The 3% abandonment cap: how to meet it without slowing the dialer
Chilean Law 21.320 caps abandoned calls at 3% in collections. Most operations meet it by over-braking the dialer, and lose contacts because of a badly calculated number.
In short
- Abandonment is measured over answered calls, not launched ones.
- The wrong denominator inflates the number and makes the dialer over-brake.
- In a real case the gap was 27.2% against 19.4%: same day, two figures.
- An automatic control loop adjusts the pace on its own, with nobody watching.
What counts as abandonment
When the dialer launches more calls than its agents can take, someone answers and nobody is available. That call gets dropped. That is an abandoned call, and Chilean Law 21.320 caps it at 3% for collections.
The most common calculation error
The formula looks obvious, and that is the trap. It depends on the denominator:
| Formula | Result | Verdict |
|---|---|---|
| Abandoned / calls launched | Very low | Understates |
| Abandoned / calls that rang | Inflated | Over-brakes |
| Abandoned / calls answered | Real | Correct |
The correct denominator is answered calls: only a call where someone picked up can be abandoned. Including calls that rang unanswered puts calls into the math that could never have been abandoned.
In one operation we reviewed, the same day showed 27.2% with the wrong denominator and 19.4% with the right one. The dialer was braking while believing it was far over the limit.
The cost of over-braking
A dialer that thinks it is in breach lowers the pace. Fewer calls launched means agents waiting, and every minute of waiting is a contact that was never attempted. The operation pays twice: it complies with a rule it already met, and loses productivity over an arithmetic error.
Complying without braking: the control loop
The manual way is to have someone watch the percentage and lower aggressiveness when it climbs. That works until that person is in a meeting.
The right way is an automatic control loop. The dialer measures abandonment in short windows and adjusts how many calls it launches per available agent:
- If abandonment is below target, it ramps up gradually.
- If it goes over, it cuts sharply and ramps back up slowly.
Ramping up slowly and cutting fast is deliberate: going over the limit costs far more than running slightly slower for a few minutes.
It measures abandonment against the actual phone system records, not against the CRM database, and adjusts the pace on its own. Hours, holidays and quotas are applied before dialing: if a call is not allowed, it does not go out.
See the dialer →How to audit yours
- Pull the abandonment percentage your system reports for any given day.
- Calculate it by hand from the phone system CDR: abandoned divided by answered.
- If they do not match, your dialer is making decisions with the wrong number.
This article describes how we implement these rules. It is not legal advice.
Frequently asked questions
What is the abandonment percentage calculated over?
Over answered calls, not over launched calls or calls that rang. Only a call where someone picked up can be abandoned; including the rest inflates the number artificially.
What is the legal abandonment limit in Chile?
Law 21.320 sets a 3% cap for collections activity. Sales campaigns are not subject to the same limit.
What happens if my dialer miscalculates abandonment?
If it overstates, it over-brakes: fewer calls, agents waiting and contacts never attempted. If it understates, the operation is exposed to a breach without knowing.
Does your dialer measure abandonment correctly?
We can review how it calculates today and what you are losing by over-braking.
Let us talk