Temps d'attente

English translation: waiting time (UK), hold time (US)

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)
French term or phrase:Temps d\'attente
English translation:waiting time (UK), hold time (US)
Entered by: Laura Hastings-Brownstein

05:20 Mar 29, 2012
French to English translations [PRO]
Marketing - Telecom(munications) / Pamphlet on telecommunication services
French term or phrase: Temps d'attente
Is this term "on hold" in English or is it "call waiting"? Or something else?

This document is in French as spoken in France. It discusses the services available from France Télécom.

Here is the context:

===============================================

(Temps d'attente gratuit, puis prix d'une communication locale depuis une ligne fixe analogique France Télécom ou depuis le service de téléphone par internet Orange .Coût variable selon opérateur)
• L’option messagerie personnalisée(7) bénéficiez de 3 messages ( pré décroché, attente et messagerie).
Ces messages son enregistrés par un studio privé pour un accueil téléphonique très professionnel, en français ou en langue étrangère (anglais, allemand, espagnol). Une langue étrangère par message est comprise dans la prestation.
==============================================

Thank you very much in advance.

Laura
Laura Hastings-Brownstein
Local time: 08:54
waiting time
Explanation:
.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 4 horas (2012-03-29 10:15:54 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Being on hold
Ex: Excellent home and telephone support, very little telephone waiting time
http://fic.wharton.upenn.edu/fic/call center 08/Telephone-Wa...
Selected response from:

Emiliano Pantoja
Spain
Local time: 16:54
Grading comment
Thanks!
3 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
4 +3waiting time
Emiliano Pantoja
5Wait time
Frank Foley
4Call set-up time
Marc Brunet
4This call is not billed until .../ You will not be charged until
B D Finch
Summary of reference entries provided
temps d'attente gratuit
cc in nyc
ITU Terms and Definitions; unmuddying the waters
rkillings

Discussion entries: 12





  

Answers


1 hr   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
Call set-up time


Explanation:
======================
The English term is more function-oriented than the French equivalent, as you can see... and "call" can be dropped from this expression if the context is already clear enough to make this qualifier superfluous.

Example sentence(s):
  • The set-up time of a group call in GSM-ASCI is longer – in the order of
  • seconds - and does not meet this requirement.

    Reference: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Call_set-up_time
Marc Brunet
Australia
Local time: 01:54
Works in field
Native speaker of: French
Notes to answerer
Asker: Hmmm... this may be "hold time" in US English. If it is when you have called in and are put "on hold" before you reach an operator, it would be "hold time" in US English. Is that what you mean? Thanks!


Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
neutral  Colin Morley (X): But I believe this terminology is a little too technical for the caller who simply wants to make a complaint etc. "waiting time" is more succinct and self-explanatory in that context I believe
47 mins

neutral  B D Finch: Your example of setting up a group call is out of context. The source phrase is the standard thing you hear in France when waiting for a person to pick up the phone after you have got through to the automated call-handling system.
11 hrs
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1 hr   confidence: Answerer confidence 5/5
Wait time


Explanation:
Don't see what the pb is here.

Frank Foley
Local time: 16:54
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 4
Notes to answerer
Asker: I guess it is because we don't use "wait time" in the context of telecommunications here in the US.


Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
disagree  B D Finch: Never heard it called that in the UK either. Waiting time.
10 hrs

agree  rkillings: Good for the UK! ~30k Ghits for site:.uk + "wait time" + "call centre". :-) And is it so different from "wait duration" in the US?
3 days 11 hrs
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8 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +3
waiting time


Explanation:
.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 4 horas (2012-03-29 10:15:54 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Being on hold
Ex: Excellent home and telephone support, very little telephone waiting time
http://fic.wharton.upenn.edu/fic/call center 08/Telephone-Wa...


Emiliano Pantoja
Spain
Local time: 16:54
Native speaker of: Native in SpanishSpanish
PRO pts in category: 3
Grading comment
Thanks!
Notes to answerer
Asker: Do you think you could give me a little more information on this English term? I don't believe we call it "waiting time" in the context of telecommunications here in the States. If you could tell me what this means, I would appreciate it, then I can figure out what term we use here in the US. Thanks!


Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  rkillings: You don't pay until you are connected.
53 mins
  -> Thanks

agree  Colin Morley (X)
2 hrs
  -> Thanks

agree  cc in nyc: right term, but I don't think we have this "feature" in the USA, so the term might not be understood :-(
10 hrs
  -> Thanks
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13 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
This call is not billed until .../ You will not be charged until


Explanation:
The source phrase is the standard thing you hear in France when waiting for a person to pick up the phone after you have got through to the automated call-handling system.

www.2n.cz/download/1/2/2/5/user-guide-voiceblue-next-v1.1.p...
"Contact your dealer please for more information. Tip. ∎. Contact your dealer ..... The outgoing call is not billed until the called party answers the call. ∎. "

"Wait for your call to be answered. (You will not be charged until your advisor is on the line.)"
http://www.hoodoopsychics.com/howhoodoopsychicsworks.html




B D Finch
France
Local time: 16:54
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 46
Notes to answerer
Asker: Thanks, but I need a short term for this context. It is stating the features (functions) that are given in this offer, so this is too long, but I do think it is "free hold time" here in the US.

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Reference comments


10 hrs
Reference: temps d'attente gratuit

Reference information:
Try googling, and you'll find lots of references. Here's one:
http://informatique.linformaticien.com/temps-d-attente-gratu...

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 1 day2 hrs (2012-03-30 07:22:41 GMT) Post-grading
--------------------------------------------------

You're welcome, Laura!

cc in nyc
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 56
Note to reference poster
Asker: Thanks, cc, this confirms it for me. It is "hold time". I appreciate your help!

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4 days
Reference: ITU Terms and Definitions; unmuddying the waters

Reference information:
There is an entry for "holding time" in the ITU glossary, and the standardized term for it in French is 'durée d'occupation'. In the US, this notion is better known as "trunk hold time", and from the point of view of the caller (rather than the telco) it is the total time of the call from connect to disconnect.

There is also an ITU entry for 'temps de mise en attente' in French, and the standardized term for this in English is "waiting time; queuing time".

For the first century or so of the telephone's existence, being "on hold" in common parlance could only occur *during a call*, by human intervention. The introduction of electronic PBXs in the 1980s brought a new way to be "on hold" from the caller's point of view: the call could be put in a queue *before* ever being answered by a human.

Consumers quite understandably think of any time spent waiting, not connected to another person on the line, as "holding time". Technically, this is now triply ambiguous. The telcos and the makers and users of automatic call distribution systems need to distinguish between the two ways of a call (rather than a trunk line) being "on hold". In this call context, the time from ring until the call is answered by a human is the "(call) wait time/waiting time/queuing time". Any time during the call when the caller is put on hold the old-fashioned way is then the "(call) hold time/holding time". (And trunk hold time from the telco standpoint is total call duration from the ACD standpoint.)

In the France Telecom case at hand, we can be sure that the 'temps d'attente gratuit' in question is the waiting time, i.e. the time in queue before the first connection to a human. Loi n° 2008-3 (dite loi Chatel) requires it: "l'article 16 impose que la hotline soit accessible par un numéro d'appel non géographique, fixe et non surtaxé et qu'aucune somme ne peut être facturée à l'appelant tant qu'il n'a pas été mis en relation avec un interlocuteur prenant en charge le traitement effectif de sa demande."

Note that this law does not say anything about not billing for possible 'temps de mise en attente *après* la mise en relation', i.e., when the interlocutor puts the call on hold manually. In both common and ACD parlance, that would be "holding time" too.



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Note added at 4 days (2012-04-02 08:09:56 GMT) Post-grading
--------------------------------------------------

For more about "call center hold-time", see http://www.welive2care.com/2009/06/30/call-center-101-puttin...


    Reference: http://www.itu.int/ITU-R/index.asp?redirect=true&category=in...
    Reference: http://www.itu.int/ITU-R/index.asp?redirect=true&category=in...
rkillings
United States
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 41
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