Manage hunt groups in Control Hub

Hunt groups route incoming calls to specific employees in a predetermined pattern. The call is routed by assigning a phone number to a group of employees and then defining rules such as how to answer the call, how long the call remains on hold, and who to forward the call.

You may want to set up hunt groups in the following scenarios:

A sales team that wants sequential routing. An incoming call rings one phone, but if there's no answer, the call goes to the next hunt group member in the list.
A support team that wants phones to ring all at once so that the first available member can take the call.

Create a hunt group

When a hunt group receives a call arrives and forwards it to an agent, the agent call forwarding feature doesn't work.

1	Sign in to Control Hub.
2	Go to Services > Calling > Features.
3	Go to the Hunt Group card and click Add New to create a new hunt group.
4	On the Basics page, enter the following details and click Next. Location—Select a location from the drop-down. A location is a container with a location-specific Calling configuration. See Configure Cisco Webex Calling for Your Organization for more information. Hunt Group Name—Enter a name for the hunt group. Phone Number and Extension—Assign a primary phone number and/or an extension to the hunt group. If you leave the extension field blank, the system automatically assigns the last four digits of the phone number as an extension for this hunt group. To modify the phone number or extension, see Edit hunt group phone numbers. Allow agents to use hunt group number as caller ID—Enable the toggle to allow agents to use the hunt group number as the Caller ID. There’s a restriction that both the hunt group's location and the agent’s location must have the same PSTN provider, country, and zone (this applies only to locations in India). If it’s different, then the hunt group caller ID doesn't display to the agent. This restriction helps to prevent call failure, potential billing issues, and ensures adherence to country-specific telecom regulations. Examples of invalid cross-location number usage: Agent in U.S. location using UK location hunt group number. Agent in San Jose, California location with PSTN provider 1 using Richardson, Texas hunt group number with PSTN provider 2. Caller ID First Name and Last Name—Enter the Caller ID first name and last name for the hunt group. The Caller ID is used for calls that are forwarded outside of this hunt group. For customers in the Asia-Pacific region, the Caller ID Name field auto populates with the username. You can’t modify the Caller ID Name field. Language—Select the language for audio announcement from the drop-down.
5	On the Call Routing page, choose one of the following options and click Next. Circular (Max 1,000 agents)—This option cycles through all members after the last member that took a call. It sends calls to the next available hunt group member. Top Down (Max 1,000 agents)—Sends the call through the hunt group members in order, starting from the top each time. Longest Idle (Max 1,000 agents)—Sends calls to the member that is in idle state for the longest time. If they don't answer, proceed to the next member who has been idle second longest, and so on, until the call is answered. Weighted (Max 100 agents)—Sends call to idle members based on percentages you assign to each member of the hunt group (up to 100%). Simultaneous (Max 50 agents)—Sends calls to all members in a hunt group at once. For the Hunt group with simultaneous ring setting, when another user in the Hunt group answers a call, you receive a completedelsewhere indication in the CallReleasedEvent. You can enable the Advance after set number of rings toggle and set the number of rings to apply to your call routing choice, if necessary.
6	On the Routing Settings page, enable one or more of the following options if necessary and click Next. Advance when busy—The hunt group doesn't ring members who are already on a call, and advances to the next available member. If a member is busy and has a call waiting option enabled, they hear a call waiting tone until they decline the call or becomes idle. Forward after a set number of rings—Unanswered calls forwards to a designated number after a defined number of rings. Divert calls when all agents are unreachable—Unanswered calls divert to a defined phone number. This option applies to phone calls that aren't answered due to a network outage. For users only using a mobile device, calls aren't diverted if there’s a network outage. Divert calls when all agents are busy or if the hunt group is busy—When you enable this setting, you can specify a call forwarding number. The unanswered calls forward to the specified number when the hunt group is busy. This applies to calls that aren’t answered because all hunt group agents are busy, or when the hunt group busy option is enabled. You can also select the “Send to voicemail" option to divert calls. Enable hunt group busy—Enabling this option sets the hunt group status to busy, and all new calls receive the busy treatment. Calls must be routed to the appropriate destination when all agents are busy or hunt group busy is enabled. By default, this option is turned off. Only an administrator can enable or disable the hunt group busy option. If an administrator configures agents to control the hunt group busy option, then agents can use FAC codes to enable or disable it. Allow agents to change the hunt group’s busy status—Lets agents change the hunt group’s busy status.
7	On the Select Agents page, search and add users, workspaces, or virtual lines to the call list and click Next. Depending on the Call Routing option you chose, add information such as adding percentage weighting to users, workspaces, or virtual lines. For circular call routing, drag and drop users, workspaces, or virtual lines in the order of their queue position. If an agent is assigned only an extension, ensure their location has a main number. Without a main number, calls to the hunt group aren't routed to the extension-only agent.
8	On the Review page, review your hunt group settings to make sure you've entered the correct details.
9	Click Create to create the hunt group.

