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.

1

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

2

Click Call Queue > Create Call Queue.

3

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.

  • Language—Select the call queue language from the drop-down menu.
4

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.

5

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.

6

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.

7

Click Next.

8

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.

9

Click Next.

10

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.

11

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

12

Click Create and Done to confirm your call queue settings.

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.

  • Caller ID—Caller ID is used for calls that are forwarded outside of 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.

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, click Call Forwarding.

4

Toggle the Call Forwarding feature on.

5

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.

6

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


 

Check the Send to Voicemail check box to forward all calls to a voicemail service of an internal number. The Send to Voicemail check box is disabled when an external number is entered.

7

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

8

Create a Rule Name.

9

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

10

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

11

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.

12

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.

13

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 Users in an Existing 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 choose 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

Click the toggle next to any of the following services to edit the announcement setting:

  • 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.
5

Click Save.