Call Queues & Ring Groups


Call handling view from the 3CX Web client

3CX allows you to create call queues or ring groups to handle incoming calls as a team:

Ring Groups

3CX FREE  includes a default ring group that includes all your team members. Calls will be forwarded to this ring group and it will ring the team members one after the other. That way, if one is unavailable, another team member can answer. You can change this behavior and exclude team members from the ring group. In the 3CX SMB, PRO and Enterprise editions, you can create your own ring groups.

To edit your ring group or create a new ring group:

  1. Go to “Admin > Call handling”.
  2. Click on your existing ring group or click “+ Add ring group” to create a new group.
  3. If you are creating a new group, type a name. Something like ‘Sales Team’.
  4. Use the drop-down box to assign a DID number that will route directly to your ring group.
  5. Specify what should happen if no one answers the call. Default ringing timeout is 60 seconds.
  6. Edit the ring strategy
  1. Navigate to the “Users” tab and click “+ Add user”. Use the search box to find your desired users or enter their extension number.
  2. If you want to exclude some people from the ring group, click on X” next to their name.
  3. If you selected Prioritized Hunt then move the ring group members up or down depending on whose phone you want to ring first.
  4. “3CX Talk” lets you name the ‘3CX Talk’ link for the ring group, and lets you choose the information you want customers to provide prior to the call being initiated. Once configured, copy the URL and use it in email signatures, websites or digital business cards.
  5. Finally, click “Save”.

Call Queues

Queues go way beyond ring groups and are much cooler. A queue will take the call and put the caller in the queue if you cannot take the call immediately. To configure a queue:

  1. Go to “Admin > Call handling”.
  2. Click “+ Add queue” at the top of the screen.
  3. Under the “General” tab:
  1. Now you need to assign “Users” to answer the calls. Go to the “Users” tab. Use the “+ Add user” button to choose which team members will be part of the queue. Watch out for the order of users as some of the polling strategies work from the top of the list to the bottom.
  2. Go to the “Options” tab:
  1. Click the “Record” button.
  2. Enter your desired file name and click the “Record” button.
  3. The popup will show your recording time. When finished, click the “Stop” button.
  4. You can now listen to your greeting, re-record it or click the upload button to save.
  5. Your recording will now be shown in the drop-down box. If you do not see the “Record” button, ensure your microphone is properly configured and allowed in “Settings > Audio/Video”.
  1. “3CX Talk” lets you name the ‘3CX Talk link’ for the queue, and lets you choose the information you want customers to provide prior to the call being initiated. Once configured, copy the URL and use it in email signatures, websites, or digital business cards.
  2. Click “Save” at the top of the page.

Important: Queue members must be logged in a call queue to start answering calls. You can configure queue member extensions to automatically log in and out by enabling their “Forwarding Rules > Statuses > Options > Log out from queues” option for each status profile via the Management Console, or disable users logging out manually.

Advanced Options

3CX features a number of advanced customization options located under the “Advanced” tab:

Skill-based routing

Skill based routing is only available in the dedicated enterprise edition and only from the Management Console.

3CX Enterprise edition features skill-based routing, which allows queued calls to be distributed to agents based on their skill group.

For example, a call center can assign its support agents in increasing skill-level groups based on their expertise. In this way, incoming calls are first assigned to agents in the level “1” skill group and when not available, move on to the less experienced agents in subsequent skill groups. These skill-based routing strategies are available:

Advanced Queue options

The Enterprise edition also features these additional queue options:

Paging

Paging is used to make a one-way announcement to a ring group via the phone speaker, without the called party picking up the handset. Paging requires you to set the relevant dial code in “Settings > Dial Codes > Paging”, e.g. *11, and a phone that supports and is configured for intercom.

To add a paging group from Ring Groups”, click on “+ Add Paging” and enter these options:

  1. Name – enter a name for the paging group.
  2. Virtual Extension Number – accept the default or specify an extension number.
  3. Ring strategy:
  1. Use the “Add a DID/DDI” button if you need to assign a number directly to the paging group.
  2. Use the “Click2Talk” tab to set up a custom ‘3CX Talk’ link if required.
  3. Click “OK” to save.

Intercom

Intercom enables you to make an announcement to a single extension with two-way audio, i.e. the called party can respond without picking up the handset. To call a user via the intercom function, add the paging/intercom prefix in front of the extension number, e.g. if your paging dial code is *11, to make an intercom call to extension 100, dial: *11100.

Configure the intercom dial code in Settings > Dial codes > Paging”. The extension using intercom needs to have the Can Intercom” option enabled in Users > Edit Extension > Rights”.


Revision #3
Created 11 December 2023 22:01:54 by Vox Tandem Admin
Updated 22 May 2024 19:19:05 by Vox Tandem Admin