Watch this video demonstration on how to create a new hunt group in the Control Hub.

Disable a hunt group

With this procedure, you can disable a previously created hunt group.

1	Sign in to Control Hub.
2	Go to Services > Calling > Features.
3	Go to the Hunt Group card and click Manage.
4	Select a hunt group to disable from the list.
5	Turn off the Enable Hunt Group toggle to disable the hunt group.
6	Click Save.

Edit hunt group general settings

Edit the language and Caller ID for each hunt group.

1	Sign in to Control Hub.
2	Go to Services > Calling > Features.
3	Go to the Hunt Group card and click Manage.
4	Select a hunt group you want to edit.
5	Click General Settings.
6	View or edit the Language from the Language drop-down.
7	View or edit the Time Zone from the Time Zone drop-down.
8	View or edit the Caller ID. Caller ID is used when call forwarding is enabled and calls are forwarded out of this hunt group.
9	Click Save.

Edit hunt group phone numbers

Edit phone numbers, alternative numbers, and assign distinctive ring patterns for hunt groups.

1	Sign in to Control Hub.
2	Go to Services > Calling > Features.
3	Go to the Hunt Group card and click Manage.
4	Select a hunt group to edit.
5	Click Phone Number.
6	Edit the phone number and extension. If you've left the extension field blank when creating the hunt group, the system automatically assigns the last four digits of the phone number as an extension for this hunt group.
7	Tun on the Allow agents to use hunt group number as caller ID toggle to allow the agents to use the hunt group number as the caller ID. There’s a restriction that both the hunt group's location and the agent’s location must have the same PSTN provider, country, and zone (this applies only to locations in India). If it’s different, then the hunt group caller ID doesn't display to the agent. This restriction helps to prevent call failure, potential billing issues, and ensures adherence to country-specific telecom regulations. Examples of invalid cross-location number usage: Agent in U.S. location using UK location hunt group number. Agent in San Jose, California location with PSTN provider 1 using Richardson, Texas hunt group number with PSTN provider 2.
8	From Alternate Numbers drop-down, search and add the alternative numbers. You can add up to 10 alternative numbers.
9	Enable or disable Distinctive Ringing Pattern.
10	Click Save.

Configure agent settings for user

Before you begin

The Control Hub administrator enables the phone number to use as the outgoing phone number for the agents in the call queue/hunt group.
On enabling the phone number, the administrator can set the agents outgoing phone number with the specific queue/hunt group CLID as per Persistent Configuration.
The agents can also set a Temporary CLID Configuration by using the FAC code #80 to use the call queue/hunt group phone number as the CLID displayed for the outgoing call or #81 for outgoing default caller ID as the phone number displayed as CLID.

1	Sign in to Control Hub.
2	Go to Management > Users.
3	Select a user that you want to configure the agent setting for.
4	Click Calling and go to the Agent Settings section.
5	Click the Agent Caller ID. You can set the agent caller ID to either the agent's own caller ID or a specific call queue or hunt group.
6	Configure the agent call queue or hunt group ID from the following options: Configured Caller ID—The caller ID which is already configured to the agent. Call queue or hunt group caller ID—Search by number or queue name and select the call queue or hunt group Caller ID from the drop-down. When the agent you’ve selected isn’t part of the call queue or hunt group, by default, this option is disabled. There’s a restriction that both the call queue's or hunt group's location and the agent’s location must have the same PSTN provider, country, and zone (this applies only to locations in India). If it’s different, then the call queue or hunt group caller ID doesn't display to the agent. This restriction helps to prevent call failure, potential billing issues, and ensures adherence to country-specific telecom regulations. Examples of invalid cross-location number usage: Agent in U.S. location using UK location call queue or hunt group number. Agent in San Jose, California location with PSTN provider 1 using Richardson, Texas call queue or hunt group number with PSTN provider 2.

