Call Queues
Call queues temporarily hold calls in the cloud when all users (agents) assigned to receive calls from the queue are unavailable. Queued calls are routed to an available agent when he/she is no longer on an active call. Each call queue is assigned a Lead Number, which is a telephone number outside callers can dial to reach users assigned to the call queue. Call queues are also assigned an internal extension number, which can be dialed internally to reach users assigned to the call queue.
Setting Up the Call Queue
Incoming Calls
Prior to using Call Queue, the site administrator must set up the feature. Follow the steps detailed below to configure or edit the feature.
- Log in to the admin portal.
- Select Advanced Services in the left-hand navigation.
- Select Call Queues.
- Find the Call Queue you want to configure and select the Actions drop-down menu.
- Select Edit Service.
- Then configure the Incoming Call information.
- Call Queue Name – This is the name defined for the Call Queue which shows in the list of Call Queue. By default the Call Queue is given the lead phone number as the name. It may be changed to provide a more meaningful label. This is a required field. Supports from 1 to 30 characters.
- Number – This is the lead number defined for the Call Queue. (If you would like to change this number at any time, go to the Numbers tab in the left-hand navigation menu. Find the number and select the Options menu. Select Unassign Service.
- Extension – Shows the extension number of the Call Queue. This can be accessed by users in the Enterprise to call the Hunt Group. By default, the extension number is the last four digits of the lead phone number. This is a required field. Supports from 2 to 6 digits.
- Caller ID – Enter a label which will be shown to Call Queue agents as part of the Caller ID on incoming calls to the queue. The caller ID will display the calling party’s caller ID name and number. This is a required field. Supports from 1 to 30 characters.
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- Next, select the Edit Call Forwarding button if you would like to forward your Call Queue to a different phone number. Options include:
- Do Not Forward – If selected, calls will not be forwarded to another number.
- Call Forwarding Always – If selected, all calls will forward to the number you indicate in the *Forward to field.
- Call Forwarding Selective – If selected, calls will forward to a specified number at specified times. When Call Forwarding Selective is enabled, you will be routed to the Call Forwarding Selective Details page to indicate;
- Which time and holiday schedule you would like to use.
- Which number to forward to during those schedules.
- And if you would only like calls from specific numbers to be forwarded to the forward to number you indicate.
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Alternate Numbers
Another option is Alternate Numbers. You can assign multiple phone numbers or extensions to the Call Queue. Each number will reach the same greeting and each menu will function identically to the main number. The Alternate Numbers option enables you to have up to ten (10) phone numbers ring in to the Call Queue.
- To add an alternate number, search for the number you would like to add in the Find Phone Number search field.
- Select Save to save your changes.
Language
On the Language tab of the Edit Call Queue page, you can select the language you would like to assign to the audio announcements for the Call Queue.
Queue Settings
The queue size represents the number of calls that can be held in queue before the overflow policy is triggered. While calls are held in queue, callers hear the configured Announcements.
- Enter the number of calls to queue before overflow settings are triggered. For example, if the queue size is set to 20, the 21st caller will be sent to the configured Overflow Settings option.
- Check Play ringing when offering a call for callers to hear ringing when their call is being delivered to an available user. If disabled, callers hear the Music on Hold option until the call is answered by a user.
- Next, configure the Overflow Settings. Overflow treatment is applied to calls when the queue reaches its configured limit or when callers have been in queue for a specified amount of time. Select the treatment to which overflow calls should be routed. From drop-down menu, choose one of the following:
- Perform busy treatment – The caller hears a fast-busy tone.
- Play ringing until caller hangs up – The caller hears ringing until they disconnect.
- Transfer to phone number – Enter the number to which you want to transfer overflow calls. This can be an extension within any site or an external number.
- Check Mark calls after queue wait time (optional) to apply overflow treatment to queued calls after a certain amount of time. If enabled, enter the amount of time in seconds. If the maximum number of queued calls is met, the next call to be presented to the queue is treated with the overflow settings.
- Check Play announcement before overflow processing (optional). If selected, assign an announcement file to play before the call is sent to the overflow treatment.
- Select Save to save your changes.
Welcome Message
The Welcome Message is the announcement setting for the initial message a caller hears when calling into the Call Queue. To configure Welcome Message, follow these steps:
- On the Queue Settings page, select the toggle to enable Welcome Message.
- Check the Welcome message is mandatory, if you would like the Welcome message played to all callers before they are either sent to an agent or placed into the queue when agents are unavailable. Note: This message will not play if the Queue Size is set to 0.
- Assign a message type to the service. Welcome messages can be configured with the default system message or customized.
- Default – The default announcement configured for your system is played.
- Custom – Upload a custom announcement file. Up to four announcements can be stored. If multiple announcements are stored, they are played in the order listed.
