Overall, the choice between using a call queue or a ring group in 3CX will depend on the specific needs of your organization. Call queues are ideal for businesses with multiple agents who need to handle a high volume of incoming calls efficiently, while ring groups are better suited for smaller businesses or teams where all team members are responsible for answering calls. Both features can help improve the customer experience and increase agent efficiency, making them valuable tools for any business that relies on phone communication.

Here’s a comparison of Call Queues vs Ring Groups in 3CX, along with the benefits of both:

Call Queues

A call queue is a feature that places incoming calls in a waiting line until an agent is available to answer the call. If all agents are busy, calls are kept waiting until an agent is available.

Queues have advanced call center features with the PRO license of 3CX. These features include:

  • Callback: Enables callers to hang up and get a callback. You need to specify the "Callback Outbound Prefix" to trigger an outbound rule to make the call. Set the "Callback mode" to be requested by the caller by pressing "2", or to be offered when the queue timeout is reached.

  • Wrap-Up Time: Gives the agent the specified time in seconds to enter notes into the call record after taking a call.

  • Maximum Callers in Queue: When this number is reached, calls are routed according to the settings in the "Destination if no answer" section.

  • Priority Queue: Prioritizes calls from this queue over calls from other queues the agent/extension is a member of. For example, a support team has one queue for normal support calls and another queue for VIP customers, so even though serviced by the same agents, calls from the VIP queue get priority.

  • Queue Statistics Reset: Click to reset the queue agent calls and wallboard statistics or set a periodic schedule for automatic reset. Detailed statistics for the queue, such as average call time, average wait time, etc., are visible through the "Agent Status" and "Queue Monitoring" sections on the "Panel" view in the 3CX Web Client.

  • Queue Email Notifications: Enable to notify the manager for certain queue events, such as calls breaching the SLA time limit, queue calls lost, and callback activity

Custom hold music and intro prompts can be added to Call Queues to help keep callers engaged while they wait, reduce the perceived wait time, and provide important information to help manage expectations.

Call Queues have an extended list of polling strategies compared to Ring Groups. Such strategies include:

  • Longest Waiting Time: Will forward a call to the agent who has been waiting the longest to take a call.

  • Least Talk Time: Will forward the call to the agent with the least total talk time.

  • Fewest Answered: Will forward the call to the agent that has answered the least number of calls.

  • Hunt by Threes Prioritized: Will forward the call to the top three agents (as configured in the call queue agent section) simultaneously.

  • Hunt by Threes Random Start: Will send calls to three random agents simultaneously.

  • Round Robin: Will target only active agents who are logged into the queue in a round-robin manner. For example, the first call will be sent to agent 1, the second call to agent 2, and so on.

The queue manager role allows the call center manager to manually log agents in and out of individual queues. Managers can also get an insight into a complete overview of all queues and filtered views to see individual queues. The information available includes:

  • Whole queue stats

  • Number of calls waiting to be answered

  • Number of calls serviced or answered

  • Number of abandoned calls

  • The longest wait time indicates the most time it took for a call to be answered

  • The average wait time is the sum of all the calls waiting to be serviced

  • Average talk time once a call is answered

Reporting: Call queues provide detailed reporting on call volume, wait times, and other important metrics, which can help managers optimize their call center operations.

Ring Groups

Ring Group is a feature that allows multiple phones to ring simultaneously when an incoming call arrives. This means that any phone that is a member of the ring group will ring when a call is received by the system, and the first person to answer the call will be connected to the caller.

Benefits of using Ring Groups in 3CX include:

  • Simplicity: Ring groups are straightforward to set up and manage, making them ideal for small businesses with few employees.

  • Flexibility: Ring groups allow all phones to ring simultaneously, giving each team member an equal opportunity to answer calls.

  • Call handling: Ring groups can help distribute incoming calls evenly among team members, ensuring that calls are handled efficiently.

  • Paging support: Ring Groups also support paging, which allows a one-way announcement to be made to all phones in the group.

  • Call strategy options: Ring groups only support "Prioritized hunt" and "Ring All" call strategies.

  • No login required: Agents do not need to log in to receive the call.

Overall, a ring group is relatively easy to implement, and no training is required. When a call comes in, all phones in the ring group ring simultaneously, and any team member can answer the call. This simplicity and flexibility make ring groups an effective option for small businesses with few employees. Additionally, the paging feature and even call distribution among team members further enhance the efficiency of call handling in a ring group setup.