Configure call forwarding for a hunt group

1	Sign in to Control Hub.
2	Go to Services > Calling > Features.
3	Go to the Hunt Group card and click Manage.
4	Select a hunt group to edit.
5	Click Call Forwarding.
6	Turn on the Call Forwarding toggle.
7	Choose one of the following options: Always Forward Calls—Always forward calls to a designated number. Selectively Forward Calls—Forward calls to a designated number, depending on criteria rules. If you choose Selectively Forward Calls, you need to have at least one rule for forwarding applied for call forwarding to be active. Forward calls by mode—Forward calls based on operating modes. See Call routing based on operating modes in Webex Calling for more details.
8	For Always Forward Calls and Selectively Forward Calls, assign the number you want to forward calls to. When choosing Always Forward or Selectively Forward, you can also select Send to voicemail to forward all calls to an internal voicemail. The Send to Voicemail checkbox is disabled when an external number is entered.
9	For Selectively Forward Calls, create a rule by clicking Add When to Forward or Add When Not to Forward.
10	Create a Rule Name.
11	For When to Forward, select a Business Schedule and Holiday Schedule from the drop-down. It's mandatory to create a new rule specific to holidays.
12	For Forward To, select at least one option from Default Phone Number or add a Different Phone Number.
13	For Calls From, select Any Number or Selected Numbers with at least one option from the following: Any Number—Forwards all calls in the specified rule. Any Private Numbers—Forwards calls from private numbers. Any Unavailable Numbers—Forwards calls from unavailable numbers. Add Specific Numbers—Forwards calls from up to 12 numbers that you define.
14	For Calls To, select a number from the drop-down to forward calls received on that number.
15	Click Save.

The rules created for the selectively forward calls are processed based on the following criteria:

The rules are sorted in the table by rule name character. Example: 00_rule, 01_rule, and so on.
The "Not to Forward" rule always takes precedence over the "Forward" rule.
The rules are processed based on the order they are listed in the table.
You can create multiple rules. However, if a rule is satisfied, the system no longer checks the next rule. If you want the specific rule to check first, we suggest that you update the rule name with numbers. For example: If you want the holiday rule to check before the business closed hours rule, then name the rule as 01-Holiday and 02-Closed.

To know more about the basic functionality and examples of the selectively forward call, see Configure Call Forwarding Selective for Webex Calling.

What to do next

Once a rule is created, you can enable or disable a rule using the toggle beside the rule in the table. You can also change or delete a rule at any time by clicking Edit or Delete button represented by a trash bin icon to delete.

Hunt group call forwarding settings in Control Hub, 'When to Forward' and 'When Not to Forward' rule table.

Add or delete users, workspaces, and virtual lines in an existing hunt group

1	Sign in to Control Hub.
2	Go to Services > Calling > Features.
3	Go to the Hunt Group card and click Manage.
4	Select a hunt group to edit.
5	Click Agents.
6	From the Add user, workspace, or virtual line drop-down, select the users, workspaces, or virtual lines that you want to add. To delete hunt group members, click .
7	Click Save.

Edit hunt group call routing pattern

Change the pattern of your existing hunt group from the options available.