Estimated Wait Message For Queued Calls
The wait announcement provides a message to callers giving them an indication of how long they will be waiting in the queue before their call is answered. Two wait options are available: Announce Queue Position or Announce Wait Time. To configure, follow these steps:
- On the Queue Settings page, select the toggle to enable Estimated Wait Message for Queued Calls.
- Enter the Default Handling Time in minutes. Select a number of minutes from 1 to 100. This is the announced wait time to callers when the system has not had enough calls to calculate the average wait time when the wait option is chosen.
- Check the Play high volume message if you would like the default system message played to callers that have reached the maximum in position or minutes defined in the next section.
- Choose either Queue Position or Wait Time.
- Announce Queue Position – This option sets the Wait announcement to give the caller their position in the queue so that they are aware of the number of callers waiting to be sent to an agent before them.
- Announce Wait Time – This option sets the Wait announcement to give the caller the number of minutes estimated they will wait in the queue before their call is answered.
- Select Save to save your changes.
Comfort Message
An announcement that is played after the entrance message and before the music on hold. This is typically a custom announcement that plays information such as current promotions or information about products and services. Enter the time between comfort messages and select either default or custom announcement. To configure, follow these steps:
- On the Queue Settings page, select the toggle to enable Comfort Message.
- Select the Time between comfort messages and enter a time in seconds that defines the play interval of the Comfort message.
- Choose one of the announcement types.
- Default – The default announcement that is stored for your system will be played.
- Custom – Upload a custom announcement file. Up to four announcements can be stored. If multiple messages are stored, they are played in the order listed.
- Select Save to save your changes.
Hold Music
This configures music on hold for the callers waiting in the Call Queue. The music on hold plays after the Entrance message, if it is enabled, and between Comfort messages, if it is enabled. If no Entrance or Comfort announcements are enabled, music will play until the caller is sent to an agent, sent to overflow treatment or hangs up. To configure, follow these steps:
- On the Queue Settings page, select the toggle to enable Hold Music.
- Choose one of the announcement/music types.
- Default – The default announcement that is stored for your system will be played.
- Custom – Upload a custom announcement file. Up to four announcements can be stored. If multiple messages are stored, they are played in the order listed.
- Select Save to save your changes.
Call Routing
On the Call Routing tab, under How do you want your phones to ring?, you can determine the order in which calls are delivered to users assigned to the Call Queue. Choose from the following options:
- All at Once – When an incoming call is received, all agents ring simultaneously.
- One at a Time – Rings agents one at a time. If you select this option, select how you want the calls distributed. Choose from the following options:
- Top Down – Ring the agents one-at-a-time, always starting with the same agent and ringing in the same order. The agent configured at the top of the “Assigned” list will ring first, followed by the agents listed beneath, in sequential order.
- Circular – Ring the agents one-at-a-time, always ringing them in the same order. The order of the agents in the “Assigned” list represents the order in which the agents’ phones will ring, beginning with the individual that follows the last agent receiving a call from the Call Queue.
- Longest Idle – Ring the agent who has been idle (i.e., not on a queued call) the longest.
- Weighted – Route calls to agents based on their pre-configured weight (percentage) assignments. If this option is selected, you must assign weights to the agents. Click Set Weighted Percentages. Use the slider to assign the percentages. The percentages must equal 100%. Agents assigned a 0% weight will only receive calls if all other users are busy.
Bounced Calls
Bounced calls are those that have been sent to an available agent, but the agent does not answer.
- Check Mark calls as bounced after set number of rings to configure the number of rings a caller hears before the call is bounced. Then enter the number of rings.
- Check Bounce if agent becomes unavailable to bounce a call being sent to an agent if they transition to an unavailable state while the call is en route.
- Check Alert if call on hold for set wait time to notify an agent if a call they received from the queue was put on hold for longer than the configured time. Enter the time in seconds.
- Check Bounce if on hold for set wait time to bounce the call from the agent if the caller was placed on hold by the agent for longer than the configured time. Enter the time in seconds.
Distinctive Ringing
Distinctive ringing provides an alternative ringtone to an agent for Call Queue calls. This allows an agent to easily recognize a call as either a direct call or a queue call through an audible tone. To enable, check the Enable Distinctive Ring. Next, select a distinctive ring pattern from the drop-down menu.
Assigning Agents
These settings apply to the agents who have been assigned to the call queue and can be configured on the Agents tab on the Edit Call Queues page.
Allow multiple calls per agent – Check this box to present agents with multiple queued calls even when on an active call received from the queue. By default, this feature is disabled and calls are queued until the agent disconnects with the current call.
- To assign an agent, select an agent from the Find and Assign drop-down menu.
- To unassign, select the X next to the user you would like to unassign.
- Select Save to save your settings.
Reporting
To view reports on the Call Queue, follow these steps:
- Select the Reporting tab and enter the date range date you wish to pull a report from.
- Select Run Report.
- Select Save to save your settings.
