How to set up a call queue using Multi User VoIP

Getting started

Call queues are used in situations such as a sales department or customer services team, where callers will be held in their call order and your agents will be passed the calls as they become free. The caller will hear music as they are holding and you have the option to set up advanced options such as breaking out of the queue and informing callers of their position.

Video walkthrough

To help you set up call queues, you can watch our walkthrough video below. You can pause and rewind as necessary, and use it along with the notes below.

Basic configuration

The queue will use one internal number number as the queue can be dialed internally as well. This means that users such as your receptionist can transfer callers directly into a queue.

You can build the queue via the control panel. Once logged in select Queues from the left hand menu.

The basic configuration options are:

• Record calls: If this is selected then any call being answered will be recorded and the audio can be downloaded from the Recorded Calls menu
• Message before ringing: From the dropdown menu you can select a pre-recorded voice prompt to be played out before the caller joins the queue, such as a welcome message
• Hold music: If you have uploaded your own piece of hold music, you can select it here, Default will play out our standard network hold music
• Caller ID tag: You can use this to identify incoming calls via your queue (if supported by your SIP device), for example entering QUEUE, would then display on your device as QUEUE: 01234567890
  

Configuring Queue Options

Voice prompts are a powerful way of customising your queue. To use voice prompts, you need to first record them using the Voice Prompts menu. For a more in-depth look at this process watch our guide on setting up a Multi User VoIP phone system here.

Voice prompts are made up of phrases such as "you are next” and "there are", and these are the exact words that should be recorded as separate prompts. The system will then chain these together so the caller hears announcements such as:

"There are X calls waiting, the hold time is X minutes, X seconds, thank you for your patience" or "you are next in the queue, thank you for your patience".

Once you have recorded this prompts, you can select these from the drop down lists in this section.

Other options in the Queue Options section are:

• Maximum callers waiting in the queue: The value set here will define the maximum number of callers that your queue will hold at one time, the system default is 10
• Custom periodic announce frequency: This is a time value in seconds that the centrex service will play the voice prompt "custom periodic announcement" to the caller being held in the queue
• Press zero to skip to: You can pick an already configured extension or alias here, if the caller in the queue presses 0, then the call will be passed to this destination
  

Members

The "Members" section allows you to configure the Extensions who should receive calls from the queue, you can choose the extensions from the dropdown ‘Add New Member’ box.

You will also need to ensure that you tick the ‘Days enabled’ boxes for when this person can receive calls, and also the time range that calls can be received.

Advanced configuration and troubleshooting

In order to add voicemail to the queue, for example when your offices are closed, you will need to create a hunt group and place the queue inside the hunt group. For more information on this watch our guide on setting up a Multi User VoIP phone system here.