1	Sign in to Control Hub.
2	Go to Services > Calling > Features.
3	Go to the Hunt Group card and click Manage.
4	Select a hunt group to edit.
5	Click Call Routing Pattern.
6	Edit the following options: If you change your call routing pattern from a pattern that accommodates 1,000 hunt group members to a pattern that only accommodates 100 or 50 members, only the first 100 or 50 members are kept. You're asked to confirm this when you make the change. Circular (Max 1,000 agents)—This option cycles through all members after the last member that took a call. It sends calls to the next available hunt group member. Top Down (Max 1,000 agents)—Sends the call through the queue of members in order, starting from the top each time. Longest Idle (Max 1,000 agents)—Sends calls to the member that has been idle the longest. If they don't answer, proceed to the next member who has been idle second longest, and so on, until the call is answered. Weighted (Max 100 agents)—Sends call to idle members based on the percentages you assign to each member of the hunt group (up to 100%). Simultaneous (Max 50 agents)—Sends calls to all members in a hunt group at once.
7	Click Add user, workspace, or virtual line to edit the list of agents.
8	Click Save.

Edit hunt group call routing options

1	Sign in to Control Hub.
2	Go to Services > Calling > Features.
3	Go to the Hunt Group card and click Manage.
4	Select a hunt group to edit.
5	Click Call Routing Options.
6	Use the toggles to set each of these features on or off. Advance after set number of rings—When turned on, a hunt group member won't receive a notification that a call is queued to them when on a call, and advances to the next member after a select number of rings. When turned off, a member receives a notification that a call is queued, but advances to the next member after a select number of rings. Advance when busy—The hunt group won't ring members when they are on another call, and advances to the next member in the hunt group. If the member has call waiting enabled and the call is advanced to them, then the call waits until the member becomes idle again. Forward after a set of rings—Unanswered calls after the defined number of rings forward to a designated number. Divert calls when all agents are unreachable—Unanswered calls divert to a defined phone number. This could apply to phone calls that aren't answered due to a network outage. Divert calls when all agents are busy or if the hunt group is busy—When you enable this setting, you can also define a number for the call forward destination. Unanswered calls are forwarded to the defined number when the hunt group is busy. This could apply to calls that aren’t answered because all hunt group agents are busy, or if the hunt group busy option is enabled. You can also check the “Send to voicemail" box to divert calls. Enable hunt group busy—Enabling this option sets the hunt group status to busy, and all new calls receive the busy treatment. Calls must be routed to the appropriate destination when all agents are busy or hunt group busy option is enabled. By default, this option is turned off. Only an administrator can enable or disable hunt group busy. If an administrator configures agents to control hunt group busy, then agents can also enable or disable hunt group busy using FAC codes. Allow agents to change the hunt group’s busy status—Lets agents change the hunt group’s busy status.

Bulk manage hunt groups

You can add and manage hunt groups in bulk using a hunt group CSV.

Known limitations and requirements

Before uploading your hunt group CSV, make sure to read Bulk provisioning Webex Calling elements using CSV to understand the CSV conventions.
You can export the current hunt groups to add, delete, or modify your existing data set, or export a sample set of hunt groups. Once making changes, you can upload the file through the bulk features.

Exporting CSV file into ZIP file format: When exporting data to a CSV file, the number of records may exceed 1000. In such cases, the ZIP file is downloaded, where the ZIP file contains the full set of record(s) in a single CSV file. A separate folder containing all the data is broken down into multiple CSV files with less than 1000 records. These files are generated for the administrators to quickly import any updates and upload.
It’s important to know the mandatory and optional columns, and information you need to provide when filling out the CSV template. You can find the specific fields for the hunt group CSV in the following table.
The maximum number of hunt groups for each location is 1,000.
The maximum number of rows is 1,000 (not including the header).
Agents can be users or workspaces. For users, enter the user’s email address. For workspaces, enter the workspace's name.
Each row can hold a maximum of 50 agents. See Add or edit more than 50 agents at a time for more information.

Prepare your CSV

Use this table to see the mandatory and optional fields and determine what you need when adding or editing hunt groups in bulk.

Columns are either mandatory or optional fields. This varies depending on whether you’re using the CSV to add a new hunt group or edit an existing hunt group.

