Queues – Advanced Options

Advanced Options

The Advanced options expand the configurable parameters available to Queue groups. Useful features like Operation times and Announcements are configured here.

A breakdown of each field and what it does can be found below:

General

• Music On Hold:

Select MOH (Music On Hold) class name. All sound files belonging to this MOH class will be played to users in queue

(ex. User A enters the queue. After the greeting message is heard, all sound files belonging to selected MOH class are played back to the user)

• RTP Delay [sec]:

Delay time in seconds inserted before the queue greeting message is played. This solves a prior ‘half-played’ file problem. Keep this value between 1-3 if required.

(ex. User A enters the queue and hears ‘..r call is first in line…’ Set this field to 1 so the 1 second pause is added before the message is played. Now, when user A enters the queue he will hear ‘Your call is first in line…’).

• Replace Caller ID:

Replaces the caller ID with the custom data provided here. This is used when you want all incoming calls to your Ring Group to have this value displayed as a caller ID information. Along with the custom data, you can use the ‘%CALLERID%’ variable, which displays the calling party phone number.

(ex. Putting Sales Call %CALLERID% will present Sales call – “calling number” on handset displays.

• Language:

This parameter defines a custom language for all sound files played by the queue.

NOTE: IPVoice comes with English sound files by default.

• Queue URL:

Send the following URL to an agents Softphone (if it supports that option) and the softphone can open that URL so the agent can see callers additional info if available. This option must be supported by softphone for it to be used.

(ex. Additional info on Queue URL field can be obtained here)

• Custom ring tone:

Set a custom ringtone for the phones which are in this Queue

(ex. More info can be found in this section: How To: Custom Ringtone)

• Custom sounds folder:

When Queue Callback is turned on, you will be able to add custom queue sounds that will be played in that case.

Example:

We will create a new folder for these sounds on the server, the files provided will be populated in here and we’ll populate the custom queue sounds here.

TIP: Sounds should be named as follows:

• queue-youarenext– Your call is first in line and will be answered by the next available representative)
• queue-thereare– You are currently caller number
• queue-callswaiting– Waiting to speak with a representative
• queue-holdtime– The estimated call time is currently
• queue-minutes– Minutes
• queue-seconds– Seconds
• queue-lessthan– Less than
• queue-thankyou– Thank you for your patience
• queue-periodic-announce– All of our representatives are currently busy. Please stay on the line and your call will be answered by the next available representative

• Detect caller early hangup

Calls that are abandoned by the caller during the greeting of the queue are considered “early hangup”.

Set this feature to No to pass abandoned calls to the queue and still have these show in the statistics or set it to Yes if the abandoned call should be detected and not be routed to the queue and not shown in the statistics.

Operation Times:

Set the Queue’s operation times

For more on Operation Times, see the Operation Times Article:

Operation Times

Redirect Extension

The Redirection Extension is used to route calls that have peaked over the maximum number of callers waiting set in the “Max Waiting Callers” field.

• Redirect Extension:

This is the overflow setting for when the callers peak over the max caller threshold set in the “Max Waiting Callers” field of the basic options. The redirection could point to another overflow Queue or possibly a system voicemail.

(ex. If queue 2000 accepts a maximum of 4 users waiting at the same time, any new user that enters queue 2000 will be redirected to the extension number provided here)

• Redirect to Voice Mail:

Choose whether the redirect extension is a voicemail – this needs to be enabled if the destination the call is overflowing to is going to be a voicemail box.

Queue Timers

The Queue timers are used to set up overflow routing and periodic position announcement.

• Queue Ring Timeout:

Number of seconds during which Queue members will be rung, after which the Position Announcement will be played to the caller, if it is enabled.

(ex. Members extensions are ringing for 10 seconds. After that time, Position Announcement is played to the caller and then the Agent(s) are rung again).

