- Article
- Applies to:
- Skype for Business, Microsoft Teams
Call queues route callers to people in your organization who can help with a particular issue or question. Calls are distributed one at a time to the people in the queue, who are known as agents.
Call queues provide:
- A greeting message.
- Music while people are waiting on hold in a queue.
- Call routing - in First In, First Out (FIFO) order - to agents.
- Handling options for queue overflow and timeout.
Before you follow the procedures in this article, be sure you have read Plan for Teams Auto attendants and Call queues and followed the getting started steps.
What's new for Call queues in the past six months
- April 8 - Additional messaging options for call queue Overflow, Timeout, and No Agents exception routing in Teams admin center and PowerShell cmdlets
- February 16 - Support click-to-call web based calling
Steps to create a Call queue
The steps to set up a Call queue includes:
- Set up general information
- Set the greeting and music
- Set up call answering
- Choose and assign agents
- Set up call exception handling
- Set up authorized users
The steps outlined in the article create Call queues using the Teams admin center. For instructions to create Call queues using PowerShell, see Creating Call queues with PowerShell cmdlets.
Follow these steps to set up your Call queue
- Step 1: General info
- Step 2: Greeting and music
- Step 3: Call answering
- Step 4: Agent selection
- Step 5: Exception Handling
- Step 6: Authorized users
Step 1: Set up general information
To set up a Call queue, in the Teams admin center, expand Voice, select Call queues, and then select Add.
Type a name for the Call queue in the box at the top.
Add an existing resource account
All Call queues must have an associated resource account. All resource accounts must be assigned a Microsoft Teams Phone Resource Account license. If you wish, you can assign several resource accounts to a Call queue.
To add an existing resource account:
- Under Resource accounts, select the Add button to add a resource account for this Call queue.
- On the Add accounts pane, search for the resource account to add.
- Select the Add button next to the resource account you want to assign to this Call queue.
- At the bottom of the pane, select the Add button.
Create a new resource account:
- Under Resource accounts, select the Add button to add a resource account for this Call queue.
- On the Add accounts pane, search for any set of letters to pull up the results dropdown.
- Select the + Add a resource account button at the bottom of the results.
- On the Add resource account pane:
- Type in a descriptive Display name. Agents see this name when a call is presented to them.
- Type in a descriptive Username for the resource account.
- Select the Resource account type dropdown and select Call queue.
- At the bottom of the pane, select the Save button.
- On the Resource accounts pane, select the Add button.
Note
Remember to assign a Microsoft Teams Phone Resource Account license.
Agents see the resource account name when they receive an incoming call.
For more information, see Manage Teams resource accounts.
Assign a calling ID (optional)
Available for Teams channel/collaborative calling desktop users and Teams mobile client users with standard Call queues.
Assign outbound caller ID numbers for the agents by specifying one or more resource accounts with a phone number. Agents can select which outbound caller ID number to use with each outbound call they make. Within the Calls App, agents can use their Call Queue (CQ) / Auto Attendant (AA) number or their own personal Direct InWard Dial (DID).
Note
The resource account used for calling ID purposes must have a Microsoft Teams Phone Resource Account license and one of the following assigned:
- A Calling Plan license and a phone number assigned
- An Operator Connect phone number assigned
- An online voice routing policy (phone number assignment is optional when using Direct Routing)
- Under Assign calling ID, select the Add button.
- On the Add accounts pane, search for one or more resource accounts you want to allow agents to use for outbound caller ID purposes.
- Select the Add button next to the resource account with an assigned phone number.
- Select the Add button at the bottom of the pane.
If you don't have a resource account with an assigned phone number:
- Under Resource accounts, select the Add button to add a resource account.
- On the Add accounts pane, search for any set of letters to pull up the results dropdown.
- Select the + Add a resource account button at the bottom of the results.
- On the Add resource account pane:
- Type in a descriptive Display name. Agents see this name when a call is presented to them.
- Type in a descriptive Username for the resource account.
- Select the Resource account type dropdown and select Call queue.
