Manage call queues in Control Hub

Create a call queue

You can create multiple call queues for your organization, so that when customers' calls can't be answered, they're provided with an automated answer, comfort messages, and/or hold music until someone can answer their call.

From the customer view in https://admin.webex.com, go to Services, and choose Calling > Features.

Click Call Queue > Create Call Queue.

On the Basics page, enter the following information, and then click Next.

Location—Select a location from the drop-down menu.

A location is a container with location-specific calling configuration. See Configure Cisco Webex Calling for Your Organization, for more information.

Call Queue Name—Enter a name for the call queue.
Phone Number—Assign a primary phone number and/or an extension to the call queue.
Number of Calls in Queue (Max 50)—Assign the maximum number of calls for this call queue. Once this number is reached, the overflow settings are triggered.

Caller ID—Assign the caller ID for the call queue. The caller ID assigned here, along with the calling party caller ID name and number, will show when the call queue agents are receiving an incoming call from the queue. The caller ID is also used for calls that are forwarded outside of this call queue.

This field is mandatory to navigate to the next screen.

Direct Line—The primary phone number and extension from this queue.

Direct line option does not appear if you do not specify a phone number.

Location Number—The number assigned to the location.

Assigned Number from the Call Queue’s LocationSelect a number from the location.

Language—Select the call queue language from the drop-down menu.

On the Call Routing page, choose one of the following options, and click Next.

Circular (Max 1,000 agents)—Cycles through all agents after the last agent that took a call. It sends calls to the next available call queue agent.
Top Down (Max 1,000 agents)—Sends calls through the queue of agents in order, starting from the top each time.
Longest Idle (Max 1,000 agents)—Sends calls to the agent that has been idle the longest. If they don't answer, proceeds to the next agent who has been idle second longest, and so on until the call is answered.
Weighted (Max 100 agents)—Sends calls to agents based on percentages you assign to each agent in the call queue profile (up to 100%).
Simultaneous (Max 50 agents)—Sends calls to all agents in a call queue at once.

On the Overflow Settings page, determine how overflow calls are handled. Choose one of the following options from the drop-down menu:

Perform busy treatment—The caller hears a fast-busy tone.
Play ringing until caller hangs up—The caller hears ringing until they disconnect.
Transfer to phone number—Enter the number where you want to transfer overflow calls.

You can also enable the following overflow settings:

Enable overflow after calls wait x seconds—With this option you can enter a wait time (in seconds) for callers. Once this wait time is reached by the caller, the overflow treatment is triggered.
Play announcement before overflow processing—If this option is disabled, callers will hear hold music until the call is answered by a user.

Click Next.

On the Announcements page, you can determine the messages and music that callers hear while waiting in the queue. You can enable any of the following options:

Welcome Message—Play a message when callers first reach the queue. For example, “Thank you for calling. An agent will be with you shortly.” It can be set as mandatory. If the mandatory option is not selected and a caller reaches the call queue while there is an available agent, the caller will not hear this announcement and is transferred to an agent.
Estimated wait message for Queued Calls—Notify the caller with either their estimated wait time or position in the queue. If this option is enabled, it plays after the welcome message and before the comfort message.
Comfort Message—Play a message after the welcome message and before hold music. This is typically a custom announcement that plays information, such as current promotions or information about products and services.
Hold Music—Play music after the comfort message in a repetitive loop.

Click Next.

On the Select Agents page, use the search tool to add users or workspaces to the call queue, and click Next.

Depending on which call routing option you chose previously, you may need to add extra information such as adding percentage weighting to users or workspaces, or in the case of circular or top-down call routing, drag and drop users and workspaces in the order of their queue position.

On the Review page, review your call queue settings to make sure you've entered the correct details.

Click Create and Done to confirm your call queue settings.

Example

Want to see how it's done? Watch this video demonstration on how to create a new call queue in Control Hub.

Disable a call queue

You can disable a previously created call queue.

1	From the customer view in https://admin.webex.com, go to Services, and choose Calling > Features.
2	Click Call Queue, and then select the call queue to disable from the list.
3	In the side panel, toggle Enable Call Queue to off to disable the call queue.
4	Click Save.

Edit call queue general settings

You can change the language, number of calls for the queue, and the caller ID for your call queue.

