Busy hour

Busy hour is the time of day where the highest traffic occurs in a telephone exchange. The actual time of day varies with the particulars of the community that the office serves, but in many metropolitan areas, busy hour is usually between 10:00 and 11:00 AM.

Busy hour is important from a traffic engineering perspective, since it provides a peak load from which to take metrics. It is the time at which telephone central office equipment is under its heaviest demand, so it provides a benchmark from which to grade the level of service provided.