Column	Mandatory or optional (Add a hunt group)	Mandatory or optional (Edit a hunt group)	Description	Supported values
Name	Mandatory	Mandatory	Enter the name of the hunt group. Hunt group names within the same location must be uniquely identifiable. If the hunt groups are in a different location, they can have the same name.	Example: San Jose Hunt Group Character length: 1–30
Phone Number	Mandatory (if the extension is blank)	Optional	Enter the hunt group phone number. You must have either a phone number or an extension.	The system allows only E.164 numbers for CSV import. Example: +12815550100 The phone number must be on the Numbers tab in Control Hub.
Extension	Mandatory (if the phone number is blank)	Optional	Enter the hunt group extension. You must have either a phone number or an extension.	Two to ten-digit extension. 00-999999
Location	Mandatory	Mandatory	Enter the location to assign this call hunt group.	Example: San Jose Location must be on the Locations tab in Control Hub.
Caller ID First Name	Optional	Optional	Enter the first name to display for the hunt group’s calling line ID (CLID). The caller ID is used when call forward is enabled and calls are forwarded out.	Example: San Only UTF-8 characters are supported. Character length: 1–30
Caller ID Last Name	Optional	Optional	Enter the last name to display for the hunt group’s calling line ID (CLID). The caller ID is used when call forward is turned on and calls are forwarded out.	Example: Jose Only UTF-8 characters are supported. Character length: 1–30
Language	Optional	Optional	Enter the announcement language for your hunt group.	Example: en_us
Timezone	Optional	Optional	Enter the hunt group time zone key. This time zone applies to the schedules applied to this hunt group.	Example: America or Chicago Character length: 1–127
Call Routing Pattern	Mandatory	Optional	Enter the hunt group routing pattern. Select one of the supported policies.	CIRCULAR, REGULAR, SIMULTANEOUS, UNIFORM, WEIGHTED
Advance After Set Number of Rings Enable	Optional	Optional	Enable or disable calls to advance after a set number of rings. If enabled, enter the number of rings in the next column.	TRUE, FALSE
Advance After Set Number of Rings	Optional	Optional	Enter the number of rings to wait for the currently hunted agent to answer before hunting to the next available agent.	Range: 1–20
Advance When Busy Enable	Optional	Optional	If this is enabled, the hunt group doesn't ring agents when they are on another call. The call advances to the next agent in the hunt group. If the agent has call waiting enabled, and the call is advanced to them, then the call waits until the agent becomes idle again.	TRUE, FALSE
Forward After Rings Enable	Optional	Optional	Enable or disable unanswered calls to be forwarded to a designated phone number after a set number of rings.	TRUE, FALSE
Forward After Rings	Optional	Optional	Enter the number of rings to wait before forwarding to the designed number.	Range: 1–99
Forward Number	Optional	Optional	Enter the phone number where unanswered calls are forwarded.	The system allows only E.164 numbers for CSV import. Example: +12815550100 The phone number must be on the Numbers tab in Control Hub.
Forward After Rings Voicemail Enable	Optional	Optional	Enable or disable unanswered calls forwarding to a voicemail after a set number of rings.	TRUE, FALSE
Hunt Group Busy Enable	Optional	Optional	Use this column to enable or disable hunt group busy.	TRUE, FALSE
Allow Agents to Change Hunt Group Busy Status	Optional	Optional	Enable or disable the toggle to allow agents to change hunt group busy status.	TRUE, FALSE
Divert When Busy Enable	Optional	Optional	Enable or disable the busy calls diverting to a defined phone number.	TRUE, FALSE
Divert When Busy Number	Optional	Optional	Enter the phone number to divert calls to when lines are busy.	Example: +12815550100
Divert When Busy Voicemail Enable	Optional	Optional	Enable or disable the busy calls diverting to a defined voicemail.	TRUE, FALSE
Divert When Unreachable Enable	Optional	Optional	Enable or disable unreachable calls diverting to a defined phone number.	TRUE, FALSE
Divert When Unreachable Number	Optional	Optional	Enter the phone number to divert calls to when unreachable.	Example: +12815550100
Divert When Unreachable Voicemail Enable	Optional	Optional	Enable or disable unreachable calls diverting to a defined voicemail.	TRUE, FALSE
Hunt Group Enable	Optional	Optional	Use this column to activate or deactivate the hunt group.	ENABLED, DISABLED, enabled, disabled
Alternate Number Distinctive Ringing Enable	Optional	Optional	Enable or disable a distinctive ringing for alternate numbers. If enabled, enter the ring patter in the Alternate Numbers Ring Pattern column.	TRUE, FALSE
Alternate Numbers Action	Optional	Optional	Enter ADD to add the alternate numbers you list in this row. Enter REMOVE to remove the alternate numbers you list in the row. If you enter REPLACE, you remove all previously entered alternate numbers and replace it with the alternate numbers you’re adding in this row only.	ADD, REMOVE, REPLACE
Agent Action	Optional	Optional	Enter ADD to add the agents you list in this row. Enter REMOVE to remove this agent you list in the row. If you enter REPLACE, you remove all previously entered agents and replace it with the agents you’re adding in this row only.	ADD, REMOVE, REPLACE
Allow Agents To Use Hunt Group Number As Caller ID	Optional	Optional	Enable the toggle to allow the agents to use the hunt group number as the caller ID	TRUE, FALSE
Alternate Number1, Alternate Number2… Alternate Number10	Optional	Optional	Enter the alternate numbers to assign to the hunt group.	Example: 1112223333 Phone number must be on the Numbers tab in Control Hub. Character length: 1–23
Alternate Number1 Ring Pattern, Alternate Number2 Ring Pattern… Alternate Number10 Ring Pattern	Optional	Optional	If distinctive ringing is enabled for alternate numbers, choose the distinctive ringing ring pattern. Choose from one of the supported options.	NORMAL, LONG_LONG, SHORT_SHORT_LONG, SHORT_LONG_SHORT
Agent1 ID, Agent2 ID… Agent50 ID	Optional	Optional	Enter the agents you’d like to assign to the hunt group. Agents can be users or workspaces. For users, enter the user’s email address. For workspaces, enter the workspace name.	Example: test@example.com Character length: 1–161
Agent1 Weight, Agent2 Weight... Agent50 Weight	Optional	Optional	If the call routing policy for the hunt group is weighted, enter the agent’s percentage weighting.	Range: 0-100

