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Set up a call queue

Create a queue in Settings → Voice → <number> → Queues, pick the team that serves it, set wrap-up and Max hold, and then reference the queue from your IVR's Send to Queue node.

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Set up a call queue

A call queue is where callers wait for a human agent. You create the queue, assign a team to staff it, set how long a caller waits, and then reference the queue from a Send to Queue node in your IVR flow.

Before you start

  • A team configured in Settings → Teams — the queue routes calls to the agents on that team.
  • A phone number provisioned, with a voice flow assigned to it.
  • A clear idea of whether agents should get a wrap-up period between calls.

Steps

  1. Open Settings → Voice.
  2. Select a phone number under Phone numbers. Its voice flow opens; go to the Queues tab. Queues are shared across the tenant: the tab lists every queue, and any voice flow can use a queue you create here. You can also reach the same list from Call queues and hold music, above the phone numbers.
  3. Next to Queues in the queue list, click New.
  4. Enter a Queue name — a technical name with no spaces, such as support-queue. Spaces become dashes as you type.
  5. Enter a Display name — the name people see in Atender, such as “Support — English”, “Sales” or “Premium VIP”. Callers do not see either name.
  6. Fill in What this queue handles. An AI voice agent that may choose among a team’s queues reads this description together with the display name, and it does not pick a queue that has no description.
  7. Pick the Team that staffs the queue. Only agents on this team will be offered calls from the queue.
  8. (Optional) Set Max hold — the longest a caller waits in this queue, in minutes. Leave it empty for no limit. When you set a limit, At the end of max hold appears; pick Offer a call back or Transfer to another queue. See Set up queue overflow with Max hold.
  9. (Optional) Turn on Wrap-up time and set the duration in seconds. Agents enter wrap-up automatically after a call ends, which keeps them off the queue while they finish notes.
  10. Click Create.
  11. (Optional) Select the new queue in the list and turn on Override global settings. In its Language overflow section, turn on Enable language overflow for this queue to offer a waiting caller a move to another queue when a wait threshold is met, and save with Save overflow settings. See Configure language overflow.

A queue has no ring time setting. Each agent’s phone rings 30 seconds by default before the call tries the next agent.

Verify it worked

You should see the new queue listed on the Queues tab with its display name.

Then go to the Flow tab, click Open builder, and check the Send to Queue node — your new queue is selectable in the queue dropdown.

Connect the queue to your flow

Callers reach a queue through a Send to Queue node in your IVR. An agent can also transfer a live call to a queue. Add or update a Send to Queue node in your flow:

  1. Open the flow in the IVR builder.
  2. Click the Send to Queue node (or add one from the palette).
  3. In the right panel, pick your new queue.
  4. Click Save & Publish.

The next call to that flow will land in the queue.

Configure the experience inside the queue

The queue’s behavior while a caller waits — hold audio and comfort announcements — lives on the Queues tab. Select Global in the tab’s queue list to set the defaults for every queue, or select a queue and turn on Override global settings to give it its own. See Configure hold audio and queue greetings.

If you want callers to opt out of waiting and receive a callback instead, see Configure callback.

Troubleshooting

  • Symptom: Calls reach the queue but no agent ever picks up. Fix: Confirm the team has at least one agent who’s marked Available in voice and opted into that specific queue. If an Available agent has callers waiting in queues they have not selected, the Available row in the status menu shows an amber N waiting in unselected queues sub-label, and the corner dot on the status button pulses amber. Open the queue flyout and look for per-queue N waiting badges. Tick a waiting queue in the flyout to make the agent eligible for its calls. The warning clears only when no unselected queue still has callers waiting.

  • Symptom: Calls keep getting reassigned without ringing through. Fix: Confirm the team membership: only agents on the queue’s team are offered its calls. Ring time is not a queue setting; each agent’s phone rings 30 seconds by default before the call tries the next agent.

  • Symptom: New queue doesn’t appear in the IVR’s Send to Queue dropdown. Fix: Open the IVR builder, click on the Send to Queue node, and re-fetch the queue list (refresh the page if needed). Queue assignments are loaded when the builder opens.

  • Symptom: Callers hang up while they wait, and the team wants to call them back. Fix: A caller who hangs up in the queue before an agent connects is a missed call. By default that conversation closes to Done. To keep it open for a callback instead, turn on Keep missed calls open in Global voice settings (Settings → Voice → Global voice settings). The conversation then stays in Active with a Missed badge. The switch is tenant-wide and applies to every queue.

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