• Prioritise Queue Timeout

Used to control the priority of the two possible timeout options specified for a queue. Queue Ring Timeout field has a timeout value that can be specified to control the absolute time a caller can be in the queue. The timeout value in the ‘queues.conf’ file of the system, controls the amount of time (along with retry) to ring a member for. Sometimes these values conflict, so you can control which value takes precedence. The default N/A setting will use Queue Ring Timeout value, same as setting this to Yes. No, will override Queue Ring Timeout field and use value from queues.conf.

• Max Wait Seconds:

This is the overflow timer for callers that have been waiting in the Queue. Once this time has exceeded, the caller will be redirected to the ‘Max Wait Extension’ number.

(ex. Caller is waiting 5 minutes in the queue. If this field is set to 300(300s = 5min), the caller will be redirected to the ‘Max Wait Extension’ which could either be another Overflow group or a system voicemail etc.)

• Max Wait Extension:

This is the destination that the Max Wait routing will take once it has been exceeded.

(e.g Queue group, Extension or Voicemail extension number)

• Is Voicemail:

Set whether the max wait extension is pointing to voicemail.

Empty Queue

The Empty Queue Parameters define how a Queue will act if there are no agents currently logged into the queue.

• Join Empty

Set whether a caller can join a queue if no agent is logged in or unavailable

Example:

If this option is set this option to ‘No’ the caller will get a busy tone returned to them. If it is set to Yes, the caller will hear ringback or the system MOH defined, but will not be actually ringing on any handset on the system.

The best practice is to set this to “No” and to not allow a caller to enter the queue if the call will not be answered by anyone.

• Yes – Join queue if no agent or only unavailable agents are in the queue
• No – Do not join queue if no agents are available

• Leave When Empty

When there are no agents inside a queue, callers will leave it depending on the setting defined here.

Example:

• No – This option is disabled
• Yes – If you wish to remove callers from the queue if there are no agents present

• Empty Destination

The “Empty Destination” can be used to redirect callers to another destination if a queue has no agents currently signed in.

(e.g A caller rings the Queue but non of the agents are signed in yet, the caller will be re-directed to an overflow Queue with extension number 6000 or a Team leaders Voicemail Box on their extension)

• Is Voicemail:

Set whether the empty destination extension is pointing to voicemail.

Greeting

• Greeting:

Select a greeting file to play to all callers waiting in a queue.

(ex. Record a custom sound greeting file (e.g. ‘All our representatives are busy…’) and select that file. This file will be played to all callers once they enter the queue).

See System – Sound Files for more info on recording greetings.

NOTE: File name has to be in the following format ‘queue-greeting-filename.gsm’

• Wait Seconds:

Delay time in seconds inserted before playing the greeting message. This delay is useful if callerss do not hear the beginning of the greeting message. Keep this value between 1-3 seconds if required.

(ex. James enters the sales queue, but cannot hear the beginning of a greeting sound file (e.g. ..ur representatives are busy…). Set this option to 1. This will insert one second of silence before the greeting file is played and should fix the partial sound file error. Now, all callers entering the queue should hear the full greeting message (e.g. All our representatives are busy…))

Position Announcements

Position announcements are used to tell the caller their position in the Queue and also can be set up to play a periodic announcement.

There are two types of position announcements: ‘Hold Time’ (Tells the queue position) and ‘Periodic Announcements’ (Plays custom message)

• Announce Hold-Time:

Enable callers waiting in a queue to hear the hold-time announcements.

(ex. Setting this option to ‘Yes’ will enable the hold-time announcements. A single caller waiting in a queue would hear a ‘Your call is now first in line and will be answered by the next available representative. Thank you for your patience’ message).

• Announce Frequency:

How often to play the hold-time announcement message (time in seconds).

(ex. If this field is set to 30, a single caller waiting in queue will hear ‘Your call is now first in line and will be answered by the next available representative. Thank you for your patience’ message every 30 seconds).

