Ring No Answer (RNA) is the length of time that an outbound call rings before the predictive dialler hangs up with a call disposition of No Answer.
Best practice is to set your dialler call timeout to 18 seconds per call, This also keeps you in line with the Ofcom “abandoned calls” regulations which is now 0% tolerance since March 2017.
If asked “How should RNA time be set for maximum productivity?” many people would answer “the longer the better”. However, answering patterns in reality (universally and for any industry) show the phenomenon of diminishing returns.
Imagine an insurance salesman knocking on doors. He knows that 9 out of 10 people (if they are home) answer the door within 10 seconds.
If he wants to maximise his productivity for the day, he knows there is no point standing at the door for 30 seconds. After 10 seconds he will try the next house, even though he knows he is turning his back on the occasional elderly person or busy mum who is a little slower than average.
A similar principle (although with more complicated factors) holds true for outbound calling. The question is: how long should you stand at the door?
If you are looking for a live person, then over 95% will have answered within 18 seconds. Any RNA time over 20 seconds makes no sense and may actually reduce performance and send your costs up.