Teams Phone: Call Queues / Hunt Groups

How call queues / hunt groups are used to call departments and teams and how to opt out and into calls from the call queue

TEAMS PHONE SERIES: Contents >

What is a Call Queue / Hunt Group?

A call queue is assigned to a department or team with its own dedicated phone number. Call queues are controlled by the IT Team.

Terminology: Call queues are different from call groups and delegates:

Feature	Call Queue	Call Group	Delegate
Managed by	IT Team	You in Teams Settings > Calls	You in Teams Settings > Calls
For	Departments	Individuals	Individuals
Phone Number	Department	Own work number	Own work number
Make Calls?	Yes for department members	No	Yes for people you specify
Receive Calls?	Yes for department members	Yes for people you specify	Yes for people you specify
More Info	See below	Teams Phone: Call Groups and Delegates >

The benefits of using a call queue are:

Advertise one number that doesn't need changing if there's a change in personnel, roles or somebody is on leave.
Assign one or more users to the same number and add more users or remove users at any time.
Call out from the same number as your colleagues or department.
Do not call the users in the group whose status is not available (busy, do not disturb etc)
Use an auto attendant on the call queue so the caller hears option, chooses who to speak to and gets forwarded on automatically.

How to opt out and into receiving calls from the call queue

Warning: If everybody opts out then calls will go straight to voicemail. Ensure there is at least 1 nominated person to take the calls in your department.

Call queues are assigned to your department's Microsoft Teams. By default all members of that Team will receive calls to that queue. If you wish to remove yourself from the queue or add yourself back on again you can opt out or opt in by doing the following:

In Microsoft Teams go to the 3 dots . . . next to your picture or initials in the top right.
Select Settings
Select Calls
On the right side you will see Personal and any Teams that have call queues that you belong to.
1. Select the Team you wish to opt out or into
Under Call receiving move the slider to off or on

How to call from the call queue number

See: Teams Phone: Make & Receive Calls > Call from the Calls Window >

How to change the Call Queue behaviour

If you wish to change what happens when your call queue number rings, eg. number of rings before voicemail, please raise a support ticket.

Call Queue numbers

A list of all the department call queues can be found here:

Teams Phone: Call Queue Numbers > (sign in required)

Additional Learning

Teams Phone: All IT Knowledge Base articles >