NOTE: If you set this option to ‘0’, the announce message will not be played.

• Announce Frequency

The minimum number of seconds between position announcements. Default value is 15 seconds.

• Announce Round Seconds:

This is the rounding level for system generated wait-time announcements. If 0, only minutes, not seconds, are announced; other possible values are 0, 1, 5, 10, 15, 20 and 30.[32] (For example, when set to 30, a wait time of 2:34 will be rounded to 2:30.)”

• Periodic Announce:

Select the sound file that is played periodically to callers waiting in a queue.

(ex. Record a message ‘Hang in there buddy!’ and set it as a periodic announcement. This message will be played to callers every ‘Periodic Announce Frequency’ seconds)

NOTE: File name has to be in the following format ‘periodic-announce-filename.gsm’

• Periodic Announce Frequency:

Time interval in seconds at which the periodic message is to be played.

(ex. If this field is set to 30, all callers waiting in queue will hear the ‘Periodic Announce’ message every 30 seconds, as long as they stay in the queue).

• First Periodic Announce Delay

The amount of time before the periodic announcement cycle is started. Default value is 15 seconds.

Agents

• Static Members login

This option defines whether the Extensions are set as Static Members or if they have to log in to become an active Queue member.

(e.g If “Static Members Login” is set to “No”, all extensions that are agents of the Queue will be automatically signed in as available to take calls.)

• Disable Member Enhanced Services

Setting this option to Yes will stop all Queue Agent’s “Enhanced Services” from kicking in on Queue calls.

(e.g Extension 2000 is a member of the Queue group and has Call Forwarding enabled, if Enhanced services are disabled via this option, the Call Forwarding routing will not be followed)

NOTE: Dynamic agents, as well as static members with the Login feature set to Yes, will never have Enhanced Services rules applied to their calls, regardless of what option is selected for Disable Member Enhanced Services feature. This is expected behaviour and cannot be altered.

• Ring Strategy

Set the way calls are presented to queue Agents answering the calls.

Available options:

• ringall– Ring all available Agent until one answers (default)

• linear– When used with static Agents, the linear ringing strategy will ring all members in the order specified in “Queue members and agents” fields, starting at the beginning of the list. If used with dynamic members, the members will be rung in the order in which they were logged in.

• leastrecent– Rings the Agent that least recently received a call. In a queue where there are many calls of roughly the same duration, this works well.

Note: There is a caveat with the way this routing operates and is something to be aware of, If an agent has been on a call for an hour and their colleagues have all taken a call 30 minutes ago, the agent who just finished a 60-minute call will be the next one to receive a call as the call was initiated the longest time ago.

• fewestcalls– Rings the Agent that has completed the fewest calls in this queue. This can be unfair if calls are not always of the same duration. An agent could handle three calls of 15 minutes each and her colleague had four 5-second calls; the agent who handled three calls will get the next one.

• random– Rings a random Agent.

• rrmemory– Round robin with memory. rrmemory should pick up at the last Agent it was at when the last call came into the queue.

• rrordered– Same as rrmemory, except the queue Agent order from the members list is preserved so Agents will ring in the order specified. If you use dynamic members, the members will be rung in the order in which they were added.

• wrandom– Rings a random Agent but uses the member’s penalty as a weight when calculating their metric. So, a member with a penalty of 0 will have a metric somewhere between 0 and 1000, and a member with a penalty of 1 will have a metric between 0 and 2000, and a member with a penalty of 2 will have a metric between 0 and 3000. Please note, if using this strategy, the member penalty is not the same as when using other queue strategies. It is ONLY used as a weight for calculating metric.

