Call Groups and Call Queues in Microsoft Teams

Overview

This article is designed to provide information about call groups and call queues in Microsoft Teams.

What's the difference?

Call groups

A call group is a group of Teams users that a user creates to receive calls on their behalf. A call group can include up to 25 other Teams users. To share calls with others, the user creates a call group, adds the users, and then assigns the group for either simultaneous ring or forward settings.

Call queues

Call queues route callers to department numbers. Calls are then distributed to the people in the queue, known as agents. They are set up and managed with the help of Telecom Services. 

Call queues provide:

• Call handling and messaging for business hours, after-hours, holidays and other closures
• Call queue behavior
  • Hold music
  • Call routing to agents (call all available agents, round robin, longest idle, serial)
  • 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

Creating a call group

1. Go to the Settings menu, select Calls, then open 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.
   
4. Once your group members are set, you can choose to notify them all at once or in the order they are listed.

Recipients can choose in their settings how they want to be notified of an incoming call and whether to answer it.

Assigning a call group

Go to the Settings menu, choose Calls, and then open 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 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 a call group’s notifications to ring in order, as listed, or all at once by choosing the desired option in the Ring menu above the group member list. If you add more than five members to a call group, the ring order automatically changes to “Everyone at once.”
  

Delete group members

• If you want to remove a member from your call group, click the trash can icon to the right of their name.
  

If you want to delete the group completely, 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 date and time 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. Members are the call takers.

Add a member

1. Open Microsoft Teams and go to the Teams app in the app bar, then find the team you want to manage.
2. Select More team options ... then select Add member.
   
3. Enter the name or email address of the account you want 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. Select Add.

• Accounts assigned as owner will be both a member and an owner. If the new owner does not need to be a member, please submit a ticket to request that the account be removed as a member.
• Please note that only FTE accounts can be added as an owner. Please do not add role, temporary employee, graduate employee, student employee, associate, or courtesy accounts as owners. 

When you add members to a team, they will receive an email notifying them that they are now part of the team, and the team will appear in their Teams list.

Please note that it may take up to eight hours for the new call queue member to have 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 note that it may take up to eight hours for the account to stop receiving call queue calls. To stop queue calls from ringing in Teams, tell the user to go to Settings - Calls and turn off the slider next to Receive call from this queue.

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 team 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 does not need to be a member, please submit a ticket to request that the account be removed as a member.

Change an owner to a member

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

Please note that it may take up to eight hours for the account to have full call queue functionality.