- At the bottom of the pane, select the Save button.
- On the Resource accounts pane, select the Add button.
After you create this new resource account for calling ID, you still need to:
- Assign a Microsoft Teams Phone Resource Account license.
- Assign a Microsoft Calling Plan license, assign an Operator Connect phone number, or assign an online voice routing policy for Direct Routing.
- Assign the phone number to the resource account, if you're using Microsoft Calling Plan.
Set the Call queue language
Choose a supported language.
This language is used for system-generated voice prompts and voicemail transcription, if you enable them.
After you select a language, select the Next button at the bottom of the Add a Call queue page.
Extra functionality available through PowerShell cmdlets
Caution
These configuration options are currently only available through PowerShell cmdlets and they don't appear in Teams admin center. If these options are configured through PowerShell, any changes to the Call queue through Teams admin center will erase these settings.
Additional messaging
The Overflow, Call timeout and No Agents exception redirect options for Person in organization and Voicemail personal support additional prompting just like the other redirect options.
For more information, see:
| New Call Queue | Existing Call Queue |
|---|---|
| New-CsCallqueue/-OverflowRedirectPersonTextToSpeechPrompt | Set-CsCallqueue/-OverflowRedirectPersonTextToSpeechPrompt |
| New-CsCallqueue/-OverflowRedirectPersonAudioFilePrompt | Set-CsCallqueue/-OverflowRedirectPersonAudioFilePrompt |
| New-CsCallqueue/-OverflowRedirectVoicemailTextToSpeechPrompt | Set-CsCallqueue/-OverflowRedirectVoicemailTextToSpeechPrompt |
| New-CsCallqueue/-OverflowRedirectVoicemailAudioFilePrompt | Set-CsCallqueue/-OverflowRedirectVoicemailAudioFilePrompt |
| New-CsCallqueue/-TimeoutRedirectPersonTextToSpeechPrompt | Set-CsCallqueue/-TimeoutRedirectPersonTextToSpeechPrompt |
| New-CsCallqueue/-TimeoutRedirectPersonAudioFilePrompt | Set-CsCallqueue/-TimeoutRedirectPersonAudioFilePrompt |
| New-CsCallqueue/-TimeoutRedirectVoicemailTextToSpeechPrompt | Set-CsCallqueue/-TimeoutRedirectVoicemailTextToSpeechPrompt |
| New-CsCallqueue/-TimeoutRedirectVoicemailAudioFilePrompt | Set-CsCallqueue/-TimeoutRedirectVoicemailAudioFilePrompt |
| New-CsCallqueue/-NoAgentRedirectPersonTextToSpeechPrompt | Set-CsCallqueue/-NoAgentRedirectPersonTextToSpeechPrompt |
| New-CsCallqueue/-NotAgentRedirectPersonAudioFilePrompt | Set-CsCallqueue/-NotAgentRedirectPersonAudioFilePrompt |
| New-CsCallqueue/-NoAgentRedirectVoicemailTextToSpeechPrompt | Set-CsCallqueue/-NoAgentRedirectVoicemailTextToSpeechPrompt |
| New-CsCallqueue/-NoAgentRedirectVoicemailAudioFilePrompt | Set-CsCallqueue/-NoAgentRedirectVoicemailAudioFilePrompt |
Hiding authorized users
Hidden authorized users are authorized users who shouldn't appear on the list of supervisors for the agents who are members of a particular call queue.
Note that hidden authorized users aren't visible to Queues app users.
