Call parking is a business phone system feature that shortens call wait times, increases first call resolution rates, and offers significant advantages over standard call holds.
When a call is parked, it is sent to a shared virtual "parking lot" where any available agent can pick it up, regardless of their phone extension or location.
In this post, we'll define call parking, explain how it works, outline the biggest benefits of call parking, and highlight popular use cases.
- What Is Call Parking?
- How Does It Work?
- Call Park vs Call Transfer, Call Hold, and Call Flip
- Top Benefits
- How to Use It
- When to Use It
- FAQs
What Is Call Parking?
Call parking is an alternative to standard call holding that lets agents place active calls in a shared virtual “parking lot” where any available agent, not just the agent that initially accepted the call, can pick it up. Unlike calls placed on a traditional hold, parked calls can be picked up (retrieved) by any agent, and on any extension or desk phone, connected to your business phone network.
When a customer’s call is parked, they’ll still hear the same hold music, pre-recorded messages, or IVR system menu prompts that play when they’re placed on a standard hold–they’ll just speak with a different agent.
Call parking helps customers avoid long hold times, having their calls sent to voicemail, or having to schedule a callback. For businesses, call parking increases first call resolution rates, makes use of all available agents, and helps teams better manage peak call times.
Both inbound and outbound calls can be parked, and admins can create call park groups to specify which agents can retrieve parked calls. Agents can immediately park incoming calls without answering them first, answer incoming calls then assign them to the call park extension, or park another incoming call while on the phone with another customer.
Multiple calls can be parked simultaneously, and admins can set time limits for how long unanswered parked calls remain in the virtual lot before being transferred back to the original agent or sent to another destination.
How Does Call Parking Work?
Call parking might sound complicated, but the process is surprisingly simple. We’ve outlined the step-by-step call parking process below:
- Step 1: Agent A answers a new incoming call from a customer
- Step 2: Agent A realizes they’re too busy to properly assist the customer, or the customer wants to speak to an employee who is currently unavailable
- Step 3: Agent A parks the call by manually pressing the call park button on their desk phone, or by selecting call park in the softphone interface
- Step 4: Your phone system routes the caller to your internal cloud network and automatically assigns the caller to an inactive extension (known as a call parking spot or call park extension)
- Step 5: While the caller waits, your phone system plays your usual hold music or message
- Step 6: Available agents and call park group members receive a notification that there’s a parked call waiting
- Step 7: Agent B retrieves the parked call by selecting it from the parked call list and clicking on it, or by dialing the parked extension number (some desk phones have a pre-programmed softkey for fast call retrieval)
- Step 8: The call is instantly transferred to Agent B, who assists the customer
- Step 9: If no one retrieves the parked call within the time limit, the caller is sent back to Agent A or forwarded to voicemail
Call Park vs Call Transfer, Call Hold, and Call Flip
Let’s quickly go over the subtle differences between call park, call transfer, call hold, and call flip.
Call Park vs Call Hold
When a call is placed on hold, it’s assigned to a specific phone extension, desk phone, and location–meaning only the agent who originally answered the call can pick it back up. Call parking lets any agent in the call park group, regardless of their location or extension, retrieve the call.
Call Park vs Call Transfer
When a call is parked, any available agent in the communal call park group can retrieve it. When a call is transferred, it is routed directly to one specific agent.
Call Park vs Call Flip
The call flip feature lets agents switch devices during an active call without disconnecting the caller. While other agents can retrieve parked calls on any desk phone within the internal cloud network, call flip enables agents to switch between desktop and mobile devices.
Top Benefits of Call Parking
Leveraging call parking lowers the average cost per call, increases CSAT scores by eliminating major customer pain points, and distributes workloads among available agents. The call parking feature works with your existing desk phones, but is also accessible on desktop and mobile softphones–offering major flexibility for remote teams.
Additional call parking benefits include:
- Shorter Call Wait Times: 57% of customers cite long hold times as a major source of frustration[*]. Extended call wait times lead to higher call abandonment rates and lost revenue–and can increase negative CSAT scores by up to 80%.[*] Leveraging the call park feature dramatically reduces call hold times and shortens call queues, since any available agent can quickly assist the caller.
- Increased FCR: First Call Resolution (FCR) rates measure the percentage of customer service requests that are completely resolved (no follow-up required) on the customer’s first call to your support team. Every 1% improvement in FCR reduces operating costs by 1%, increases customer satisfaction by 1%, and boosts your Net Promoter Score by 1.4%[*]
- Greater Privacy: Privacy is an often overlooked call parking benefit, but an incredibly important one given that 87% of consumers won’t work with businesses they feel don’t prioritize customer security and privacy.[*] If an agent receives a sensitive call from a customer, they can use the call park feature to quickly move calls to a desk phone in a more private room. They can also switch calls from shared to private extensions
- More Informed Agents: Call parking gives agents the time to review customer information, CRM data, conversation histories, and even internal knowledge base data before accepting the call. Agents also have time to collaborate before taking the call, clarifying essential details about the reason for the client’s call
- Increased Productivity: Call parking reduces agent idle time and balances workloads between available agents. Call parking also saves agents time by eliminating the need to listen to lengthy voicemail messages or make follow-up calls. This leads to increased overall call center productivity, makes use of available agents, and helps business owners avoid having to hire additional agents to manage peak call times
How to Use Call Parking: Manual and Visual Options
There are two main ways to use the call park feature: manually and visually. Manual call parking lets users pre-program desk phone softkeys to park calls, while virtual call parking lets agents park calls within the desktop and mobile softphone interface.
How to Use Visual Call Parking
Visual call parking allows agents to park and retrieve calls within the desktop and mobile softphone interface. When agents receive an incoming call, they simply click on the “park call” option shown in the call management CTI screen pop (shown below).
Once an agent clicks on the “call park” button, they can choose the specific “parking spot” (extension number) within the virtual parking lot. Once the call is parked in the lot, other team members can see the caller’s name and number, the agent that sent it to the lot, and any associated CRM data or agent notes.
To retrieve a parked call, agents can select a specific number from the parked call list, or just click the “pick up” or “answer” button.
How to Park a Call Manually on a Deskphone
Manual call parking works with traditional desk phones (hardphones.) Some desk phones may come with a built-in call park button, while others allow users to program specific call park and call retrieve softkeys.
To park a call, agents can either hit the call park button or dial a pre-set number code plus the extension where the call will be parked. To retrieve the call, agents can press the call retrieve button or simply dial the extension where the call is parked.
When to Use the Call Park Feature
Call parking is an incredibly useful business phone system feature ideal for a variety of situations. However, call parking is especially useful in the following situations:
- Peak Call Times: If your call center is experiencing unexpectedly high call volumes–or if you have consistent peak call times–call parking streamlines the inbound call management process. All available agents can be assigned to call park groups, and agents can quickly collaborate with each other or share call notes before accepting a call
- Understaffed Call Centers: New or small call centers especially struggle with understaffing, leading to agent burnout and increased call wait times. Call parking lets all available agents accept calls, even those from different departments. Features like call scripts and canned responses make it easy for agents without all the required training to assist customers
- Challenging Customers: When a customer is frustrated–or just has a question that the agent that accepted the call can't answer–their call can be parked while the agent gets the information they need. The agent can also add call notes detailing the caller’s needs, and agents in the call park group can decide which one of them is best equipped to take the call
