Extension Groups

An extension group (also referred to as a "queue") is a collection of extensions that will follow a specified ring strategy when a call is directed at that extension group. For example, if you have an office with five extensions and one main number and you want incoming calls to ring all five extensions and allow any one of the five users to answer the call then you could configure an extension group to allow this behavior.

Note: If you are creating a new extension group and it is not ringing the extensions, re-save the group from within the Evolution GUI or upgrade your PBX to the latest edition.

Adding Members

Select the members you wish to add to an extension group from the "Not in Group" list. To add the selected members, simply click "Priority 1", "Priority 2", or "Priority 3." With a "Ring All" type ring strategy, members with a higher priority will be rang before members with a lower priority, eg. members with "Priority 1" will ring before members with "Priority 2."

Removing Members

Select the members you wish to remove from the "In Group" list, then simply click the "Remove" button and the members will be moved from the "In Group" list to the "Not in Group" list. Be sure to click "Save" to apply your changes.

General Extension Group Settings

General Setting	Description
Number	The identifying number for the extension group.
Name	The name to describe this extension group.
Mailbox	The voicemail box calls will be sent to if not answered within the time specified by "Ring Time"
Record	Enable or disable recording of all calls to this extension group. This setting overrides the "Record Calls" setting in "Profiles."
Playing	The audio to play when a caller is connected to this extension group while waiting to be answered. Ringing will play a standard ring-back to the caller. Selecting a music on hold source will play the music or audio files configured in that music on hold collection.
Ring Time	The duration this extension group will ring before going to voicemail.

Queue Ring Strategies

Queue Ring Strategy	Description
Ring All (Many)	Default strategy. All extensions, regardless of status will ring and the first one to answer the call will get the call.
Ring All (One)	All idle extensions in this extension group will ring and the first one to answer the call will get the call.
Longest Available	Rings the extension in this extension group that has been the longest since receiving a call from this extension group.
Fewest calls	Rings the extension in this extension group that has the fewest number of completed calls.
Random	Randomly rings any extension in the extension group.
Round Robin Mem	Round Robin with Memory. Takes turns ringing each available extension that belongs to the extension group and remembers which extension was the last to receive a call and sends the next call to the next extension.

Queue Options

Queue Option	Description
Strategy	Strategy provides behavior such as ringing all extensions in the group or a queue that sends calls to just one extension in the group based on a specific logic. See the Queue Ring Strategies table for descriptions of each of the settings.
Priority	If Queue A has a priority of "1" and Queue B has a priority of "2", callers that enter Queue B will be delivered to available agents before those that entered Queue A. Be careful when using this feature.
Position	Announces the caller’s position in the queue (when multiple callers are waiting to be answered) to the caller. "Once" will announce the callers position only one time at 45 seconds. "Once Every 45 Seconds" will announce the callers position every 45 seconds until the call is answered.
Hold Ann.	If selected, plays an announcement to the caller while waiting in queue. The frequency can be defined with the "Hold Ann. Feq." setting.
Whisper	If selected, plays an announcement to the extension that answers the call before the call is connected. The caller does not hear the announcement.
Allow VM	If enabled the caller can press 8 to exit the queue and leave a voicemail message.
Fast Pass	Fast Pass allows the caller to press 9 to leave a message and then be called back automatically when their position in the queue is reached.
Logoff	If set to "Auto", members of the extension group will automatically be paused or removed, as specified by the "On Logoff" setting, if the member fails to answer a call. If set to "Manual", the member will not be removed from the queue if he/she fails to answer a call. Extensions can be logged in or out by dialing *31.
Wrapup	The wrap-up time is the amount of time in seconds to wait before sending a call to a member that just finished servicing a previous call.
Hold Ann. Freq.	The amount of time in seconds to wait between playing the hold announcement selected by the "Hold Ann." setting.
Service Level	Used for reporting purposes, this represents the defined "Service Level" in number of seconds for the queue.
On Logoff	If set to "Pause Member", the member is simply paused when logged off. If set to "Remove Member", the member is temporarily removed from the extension group when logged off.
When Empty	This option allows you to define an action to take when their are no members available to answer a call in the queue. The caller can simply "wait for agent" or you can send the caller to a different destination.