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What is a call queuing feature in a phone system?

Call queuing is a technology that places incoming callers into one or more virtual queues. The technology allows your company to minimize wait times for calls while ensuring that your inquiries are routed to the right person as smoothly and efficiently as possible. Call queuing is a technology used by call centers to manage inbound calls. When a customer calls a contact center, the call is redirected to an available agent.

But what if all agents are on the phone or busy for whatever reason? This is where the telephone system for the call queue comes in handy. As the name suggests, the call queue is nothing more than a virtual waiting area where all unattended but active customer calls are parked until call center agents address them. Why call queuing is an important feature of the phone system. Lack of modern technology — With some business communication systems, call management can become an expensive option, meaning companies would rather have long wait times and have to do them manually than pay extra for a feature they don’t think is necessary.

For example, you might have a great phone system but your agents don’t know how to set up call flows, or they haven’t been updated in ages. Call queues achieve this by evaluating information from the caller’s Interactive Voice Response (IVR) input, following preset call routing rules, and providing helpful information while customers wait for an available agent. Call queuing is sometimes mistakenly considered a feature for call centers because smaller companies feel it’s too complicated for teams and unnecessary for customers. To drastically improve your call queue management strategy quickly, switch to the right corporate communications software and stop relying on outdated tools that no longer meet your customers’ needs.

Admins can configure call groups so that all phone numbers in the group ring simultaneously or one after the other, and they can even set the specific number of rings before the caller is forwarded to the next group member. The call abort rate measures the rate at which callers hang up while waiting to talk to an agent, or during a call with an agent before their issue is resolved. The faster customers can connect not only with an agent but also with the agent who can quickly help them with their individual problem, the less likely it is that the customer will hang up the phone. Both options allow customers to continue their days as usual instead of being tethered to their phone all day.

When you call businesses, you often hear a recorded message instead of normal phone rings. Next, we’ll share some best practices that you can use to meet customer expectations using a call queue feature. Use the call back on hold to give your customers the option to hang up and get a call back while keeping their seat on the line instead of waiting on the phone. But with the right queue management strategies, a virtual queue can be a much less frustrating experience for customers and agents than a physical queue.