1	From the customer view in https://admin.webex.com, go to Services, and choose Calling > Features.
2	Click Call Queue, and then select the call queue to edit from the list.
3	In the side panel, beside Settings, click Manage.
4	Edit any of the following fields: Number of Calls in Queue (Max 50)—This is the maximum number of calls for this call queue. Once this number is reached, the overflow settings are triggered. Language—This language applies to the audio announcements for this call queue. Time Zone—This time zone applies to the schedules applied to this call queue. Caller ID—Select the name and number to use when call forward is enabled, calls are forwarded out, and for callers to call back. Distinctive Ringing—This is a special ring pattern to distinguish incoming calls from this call queue.
5	Click Save.

Edit call queue phone numbers

You can change your call queue phone number and add up to 10 alternate numbers.

1	From the customer view in https://admin.webex.com, go to Services, and choose Calling > Features.
2	Click Call Queue, and then select the call queue to edit from the list.
3	In the side panel, beside Phone Number, click the number assigned.
4	Edit the Phone Number and/or Extension.
5	Add Alternate Numbers using the search function.
6	Enable or disable Distinctive Ringing for the alternate numbers assigned to the call queue by clicking the toggle.
7	In the table, select the ring pattern to assign to each alternate number using the drop-down menu in the Ring Pattern column.
8	Click Save.

Configure call forwarding for a call queue

You can forward all incoming calls dependent on a set of criteria that you define.

From the customer view in https://admin.webex.com, go to Services, and choose Calling > Features.

Click Call Queue, and then select the call queue to edit from the list.

In the side panel, click Call Forwarding.

Toggle the Call Forwarding feature on.

Choose from 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.

If you choose Selectively Forward Calls, you'll need to have at least one rule for forwarding applied for call forwarding to be active.

Assign the number you want to forward calls to. If you have chosen Always Forward Calls, click Save.

When choosing Always Forward or Selectively Forward, check the Send to Voicemail check box to forward all calls to an internal voicemail. The Send to Voicemail check box is disabled when an external number is entered.

If you choose Selectively Forward Calls, create a rule by clicking Add When to Forward or Add When Not to Forward.

Create a Rule Name.

For When to Forward or When Not to Forward, select a Business Schedule and Holiday Schedule from the drop-down menu.

For Forward To, select at least one option from Default Phone Number or add a Different Phone Number.

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.

For Calls To, select a number or alternative number from the drop-down menu, so that calls are forwarded when a call is received to this number in your organization that you define.

Click Save.

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 .

Add or delete agents in a call queue

Users who receive calls from the queue are known as agents. You can add or delete users and workspaces from a call queue. Users and workspaces can be assigned to multiple call queues.

1	From the customer view in https://admin.webex.com, go to Services, and choose Calling > Features.
2	Click Call Queue, and then select the call queue to edit from the list.
3	In the side panel, beside Agents, click Manage.
4	Use the search tool to add users or workspaces.
5	To remove a user or workspace, click next to the user or workspace.
6	Click Save.

Edit call queue routing pattern

You can change the call routing pattern of your existing call queue.

1	From the customer view in https://admin.webex.com, go to Services, and choose Calling > Features.
2	Click Call Queue, and then select the call queue to edit from the list.
3	In the side panel, beside Call Routing, click the call routing pattern assigned.
4	Edit the following options: Circular (Max 1,000 agents)—Cycles through all agents after the last agent that took a call. It sends calls to the next available call queue agent. Top Down (Max 1,000 agents)—Sends calls through the queue of agents in order, starting from the top each time. Longest Idle (Max 1,000 agents)—Sends calls to the agent that has been idle the longest. If they don't answer, proceeds to the next agent who has been idle second longest, and so on until the call is answered. Weighted (Max 100 agents)—Sends calls to agents based on percentages you assign to each agent in the call queue profile (up to 100%). Simultaneous (Max 50 agents)—Sends calls to all agents in a call queue at once.
5	Click Add User to edit the list of agents.
6	Click Save.

Edit call queue overflow settings

The overflow settings determine how your overflow calls are handled when the call queue becomes full.

1	From the customer view in https://admin.webex.com, go to Services, and choose Calling > Features.
2	Click Call Queue, and then select the call queue to edit from the list.
3	In the side panel, beside Overflow Settings, click Manage.
4	Check or uncheck the boxes next to the following settings to enable or disable: Play ringing tone to callers when their call is set to an available agent Reset caller statistics upon queue entry
5	Choose how to handle new calls when the queue is full: Perform busy treatment—The caller hears a fast-busy tone. Play ringing until caller hangs up—The caller hears ringing until they disconnect. Transfer to phone number—Enter the number where you want to transfer overflow calls.
6	Check or uncheck the boxes next to the following settings to enable or disable: Enable overflow after calls wait x seconds—With this option, you can enter a wait time (in seconds) for callers. Once this wait time is reached by the caller, the overflow treatment is triggered. Play announcement before overflow processing—If this option is disabled, callers will hear the hold music until the call is answered by a user.
7	Click Save.

