Call Groups and Call Queues in Microsoft Teams

Overview

This article is designed to provide an overview on call groups and call queues in Microsoft Teams.

What's the difference?

Call groups and call queues act in a similar fashion to one another but there are some major differences.

Call groups

Call groups are user-assigned groups of Teams users that can receive calls on behalf of the group creator. The group can consist of up to 25 other Teams users and call behaviors can be set for each group member. To share calls with others, a user creates a call group and adds the desired users. Then they choose a simultaneous ring or forward setting.

Call queues

Call queues provide a method of routing callers to departments and people in your organization and are set up and defined through the help of Telecom Services. Calls are distributed one at a time to the people in the queue (who are known as agents). Call queues provide:

• Initial greeting
• Voicemail messages
• Call handling for business hours, after-hours, holidays and other closures
• Call queue behavior
  • Hold music
  • Call routing to agents (call all available agents, serial, round robin, longest idle)
  • Call handling options for queue overflow, call timeout and no agents are available and/or logged in

How to create and manage a call group

Call groups are managed separately from also ring and simultaneous calls. It can be assigned to also ring or ring simultaneously once it's created.

Creating a call group

1. Go into the Settings menu, select Calls, then go to the Manage call group section
2. Select Add a call group
3. A new window appears. You can enter their name or phone number in the Add a call group member field. You cannot add external phone numbers.
   
4. Once your group members are set, you can choose whether to have them notified at the same time or according to their listed order.

Assigning a call group

Go into the Settings menu, select Calls, then go to the Call handling and forwarding section. The following options are available:

• To have incoming calls ring call group members select Also ring a call group in the When you receive a call menu. 
• To redirect calls you can't answer to the call group members select Redirect to a call group in the When you can't answer a call menu.

Managing a call group

Call order

• You can set the notification for your call group to ring in order as listed or simultaneously by selecting the desired option in the Ring: menu above the group member list.
  

Delete group members

• If you wish to remove any member(s) of your call group, click the trash can icon to the right of their name.
  

If you wish to delete the group entirely, click the trash can to the right of each group member.

How to create and manage a call queue

Creating a queue

The creation process is undertaken by Telecom Services. If you wish to have a new call queue created, please have your department phone coordinator submit a ticket using the Voice Services Support form.

Considerations

The following settings can only be adjusted by Telecom Services. Please have the call queue owner or department phone coordinator submit change requests via the Voice Services Support form:

• Call handling for business hours, after-hours, holidays and other closures
• Changing dates and times for business hours, holidays and other closures
• Call handling options for when a call times out, the call queue is maxed or no agents are signed into Teams and logged into the call queue
• Assigning authorized users (authorized users can change the initial greeting, voicemail, after-hours, holiday and other closure messages and music on hold)

Managing a queue

If you're a call queue owner, you can modify the owners and members of the call queue team.

Add a member

1. Open Microsoft Teams and go to the Teams app, then go the team you wish to manage.
2. Select More Options ... then select Add member.
   
3. Enter the name or email address of the account you wish to add.  If you want to make the new account an owner select Owner in the drop-down list to the right of the account name. Accounts assigned owner will be both a member and an owner. If the new owner doesn't need to be member please submit a ticket to request removal from the members list. Select Add.

The members that you add to a team will receive an email letting them know they are now a member, and the team will appear in their Teams list. 

Please be aware that it can take up to eight hours for the new call queue member to get full call queue functionality.

Remove a member

1. Open Microsoft Teams and go to the Teams app, then go the team you wish to manage.
2. Select More Options ... then select Manage Team.
3. In the Members tab, expand the Members and guests section.
4. Select the X icon to the right of the person's name to remove them from the team.

Please be aware that it can take up to eight hours for the user to be fully removed from the call queue. To stop queue calls from ringing in Teams the user can toggle off the call queue in Settings - Calls.

Change a member to an owner

1. Open Microsoft Teams and go to the Teams app, then go the team you wish to manage.
2. Select More Options ... then select Manage Team.
3. In the Members tab, expand the Members and guests section.
4. Select Owner in the drop-down menu to the right of the account name.

The account will be both a member and an owner.  If the new owner doesn't need to be member please submit a ticket to request removal from the members list.

Change an owner to a member

1. Open Microsoft Teams and go to the Teams tab, then go the team you wish to manage.
2. Select More Options ... then select Manage Team.
3. Select Member in the drop-down menu to the right of the account name.