a system is disclosed that addresses a problem that can occur when a calling party of a video call withdraws from the call , but does not actually hang up . for example , after the calling party begins working through an interactive voice and video response session , the party might put his phone down , step away , drop the phone inadvertently , or otherwise disengage from the call without hanging up . in this event , the terminal itself is still connected to the call , so the call resource is tied up serving the terminal , even though the calling party has temporarily disengaged from the call . the system of the illustrative embodiment detects the disengagement of the party from the call and , as a result , suspends the use of the call resource that has been allocated for the call until the party re - engages with the call .