Introduction

Call Queues can be used to route calls to specific groups of users in your domain. The queue places the caller on hold and presents the call to pre-defined groups of users. You can specify different types of call queues such as Round Robin, Ring All, Linear Hunt, Linear Cascade, or Call Park. Users that receive calls from a call queue are called "Agents". Office Mangers and Call Center Supervisors can create, modify, and delete call queues.

This guide will cover creating a new call queue and adding agents to a call queue.

Creating a Call Queue:

1. Login to the Portal as an Office Manager or Call Center Supervisor. Click the “Call Queues” button from the options at the top of the page.
2. In the Call Queues section, you can edit any existing Call Queues or create new Call Queues. To create a new Call Queue, click the “Add Call Queue” button on the right side of the screen.
   
   
    
3. Fill in the Call Queue Basic Information as needed:
   1. Name: A unique name to distinguish it from other call queues.
   2. Extension: Choose a unique number (avoiding the excluded number list).
   3. Department: (Optional) This is for informational purposes and can be used for contact filtering.
   4. Site: (Optional) This is for informational purposes if you have multiple sites in your domain.
   5. Type: This option distinguishes how the call will be presented to the agents assigned to the queue.
      1. Round-Robin: Routes calls to the available agent that has been idle the longest.
      2. Tiered Round-Robin: Routes calls to the available agent with escalating tiers.
      3. Ring All: Routes calls to ALL available agents at the same time.
      4. Linear Hunt: Routes calls to the available agents in a pre-defined order.
      5. Linear Cascade: Routes calls to groups of available agents in a predefined order.
      6. Call Park: Places the caller on hold until an agent manually retrieves the call.
         Note: Once you select your type of queue, further options will be available
         
         
          
   6. Phone Number: This option allows a caller to dial directly to the call queue. If you have any available to assign to the queue, it will appear in the drop-down menu.
   7. Record Calls: Allows you to record all calls that come through this queue. These recordings can be found in Call Center or in Call History.
   8. Statistics: Collects statistics for the call queue. This information can be found in Call Center Reports.
       
4. Click “Next” to continue to the Pre-Queue Options tab.
    
5. Pre-Queue Options: these are a set of conditions that must be met before the queue will accept the call. Fill in the options that you would like to enable in your call queue:
   1. Require agents: requires at least one agent to be logged in to the queue before the call will be sent to the queue. This is suggested if you will have agents actively logging in/out of the call queues.
   2. Queue Audio: What you would like your callers to hear when they are in the queue. The default is your company’s hold music unless you change it.
   3. Require intro MOH (Music on Hold): This enables a specific message to be played before the caller is connected to an agent. This can be created in the “Music On Hold” section of the Portal.
   4. Max Expected Wait (seconds): The max expected wait time before the queue is unavailable to new callers. This applies when the queue’s average wait time reaches the maximum expected wait. This can be adjusted by sliding the bar to the right.
   5. Max Queue Length: The maximum number of callers allowed in the queue before it is full and unavailable to new callers. This can be adjusted by sliding the bar to the right.
      
      
       
   6. Allow Callback Option: Allows the caller to receive a call back instead of waiting in the queue.
   7. Forward If Unavailable: Callers are to be forwarded to this destination if the call queue is full or if no agents are logged in. This can be an overflow queue, voicemail, user, or auto attendant.
       
6. Click “Next” to continue to In Queue Options.
    
7. The In Queue Options will change slightly depending on which type of call queue that you are creating. Edit the options based on the needs of your call queue:
   1. Queue and Agent Ring Timeout (Seconds): Depending on the type of queue that you have chosen, one or both options will be displayed. These options are for customizing how long the queue will present the call to an agent before moving on to the next agent or how long the queue will keep the call in the queue before sending it somewhere else.
   2. Logout Agent on Missed Call: If an agent misses a call, this will log them out of the queue.
   3. Enable Voicemail: Enables an option to leave a voicemail or forced to voicemail if the queue is unavailable.
   4. If Unanswered: What the call should do if the call has reached the set Queue Ring Time Out. This can be an overflow queue, voicemail, user, or auto attendant.
       
      
       
8. Click “Next” to proceed to the SMS tab.
9. If your company has already completed the “Campaign Registry” form and have SMS enabled on your domain, then you can provide callers a way to text your call queue. (This feature requires enablement)
10. Click “Enable SMS” and customize the options for your callers to text your call queue.
    
    
     
11. Click “Add” to complete your new call queue. You will now see it in the Call Queue section of the Portal. Call queues can be edited anytime from this page

Adding Agents to a Call Queue:

1. In the Portal for Office Managers or Call Center Supervisors, click on the “Call Queues” button at the top of the page.
    
2. Locate the call queue that you would like to add agents to. Under the “Agents (Available)” column, click the “0(0)” hyperlink to open the add agent menu.
   
   
    
3. Click “Add Agent”

1. Proceed through each option:
   1. Add Agent(s) by: Add a user by name or extension or by phone number to add an external phone number to the queue.
   2. Agent Extension: you can add as many users as needed by the name or extension.
   3. Status: enables the agent to receive calls. Also allows for queue supervisors to be added to a queue without being able to receive calls.
   4. Wrap Up Time (seconds): gives the agent time before they can receive a new call.
   5. Max Simultaneous Calls: set a limit of how many calls the agent can receive at the same time.
   6. Max SMS Sessions: set a limit of how many SMS conversations that an agent can be on at the same time.
   7. Queue Priority for Agent: this option allows you to set a queue priority for an agent that is assigned to multiple queues.
   8. Request Confirmation: informs the agent that they are receiving a call through the queue and to press 1 if they would like to receive the call.
   9. Auto Answer: this option will automatically answer the call by the available agent.
       
2. Click “Save Agent.” You will now be able to see all agents in the queue. All individual agents can be edited from this screen.