Ring group

Types of Ring Groups:

• Simultaneous Ringing – Simultaneous Ringing will ring all members in the ring group simultaneously until someone answers. This configuration is best suited for teams like a support group or a sales group where all team members need to take an equal number of calls.
• Sequential Ringing – Sequential ringing will ring all members in the ring group in a specified order until the call is picked up. A sequential ring group is a good fit in scenarios where one person should be taking all the calls by default but where in cases of high volume of calls you want a second or even a third person available to help. A receptionist is a good use case for this feature. The receptionist can also place her IP phone in Do Not Disturb mode to instantly forward calls to backup staff or the virtual receptionist. The ring group can also be configured to automatically call the next person in the priority list if the receptionist is on the phone.
• Cyclic ring group pattern (also known as round robin). In this case, if you have 3 persons in a ring group, the first call will go to the first person and the second call to the second person, etc. In this manner, the workload can be shared equally without constantly ringing all the phones simultaneously for every call. It’s also possible to configure the number of times the call ring before being transferred to the voicemail. A cyclic pattern contributes to an even distribution of calls and can be helpful with a higher volume of calls.

There are several ways to deploy ring groups:

• Via an auto-attendant – Deploy a ring group via auto-attendant to route callers to the departments of their choice. The ring group can triggered when a caller selects the option to reach any of these groups: customer support, sales, accounting, etc. Employees (users) can be members of multiple ring groups.
• Via extension transfer – Create extensions that will ring a group of phones , so transferring to an extension will ring certain phones.

Examples of the application of the ring group feature to improve your call flow:

• Customizable Ring Groups. Create unique call flows that route calls to a particular team member or department.
• Create call levels in ring groups.  Choose whether you want the phones in each ringing group to ring simultaneously or one at a time. Ringing groups with levels can contain multiple destinations, such as team members, departments, or welcome menus.
• Create custom ring group schedules. Create a custom opening and closing times by day of the week or by specified calendar dates. Set your vacation and related schedule in advance for the year and quickly update hours of operation for last-minute office closures.
• Use the welcome menu and call queues in ring groups. Use call queues with your ring groups to place callers on hold until the next available agent can assist them. Set up welcome menus that run through ring groups to efficiently distributes incoming calls. The previous options will result in an overall smoother call flow.

How do Ring Groups benefit your business?

• Reduce customer waiting time.  Call groups can help your company’s employees improve their efficiency and reduce customer waiting time. Ring groups accelerate customer service and the speed at which the issues are resolved.
• Assign any number. Different types of numbers can be assigned to ring groups. The number can be a virtual number, a toll-free number, the main company number, or any other number in our system.
• Accessibility. Improve overall accessibility by automatically routing calls to available employees without any input from the caller or a receptionist.