Edit call queue bounced calls settings

Bounced calls are those that were sent to an available agent, but the agent does not answer. These calls are then placed back into the queue at the top of all the queued calls. You can edit how bounced calls are handled.

1	From the customer view in https://admin.webex.com, go to Services, and choose Calling > Features.
2	Click Call Queue, and then select the call queue to edit from the list.
3	In the side panel, beside Bounced Calls, click Manage.
4	Select the toggle next to any of the following options to enable or disable the setting: Bounce calls after set number of rings—If this option is selected, then enter the number of rings. Bounce if agent becomes unavailable Alert agent if call on hold for a set wait time—If this option is selected, then enter the wait time in seconds. Bounce if call on hold for set wait time—If this option is selected, then enter the wait time in seconds.
5	Enable or disable Distinctive Ringing for bounced calls. If enabled, choose the ring pattern from the drop-down menu.
6	Click Save.

Edit call queue announcement settings

Call queue announcements are messages and music that callers hear while waiting in queue. You can manage your announcement settings for an existing call queue.

1	From the customer view in https://admin.webex.com, go to Services, and click Calling > Features.
2	Click Call Queue, and then select the call queue to edit from the list.
3	In the side panel, beside Announcements, click Manage.
4	Edit any of the following announcement setting services:

Play a message when callers first reach the queue.

Enable Welcome Message.

The welcome message plays to every caller unless an agent is available to service the call.

Select the Welcome message is mandatory check box.

Clicking the welcome message mandatory causes the message to play to a caller before presented to an agent even if an agent is available.

Choose a Message Type with one of the following:

Play default announcement.
Play custom announcement - you can upload a custom message or an entrance announcement message.

Click Save.

Notify the caller with either their estimated wait time or position in the queue.

Enable Estimated wait message for queued calls.

If this option enables, the wait message plays after the welcome message and before the comfort message.

Set the Default Handling Time in minutes.

Choose how you want to announce the queue position or wait time.

Announce Queue Position - plays a message for callers in queue position.
1. Enter the number of callers in which the callers hear their queue position. For example, if you set it to 25 callers, callers 1–25 hears this message.
Announce Wait Time - plays a message Notifying customer of the estimated wait time.
1. Enter the time, in minutes, to play a message for callers whose wait time is less than what is specified.

Select Play high volume message to play an announcement when all volumes are higher than the maximum queue position defined.

Click Save.

Allows callers to receive a Call Back to the phone number provided when their original position in the code reaches. The phone number verifies against a location’s outgoing calls policy.

1	Enter Minimum estimated time for call back options in minutes. Determines at what estimated wait time, the caller receives the call-back option.
2	Allow iternational call-back number prompt. Allow International users wanting a Call Back to enter their country code. Call Back numbers validate against a location's policy on outgoing calls.
3	Click Save.

Play a message after the welcome message and before hold music. It is typically a custom announcement that plays information, such as current promotions or information about products and services.

Enable Comfort Message.

Set the time in seconds for a caller to hear the comfort message.

Choose from one of the following Message types:

Play default announcement.
Play custom announcement - You can upload a custom message or an announcement message.

You can set up to four announcement messages.

Click Save.

Play music after the comfort message in a repetitive loop.

Enable Hold Music.

You can add up to 4 music types in the settings after the setup.

Select an alternate source of music for internal calls.

Choose from one of the following message types:

Play default music.
Play custom music: you can upload custom music for the caller to hear.

Click Save.

View call queue and agent stats

You can view queue and agent stats.

1	From the customer view in https://admin.webex.com, go to Services, and choose Calling > Features.
2	Click Call Queue, and then find the call queue from the list.
3	Click the icon in the Actions column next to the call queue.
4	Select Call Queue Stats. You’re cross-launched to the Calling Admin Portal where you can generate a queue or agent stats report. For more information, click here.

Generate call queue reports

You can generate call queue reports with details on all inbound calls that reached the call queue.

1	From the customer view in https://admin.webex.com, go to Services, and choose Calling > Features.
2	Click Call Queue > View Reports. You’re cross-launched to the Calling Admin Portal where you can generate a call queue report. For more information, click here.

Bulk manage your call queues

You can add and manage call queues in bulk using a call queue CSV. For more information, see Webex Calling call queue CSV file format reference.