Call Queues

Overview

When someone calls a number attached to a queue, they hear an optional greeting and then hold music. The queue offers the call to available agents using the strategy you choose. If nobody answers within the maximum wait, the caller overflows to voicemail, an AI phone agent, another queue, or is disconnected.

Queues are set up in CRM → Admin → Phone Settings → Queues. Day-to-day monitoring and reporting live on the Call Center page in the CRM menu. Not sure whether you need a queue or a hunt group? See the comparison on the Hunt Groups page.

Before You Start

• Every agent needs a phone — a softphone or desk phone in Phone Settings → Member Phones. Agents without one show a no phone tag in the queue's agent list, because the queue can't ring them.
• A phone number that isn't assigned to a member, desk phone, fax line, or AI phone agent.
• Optional: skills (Phone Settings → Skills) for skills routing, and reason/disposition codes (see Codes & Supervisors) — sensible defaults are created automatically.

Create a Queue

1. Go to CRM → Admin → Phone Settings and open the Queues tab.
2. Click + New Queue at the bottom of the panel. The queue editor opens.
3. Enter a Name (for example Support) and work through the sections below.
4. Click Create queue. To change it later, click the queue's card and use Save changes.

Routing

• Required skills (Skills strategy) — agents must be rated for all of them; their weakest rating decides their tier. Primary agents are offered calls first, then Secondary, then Training. The next tier opens after each ring timeout. Rate agents in Member Phones → Skills.
• Ring each attempt — how long an agent rings before the queue tries again or opens the next tier.
• Queue priority for shared agents — when an agent is in several queues, the queue with the higher number is served first.

Agents

Set each member to Primary, Backup, or — (not in the queue). Backup agents are only offered calls after the primary agents. Hover a name to see the member's email — useful when two people share a name.

DIDs & Caller Priority

Under DIDs that use this queue, check each phone number that should send callers here. Next to each checked number, pick a caller priority:

• High — answered ahead of Standard and Low callers already waiting (e.g. a VIP line).
• Standard — normal first-come, first-served.
• Low — answered after everyone else.

A number on a hunt group or another queue is labeled and moves here when you save.

After Each Call

• After-call work (seconds) — time an agent gets to wrap up before the next queue call. 0 turns it off.
• Agents must pick a disposition — requires an outcome (Resolved, Escalated, …) for each call. Wrap-up lasts at least 60 seconds when this is on.

While Callers Wait

• Announce their place in line and Announce estimated wait, repeated every N seconds (30–45 is typical).
• Hold music — upload a WAV or MP3 (up to 20 MB), or leave the music-on-hold class as default.
• Greeting — plays once when the caller joins.
• Repeating announcement — plays at the announcement interval (e.g. opening hours or your website).

For the greeting and announcement you can upload a file, or type the text, choose a voice, click Preview to hear it, then Use this text. Every saved audio item has a player so you can listen to exactly what callers hear. Audio chosen while creating a new queue is uploaded as soon as you click Create queue.

Callback

Turn on Offer a callback to let callers press 1 to hang up without losing their place in line. VINSI holds their spot; when an agent answers it, the agent's phone rings first and then VINSI calls the customer back from the queue's number. You can customize the offer text (it plays about every 45 seconds) and listen to it once saved.

Callers with a blocked or hidden number are told a callback isn't possible and stay on hold. Callback requests and their outcomes appear on the Call Center wallboard.

Limits & Overflow

Callers also overflow right away when no agent is logged in and reachable.

Business Hours

Choose 24/7, Organization business hours, or Custom hours (start, end, and days in your organization's time zone). Outside hours, callers skip the queue and go to the After hours destination.

Service Level & Alerts

• Answer within (seconds) and Service level target (%) — e.g. 80% of callers answered within 30 seconds.
• Alert when a caller waits N seconds, or when this many are waiting (0 = off).
• Alert when a caller overflows.
• Also email alerts to — extra addresses. The queue's supervisors always get alerts.

Supervisors are also alerted when the last hour falls below the service-level target, or an agent stays on a break past its limit.

Agent Status

Every status change is timestamped and used for time-in-status, occupancy, and adherence reporting.

Softphone

Members of at least one queue see a status bar under the softphone header (open the softphone; it isn't shown while minimized). Use the dropdown to switch between Available, Unavailable (pick a reason), and Logged out. The bar also shows how long you've been in the current status, how many callers are waiting, and a My stats link.

Desk Phone Codes

A short spoken confirmation plays after each code. The codes also work from the softphone keypad.

Wrap-up & Dispositions

After a queue call, the softphone shows the call's queue and caller with an outcome dropdown and an optional note. Click Save & ready to record it and become available again. Desk phone users can finish wrap-up with *47.

Codes & Supervisors

Administrators manage these in Phone Settings → Queues → Codes & supervisors (or Call Center → Settings):

• Reason codes — why an agent is Unavailable, each with an optional maximum in minutes. Supervisors are alerted when an agent goes over. Turn codes off instead of deleting them so history keeps its labels.
• Disposition codes — the call outcomes agents choose during wrap-up.
• Supervisors — click Add supervisor, pick a member, and check the queues they supervise.
• History retention — how many days of queue history to keep (default 90).

Call Center Page

Open it from CRM → Admin → Phone → Call Center (agents can use My stats in the softphone). Supervisors and administrators see Live and Reports; administrators also see Settings. Agents see My stats.

Live Wallboard

• Queue tiles — callers waiting, longest wait, agents free and on calls, today's answered/abandoned and service level (green on target, red below).
• Alerts — acknowledge each alert once handled.
• Agents — status and time in status (red when a break runs over). Change an agent's status, log them in or out, or use Queues & skills to change their queues (Primary/Backup) and skill levels.
• Callback requests — status of each callback; mark failed ones as called or dismiss them.

Listen, Whisper & Barge

For an agent on a call, click Listen, Whisper, or Barge. Your own softphone (or desk phone) rings — answer it to join. Keep your softphone open first.

Each use is recorded in the change history.

Reports

Pick a date range (Today, 7, 30, 90 days, or custom), optionally a queue, then:

• Queue performance — offered, answered, abandoned and abandon rate, overflow, callbacks, average speed of answer, handle time, service level, dispositions.
• Agent performance — calls handled, handle and talk time, time in each status and reason, occupancy, adherence, dispositions.
• Skill coverage — eligible agents per queue by proficiency vs. calls offered.
• Change history (administrators) — who changed queues, skills, codes, supervisors, and monitoring.

Click Export CSV to download the current report.

Troubleshooting