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Creating a new attendant group number
10 min
An attendant group is used in switchboards, meaning the person answering the call usually forwards the call onward.
You can attach time control, a welcome announcement, queue management, call routing based on agents’ skill level, IVR menus, and callback features to an operator group. Operator groups offer a variety of features for switchboard management, such as advanced person search, changing other users’ presence status, forwarding to a busy number, etc. Users belonging to operator groups must have a Multi profile. Additionally, using attendant groups requires attendant licenses.
When creating an attendant group, you can find more detailed instructions about settings and configurations by clicking the question mark icon in the user interface.
Creating an attendant group
- Log in to the VIP Plus admin portal
- Select “Organization setup”
- Select “Call distribution groups” and “Add call distribution”
- On the General tab, select Operator group as the type. Note: if Operator group is missing from the list, your company does not have operator licenses. You can order licenses via My Telia for Business service.
General Tab - Select type of the answering group: Attendant group
- Enter a descriptive name for the attendant group
- Billing ID = select if necessary. The billing ID is the billing connection for the VIP Plus service, from which calls routed outside the VIP Plus service (e.g., overflow to a third-party phone number) are billed.
- Select the group number from the drop-down menu. If no numbers are available, make a service request via My Telia for Business or contact Telia business customer service.
- Exclude number from search: Select this if you want to hide the number from users in the VIP Plus contact list.
- Allow for number presentation: If selected, members of the customer service group can display the group number in outgoing calls (caller ID).
- What number to show when recieving a call from a group?: Defines which number the customer service group member sees when a call comes to a mobile phone. On a workstation phone, both the caller’s and the group’s numbers are visible.
a) Group number
b) Caller*
*Add a prefix or suffix to the incoming number
Add a prefix to identify which group the call is from. This is useful for users belonging to multiple groups who answer on their mobile. The prefix or suffix could be, for example, 1*, so the number shown would be 1*020457623 (prefix) or 020457623*1 (suffix).
We recommend using a suffix instead of a prefix. The phone number is saved with the prefix or suffix in the call history, so when calling back from the call log, the prefix or suffix must be removed for the call to connect correctly. In the mobile app’s call log, the caller’s number is saved without prefixes or suffixes, so it is recommended to use the mobile app when these are in use. - Statistics period: how far back statistics are shown in the operator group’s call view. The maximum value is 720 minutes.
- Metadata. The agent sees the information in the Metadata field when receiving a call from the operator group.
- Override metadata. If marked, this will override the meta-data for this group with the meta-data from diverted call.
Queue settings tab - Maximum wait time: Unlimited or Specified. Set minutes and/or seconds until the call is forwarded.
- When no agents are available. Where the call is routed when the maximum amount is reached.
- Number of distribution attempts. Set the maximum amount of calls made to agent before forwarding the call.
Overflow when call arrives
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Maximum number of calls in the queue at the same time. When the specified value is reached, the next call entering the queue will be overflowed directly forward according to the specifications below.
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Maximum wait time: Unlimited or specified. A call is forwarded when a new call arrives and another call in the queue has already reached the specified maximum queuing time.
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When threshold is reached. Where a call is routed when the number of simultaneous calls in the queue or the maximum queuing time is reached.
Members tab
Note that the section is divided into both Members and Settings sub tabs.
Members -
Add members to the group
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If needed, assign supervisors who can log members in or out of the group and see real-time information about incoming calls, queue times, etc.
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Distribute by priority or Distribute by skill.
Distribute by priority, call distribution to agents from the group are made from the bottom of the.
Distribute by skill. use skill-based routing for call distribution. Agents with the highest skill, number 1, will always receive the call from the group when available. The default skill level is 3.Settings sub tab
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Enable Pickup. A member of the attendant group can pick up calls from the queue if they wish.
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Should attendant's presence state affect the distribution of calls. = If selected, calls will not be routed to the agent if they have a red activity status, even if logged into the answer group.
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Which devices are used by agent.
On which devices do customer service group calls ring. If multiple are selected, devices ring simultaneously. Due to network delays, the call may not ring at the exact same moment on all devices.
a. Desktop phone (Win/Mac)
b. Mobile
c. IP phone
d. External PBX = Not in use -
Call time per agent/member. How many seconds until the call is distributed to another agent.
