Dig Deeper Than Third-Party Traffic Reports June 19, 2008 (Vol. 29, No. 13) Be wary of reports from third parties that just recommend how many trunks to use, Yonemoto urges. These reports can be overly simplistic and hide traffic patterns. For example, a traffic study performed at one bank showed that its busiest time was on Wednesdays between 9 and 10 a.m., when a whopping 40% of callers got a busy signal. The surge continued from 10 to 11 a.m., when 5% got a busy signal, and from 11 a.m. to noon, when 1% were blocked. The bank determined that the heavy traffic resulted from the Federal Reserve announcing its federal funds rate, after which customers would rush to buy bonds, Yonemoto recalls. At the end of the traffic study, the bank was able to get rid of a toll-free number and a three-line trunk group. Instead, callers were instructed to call a DID. A less-detailed report would have glossed over the Wednesday-morning anomaly. ( | 