• Autofill

Should callers be served one by one or in a parallel fashion

(ex. With this option turned ‘Off’, even if there are five agents available, calls will not be transferred to them until the first caller waiting in a queue is connected to an agent. When the first caller gets served, caller number two gets served and all others keep waiting. It is recommended to keep this feature always turned ‘On’ so callers can be served in order)

• Ring Agents in Use

Agents in use will be alerted when a new caller comes into the queue

(ex. If the agent is already in an active conversation, with this option set to ‘Yes’, the Agent extension will ring when a new caller enters the queue)

• Member Delay

This field is the same as RTP Delay, only this option is set for the agent answering the queue calls. Before the call is transferred, custom queue information can be played to an agent so that the agent knows from which queue the call is coming. This solves the ‘half-played’ file problem. Keep this value between 1-3

(ex. Agent X is to answer the call coming from the queue. If the ‘Queue Announce’ is set to play the custom sound file (‘This call comes from the Lobby Queue’) but only ‘…s call comes…’ is heard, set this field to 1 so that 1 second pause is added before the message is played and entire message is played ‘This call comes from…’)

• Retry All Timeout

Time interval in seconds, for how long to wait before trying the queue agent again.

(ex. If Agent Smith cannot answer the incoming queue call and hangs up the ringing line, the call will not be transferred back to his extension for a time in seconds provided in this field).

• Timeout Restart

If this option is set to yes and a BUSY or CONGESTION signal is received on the line, the agent’s timeout for answering will be reset. This can be useful with agents that have permission to cancel a call with a reject.

(ex. A call enters the queue and is transferred to Agent X. Agent X has a Yealink phone (for example) and sends a BUSY signal by hitting the ‘Reject’ key. This will reset the internal timer. The call will be transferred to another queue agent(s). The original agent will not be contacted until all other agents are tried and the call does not get answered by any of them).

• Wrap-up Time

After a successful call, this will determine how long to wait (time interval in seconds) before sending a new call to a potentially free agent/member.

(ex. 15 seconds)

Agents Announcements

• Agent Announce

Select pre-recorded message that will be played to the agent before the call is connected.

NOTE: In order to be displayed in the drop down list, sound file must have ‘agent-announce-‘ prefix.

• Report Holdtime

Set this option to yes to inform the agent for how long the caller was in the queue before the call was connected.

CRM Features

• New Lead URL:

New Lead URL used for CRM integration.

If incoming call CallerID is unknown, it will be transferred to URL entered in New Lead URL field.

Recordings

• Record Queue Calls:

Enable call recording service for the Queue.

(ex. Select ‘Yes’ to enable the service. All incoming/outgoing calls to the group will be recorded. Ensure call recording is enabled on every leg of the call – e.g “DID” > “Ring Group” > “Extension”

Incoming Options

Incoming Options – Set advanced queue call options (called Dial Options in other groups)

A full list of Dial options can be found in the Dial Options article.

The most commonly used parameters are trC.

• Ring (‘r’) timeout

When ‘r’ is selected as Incoming Options and this timeout is used, queue will first ring entered number of seconds after which MOH will start

(ex. 10)

Exit Digit

• Use Exit Digit

Should users be able to exit the queue by dialling a single digit and be automatically redirected to a preset IPVoice destination.

Example:

James enters the sales queue. A greeting message explains that the user may quit the queue by pressing the digit defined under the ‘Exit Digit’ option and be transferred directly to the operator or some other destination (set under ‘Extension’ option).

• Exit Digit

Define the exit digit here. Once this digit is dialled

by the user waiting in the queue, it will transfer the call directly to ‘Extension’ destination

Example:

James enters the sales queue. The greeting message explains that the user may quit the queue by pressing the digit defined here (e.g. 9) and is transferred directly to the operator or some other destination (set under ‘Extension’ option).

• Extension

Local IPVoice extension number that is dialled once the ‘Exit Digit’ is dialled.

(ex. James enters the sales queue. The greeting message explains that the user may quit the queue by pressing the digit defined under the ‘Exit Digit’ option and be transferred directly to the IPVoice extension defined here).

• Is voicemail:

Set whether the exit digit extension is going to access a voice mailbox or an extension.

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