Queue

Puts the call into a queue and its agents. The Timeout output is only taken if nobody picked up the call within the delay set on the queue.

At a glance

How it works

The module picks up the call, then hands it off to the queue you chose. Everything else belongs to the queue itself: its hold music, its distribution strategy, its static and dynamic agents, the maximum waiting time, and the ringing time at an agent. The module only designates the queue, it doesn't configure anything.

When an agent takes the call, the conversation happens and the plan stops there. The Timeout output is not taken, and nothing after the module is played. This is why this module has no "call handled" output: there would be nothing to connect to it.

The Timeout output is taken in the other case: the caller left the queue without being connected. Waiting time exceeded, queue full, no agent reachable, it's the same output. This is where you connect the overflow: a voicemail box, an announcement, another queue.

If the Timeout output isn't connected to anything, the call is hung up at the end of the wait, after the music, without a word. This is the most common explanation for queue calls that "just cut off by themselves."

If the chosen queue no longer exists, or if none was chosen, the module puts nobody on hold and immediately goes out through the Timeout output.

What to fill in

Step by step

1. First create the queue if it doesn't exist: Modules, Queues, Add a queue. Fill in the Name, the Internal extension, the Strategy, the Maximum waiting time in seconds, the Maximum ringing time at an agent, then the Static agents and the Dynamic agents.
2. Go back to the plan's Visual editor, place the Queue module and connect the previous node to its input.
3. Open it with a double click and choose the queue from the Queue list.
4. Close the window with Save. The module shows the queue's name under its title.
5. Connect the Timeout output to the overflow: a Voicemail box, an announcement, or another queue.
6. Click Save in the editor's toolbar, then Apply changes.
7. Test it twice for real: once with an agent logged in, who should pick up; once with no agent logged in at all, to check that the Timeout branch runs correctly.

If it doesn't work

The call is hung up at the end of the wait, with no message. The Timeout output isn't connected to anything. A triggered output leading nowhere ends the call. Connect it to a voicemail box or an announcement.

The call never enters the queue, it goes straight on to what follows. No queue is selected, or the chosen queue has since been deleted. The module then shows Not configured under its title: reopen it and choose the queue from the list.

The wait doesn't last as long as I set it. The delay comes from the queue, not the module. Open Modules, Queues, edit the queue and correct Maximum waiting time in seconds.

Nobody rings, and the call goes straight out through Timeout. No agent is reachable. Check the Logged-in agents list for this queue in Modules, Queues, and the Static agents declared on its record.

After an agent hangs up, the rest of the plan isn't played. This is expected behavior: a call taken by an agent leaves the plan. Anything that must be played in every case belongs before the module.