Add or edit more than 50 agents at a time

Each row can hold a maximum of 50 agents and their associated call routing weight percentage (if applicable). A hunt group can have a maximum of 1,000 agents assigned. To add or edit more than 50 agents using the CSV file, follow these steps.

Enter the 50 agents, and their associated call routing weight percentage (if applicable), that you’d like to add or edit on the first row for the hunt group you’re adding or editing.

On the next row, you only have to enter information in the following columns to add or edit additional agents:

Name—Enter the same name as the preceding row to add or edit more agents.
Location—Enter the same location as the preceding row to add or edit more agents.
Agent Action—Enter ADD to add the agents you list in this row. Enter REMOVE to remove the agents you list in this row.

If you enter REPLACE, it removes all previously entered agents and replaces it with the agents you're adding in this row only.
Agent1, Agent2, and so on—Enter the user’s email or workspace name that you’d like to add, remove, or replace.
(Optional) Agent1 Weight, Agent2 Weight, and so on—If the call routing policy for the hunt group is weighted, enter the agent’s percentage weighting.

You can leave all other columns blank.

Continue to do this until you've added all the agents you need to add or edit.

A hunt group can have a maximum of 1,000 agents.

Bulk add hunt groups

To add hunt groups in bulk, download and fill out a blank CSV template.

You can't modify call forwarding settings for a hunt group in bulk. To edit call forwarding for a hunt group, see Configure call forwarding for a hunt group.

1	Sign in to Control Hub.
2	Go to Services > Calling > Features.
3	Go to the Hunt Group card and click Manage.
4	Click Manage > Bulk Manage.
5	Select a location for the hunt group you'd like to add.
6	Click Download .csv template.
7	Fill out the spreadsheet.
8	Upload the CSV file by dragging and dropping or clicking Choose a file.
9	Click Upload. When successfully uploaded, you can click See Tasks Page for details to view the status of the changes.

Bulk edit hunt groups

To modify hunt groups in bulk, download the current CSV data and make the necessary changes to the spreadsheet.