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Number of concurrent agents being called. How many devices ring at the same time? = 1, then only one rings at a time; 2, then two at the same time, etc.
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Minimum resting time after call. If not set and there are calls in the queue, the next call will immediately reach the agent. You can set wrap-up time (e.g., 20 seconds). Even if calls are in the queue, they will only go to the agent after the set wrap-up time. When wrap-up time is set, the agent can pause themselves if they need more time to log the call.
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Maximum number of missed calls. After how many missed calls is the agent/member logged out. For example, if set to two, the agent is automatically logged out after missing two calls. Useful if the agent forgets to set their availability status as busy.
Voiceprompts tab
You can use existing announcements or create new ones by clicking “Create New Announcement.” -
What caller hears, when call is placed in queue? = Select the appropriate announcement as needed (e.g., Customer Service congestion announcement).
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What the caller hears while waiting? = Select the appropriate announcement as needed (e.g., Music 1).
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What progress notification will the caller hear? = Select as needed (e.g., "Still in queue" announcement).
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Progress play interval = If set to 0, notification is not played.
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Play ringing during distribution = If selected, the caller hears an alert when the call is connected to the agent. If the alert (ringback) is not played, the caller might be surprised when the call is suddenly answered.
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Play queue position = select if you want the caller to be told their queue number.
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Play the estimated wait time = select if you want the caller to be told the estimated wait time. The estimated time is based on queue statistics and the current number of calls in the queue. With small numbers, the statistics may not be very reliable but are still indicative.
Callback Tab -
Callback enabled = If selected, callback is enabled and you can configure the settings.
Basic settings -
Callback timeout = Set how many seconds the callback attempt will ring to the requester before the unanswered callback attempt is returned to the queue. If set to zero (0), callback is not enabled.
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Callback retries = Set how many callback attempts are made for the customer's callback request. If set to zero (0), callback is not enabled.
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Callback validity time = Set how long the callback is valid. If set to zero (0), callback is not enabled.
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Callback metadata = Set the text shown to the answer group member during a callback call, so that they know the caller requested a callback.
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Played prompt for attendant = Select the announcement played to the group member when the callback call arrives.
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Played prompt for caller = What the caller should hear when being offered a callback: Select the announcement to be played when callback is offered. Leave blank to use the default announcement.
Callback starting -
When the queue has been open for = Enter in minutes how long after opening the answer group callback is offered. If set to zero (0), callbacks are allowed immediately after the group opens. Maximum value is 1440 minutes (24 * 60 min).
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Offer callback when more than this number of calls are waiting in queue = The number of calls required in the queue before the callback option is offered. Disabled if set to zero (0).
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The longest waiting call has waited for = Longest queue time in minutes for offering callback. Callback is not enabled if set to zero (0).
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Estimated waiting time exceeded = Current estimated queue time in minutes for offering callback. Callback is not enabled if set to zero (0).
Callback closing -
When the queue is closing in = Minutes before the group closes when callbacks are no longer possible. If set to zero (0), callbacks are allowed until the group closes.
Camp-on settings -
Enable camp-on = With the call waiting feature, you can transfer a call to a person who is already on another call. The call will then enter the queue of the busy person, and the person who transferred the call can take other calls.
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An attendant receives a visual notification in. Specify the time in seconds after which the operator who forwarded the call receives a visual notification. The notification indicates that the call is still in the queue, and the operator can retrieve the call back to the switchboard. The operator can talk to the caller, for example, about leaving a callback request or placing the caller back in the busy person's queue. A value of 0 means the setting is not in use.
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All in the attendant group receive visual notification. Specify the time in seconds after which all operators in the response group receive a visual notification about the call in the queue. The notification indicates that the call is still in the queue, and the operator can retrieve the call back to the switchboard. A value of 0 means the setting is not in use.
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Call return on failed camp-on. If the forwarded call is not answered, the call can be returned to the operator group's queue with this option.
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The same alert in. The pause taken after a failed call waiting attempt.
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Finally, click "Save."
The answer group is now ready and always open.