The wait queue setting is available within a call queue and allows you to place your callers in the wait queue if your agents are busy attending to other calls, or not available to take calls (offline or not answering). To understand the wait queue behavior, check Understanding Wait Queues.
Example:
Consider that you have a team of five agents assigned to a “Travel Desk Call Queue”. Let’s say, all 5 agents in the team are busy attending to other customers or unavailable to take calls. Now, assume that a sixth customer calls, now since all agents are busy, you may have to route this customer to another call queue or play a prerecorded voicemail message. Instead, you can make the customer wait in the queue until an agent is available to take the call again.
Also, within the wait queue settings, you can enable the callback option that lets you return the call to the customers who were waiting in the queue. This way, you can ensure that your callers are not left unattended.
Some benefits of configuring wait queues are:
Improve customer experience
Reduce missed calls/abandoned calls
Manage call queues efficiently
Improve call center performance
User Requirements: Users with admin or account admin access can configure call queues and enable wait queue settings.
This article contains the following sections:
How to configure wait queues?
Log in as an admin.
Go to Admin Settings > Configuration and Workflows > Call Workflows.
Select the call queue for which, you want to configure the wait queue. For instructions on creating a new call queue, check Setting up your Call Queues.
In the call queue, choose the rule for which you want to enable the wait queue setting.
The rules available are:If (agent) not answering
If agent is online but not answering.
If agent is offline
Select the fallback action as Place caller in Wait Queue. This step enables the Wait Queue Settings.
Note: This option which enables the wait queue setting, is available only from the Blossom plan.
Scroll down to see the Wait Queue Settings and expand to see the options.
The different options you can find here are:Option Description Play wait message for caller
Select the message to play when the customers enter the wait queue. For example, “Thanks for waiting in the queue. You will be connected to the next available agent in a short while.”
You can select from the list of messages available in your account or create a new message.
Append queue position to wait message
Enable this option to tell the customer’s queue position along with the wait message.
For example, “Thanks for waiting in the queue. You will be connected to the next available agent in a short while. Your current wait position is 3”.Of size (queue size)
Set the maximum number of callers you want to place in the wait queue.
Note: The default queue size is 20. However, for Estate and Forest customers, the queue size can be extended to any limit (only on request).
If this queue is full
Select the fallback action to take if the queue size has reached the maximum limit that you have set. You can take the following actions:
Send to voicemail: Select the voicemail message to play or create a new message.
Send to another call queue: Select the call queue from the list of queues available in your account or create a new call queue.
Note: This option is available only from the Garden plan.Hangup: The call hangs up after playing the hangup message.
For max time
Enter the maximum time (in seconds) you want to place the callers in the wait queue.
This prevents customers from waiting in the line endlessly even if they are within the maximum queue size for that queue.
For example, if your queue size is 5 and your maximum waiting time is 60 seconds, the 6th caller need not wait for more than 60 seconds in the queue.
Note: The default minimum and maximum waiting time values you can set are 30 seconds and 15 minutes (900 seconds) respectively. However, for Estate and Forest customers, the maximum wait time can be extended to 4 hours (on request only).
If the customer waits longer
Select the action to take if a customer waits longer than the waiting time you have set. The actions you can take are:
Send to voicemail. Select the voicemail message to play or create a new message.
Send to another call queue. Select the call queue from the list of queues available or create a new call queue.
Note: This option is available only from the Garden plan.Hangup: The call hangs up after playing the hangup message.
Callback
Enable this option to callback or return a customer’s call.
When this option is enabled, the customers will be given an option to request a callback instead of waiting in the queue. On confirmation, the customer will receive a call from the next available agent.
Note: The callback option is available only for Estate and Forest customers. For more details, see How to set up queue callback.
Play callback message for caller
Select the message to play to your customer for requesting a callback. For example “Press 1 to continue in the wait queue, press 2 to request a callback on the same number you are calling from”.
You can choose this default callback message or you can create a new message.
Play callback confirmation for caller
Select the message to confirm the customer’s keypress response. For example, “Your request for callback is confirmed. The next available agent will call you shortly.”
You can choose the default “callback confirmation message” available or you can create a new message.
If the callback is unsuccessful
Select the fallback action to take if the callback was unsuccessful (for example, the customer did not attend the call). The options are:
Send to voicemail: Select the voicemail message to play or create a new message.
Send to another call queue: Select the call queue from the list of queues available or create a new call queue.
Note: This option is available only from the Garden plan.Hangup: The call hangs up after playing the hangup message.
If the caller presses * while in wait queue
Select the voice message to play if a customer presses * while they wait in the queue.
- Once you configure the wait queue settings, click Save to save the call queue.
How to monitor callers in the wait queue?
As a supervisor or an admin, it is important that you make sure your callers do not wait for a long time in the queue. With Live Dashboard, you can easily monitor the number of callers currently waiting in the queue and quickly take the following actions:
- Assign the caller to another available agent
- Directly attend the call
For more details, see Monitoring Your Customers In Queue.