For more information, see:
| New Call Queue | Existing Call Queue |
|---|---|
| New-CsCallqueue/-HideAuthorizedUsers | Set-CsCallqueue/-HideAuthorizedUsers |
Resources for complex scenarios
Summary of recommended Call queue settings
The following settings are recommended:
- Conference mode to On
- Routing method to Round robin or Longest idle
- Presence-based routing to On
- Agent alert time: to a minimum of 20 seconds
Call queue feature compatibility
Note
Teams Phone Mobile is not supported for Call queue agents.
| Feature | Teams Desktop1 | Teams Web | Teams Mobile2 | Skype for Business | IP Phones | Standard Call Queues | Channel Based Call Queues | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Agent Routing Methods | ||||||||
| Attendant Routing | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Default |
| Longest Idle3 | Y | Y | Y | N | Y | Y | Y | Recommended |
| Round Robin | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Recommended |
| Serial | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y4 | Y4 | |
| Agent Routing Options | ||||||||
| Presence Based Routing3 | Y | Y | Y | N | Y | Y | Y | Default |
| Agents can opt out | Y | Y | Y | Y7,10 | Y7,10 | Y | Y | Default |
| Transfer Modes | ||||||||
| Conference Mode5 | Y | Y | Y | N | Y6 | Y | Y | Default |
| Transfer Mode | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | |
| Collaborative Calling | ||||||||
| Channel Based Queues | Y | N | N | N | N | N/A | Y8 | |
| Dynamic caller ID | ||||||||
| Standard Call queue | Y | Y | Y | N | N | Y | N/A | |
| Channel based Call queue | Y | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | Y | |
| PSTN Connectivity Methods | See Note 9 | |||||||
| Calling Plans | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | |
| Direct Routing | Y | Y | Y | N | Y | Y6 | Y | |
| Operator Connect | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y6 | Y | ||
| Miscellaneous | ||||||||
| Call toast shows Resource Account Name | Y | N | Y | Y | Y | Y | ||
| Compliance recording | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N | |
| Click-to-call | Y | N | N | N | N | Y | Y |
Notes
- Microsoft Teams Windows client, Microsoft Teams Mac Client, Microsoft Teams on Virtualized Desktop Infrastructure.
- Microsoft Teams iPhone app, Microsoft Teams Android app.
- Selecting Longest Idle for the agent routing method automatically enables Presence based routing.
- It's not possible to set the order the agents are presented with calls.
- Conference mode isn't supported if phone calls are routed to the queue from a Direct Routing gateway that's enabled for Location-Based Routing.
- For Call queue implementation with Location-Based Routing, see Voice apps (Auto Attendant or Call Queue).
- Microsoft Teams Phone only.
- Through the User Settings Portal page at https://aka.ms/vmsettings.
- Only standard channels are supported.
- Transferring calls between PSTN connectivity methods isn't supported.
- For GCCH/DOD, only available through User Settings Portal at:
Supported clients
The following clients are supported for call agents in a Call queue:
- Skype for Business desktop client 2016 (32-bit and 64-bit versions)
- Lync desktop client 2013 (32-bit and 64-bit versions)
- All IP phone models supported for Microsoft Teams. See Getting phones for Skype for Business Online.
- Mac Skype for Business Client (version 16.8.196 and later)
- Android Skype for Business Client (version 6.16.0.9 and later)
- iPhone Skype for Business Client (version 6.16.0 and later)
- iPad Skype for Business Client (version 6.16.0 and later)
- Microsoft Teams Windows client (32-bit and 64-bit versions)
- Microsoft Teams Mac client
- Microsoft Teams on Virtualized Desktop Infrastructure (Windows Virtual Desktop, Citrix, and VMware)
- Microsoft Teams iPhone app
- Microsoft Teams Android app
Note
Call queues that are assigned a direct routing number don't support Skype for Business clients, Lync clients, or Skype for Business IP Phones as agents. The Teams client is only supported with a co-existence mode of Teams Only.
Call Queue Diagnostic Tool
If you're an administrator, you can use the following diagnostic tool to validate that a Call queue is able to receive calls:
Select Run Tests, which populates the diagnostic in the Microsoft 365 Admin Center.
In the Run diagnostic pane, enter the Resource Account in the Username or Email field, and then select Run Tests.
The tests will return the best next steps to address any tenant, policy, and resource account configurations to validate that the Call queue is able to receive calls.
Related articles
Here's what you get with Microsoft Teams Phone.
Getting service phone numbers.
Country and region availability for Audio Conferencing and Calling Plans.
