Use Cases
- Information Lookup: An agent places a customer on hold to search for account details in the CRM, check inventory, or consult a knowledge base.
- Internal Consultation: An agent pauses the call to ask a supervisor or a peer for assistance with a complex or escalated query, ensuring the customer does not hear the internal discussion.
Key Benefits
- Professional Call Handling: Prevents "dead air" (awkward silence) on the line while the agent seeks information, maintaining a professional customer experience.
- Increased First-Call Resolution (FCR): Gives agents the necessary time to find accurate information or collaborate with experts, resolving the issue on the first try.
- Improved Agent Efficiency: Enables agents to multitask effectively during a live interaction, such as creating or updating a support ticket in the background.
Using the Feature
Prerequisites: The agent must be logged into the Agent Console and actively connected to a live call.
Instructions (Agent Console):
- Navigate to the Call Control Panel within the Agent Console during an active call.
- Click the Hold button to suspend the call.
- Click the Retrieve button to bring the customer off hold and resume speaking.
(Note: This is a standard, out-of-the-box feature and requires no prior backend configuration by an Administrator.)
Limitations
- While a call is on hold, the audio channel is suspended; the agent cannot speak with or hear the customer until the call is successfully retrieved.
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