Creating and managing Call Queues. General Info Tab

Description: The main purpose of this article is to provide a comprehensive user guide on creating and configuring Call Queues in Microsoft Teams.  

A call queue is a business phone system feature that directs inbound callers into a virtual line (queue) based on pre-established criteria, placing them on hold until the ideal agent to assist them becomes available.

To set up Call Queues in Microsoft Teams, you should follow these two steps:

1. Create a Resource Account.
2. Create a Call Queue.

Create a Resource Account

The scope of this subject is too extensive to be fully covered here, so or an in-depth explanation, please turn to the corresponding article titled "How to create and configure a Resource Account in Microsoft Teams?" which can be accessed through this link.

Create a Call Queue

To set up a call queue, go to Microsoft Teams admin center. Locate and select the "Voice" option in the left-hand menu of the page to expand it.

Once the content is displayed, choose the "Call queues" option.

After that, you will be taken to the "Call queues" page, which displays a table of existing queues. For the first entry, the table will be empty. Additionally, you will find the search bar and the action buttons that enable you to add, edit, and delete call queues from the table. 

To create a new call queue, simply click the "Add" button.

Upon clicking the "Add" button, a new window will appear where you can set up a new call queue. This can be done by completing the parameter fields found across six tabs within this form. It's important to note that you must complete all mandatory fields on a given tab before proceeding to the next one.

These tabs are:

• General Info tab.
• Greeting and music.
• Call answering.
• Agent selection.
• Exception handling.
• Authorized users.

This article will focus on completing the parameters provided on the General Info tab, as it represents the required minimum for the creation of a configured call queue. For more information about additional tabs, please refer to this article: 

• Creating and managing Call Queues. Additional Tabs

General Info tab

Here, you can set up the basic parameters of the configured call queue. You need to complete four fields here:

• Name of the call queue: here, you can set up a custom name for the configured call queue.

• Resource accounts: in this section, you should add a resource account that was created during the one of the previous steps of this guide, that will then be linked to the configured call queue. 

Resource accounts are objects that are not enabled in Microsoft Entra ID that are required for each auto attendant or call queue in Teams. They can be assigned phone numbers, when they're used as a calling ID.

Upon clicking the "Add" button, a pop-up window will appear on the right-hand side of the screen. In this window, you will locate a search field that should be used to search for the resource account you specifically created for use with the configured call queue.

If you have not already created a resource account at this stage, you can initiate this process here by entering random characters into the search bar. Subsequently, you should select the "+ Add resource account" option that will be displayed in the dropdown list of search results. The steps for setting up a resource account will follow the same procedure outlined in the "How to create and configure a Resource Account in Microsoft Teams?" which can be accessed through this link.

Once you have added a resource account to the configured call queue, the table of added resource accounts will become visible on the General Info tab of this form.

Ensure that the resource account you have added has both an assigned phone number and an active license. You can see this in the table of added resource accounts.

• Assign calling ID: here, you can set up a calling ID for the configured call queue.

When agents make outbound calls, either their calling ID or the caller ID of a resource account can be used. If you add resource accounts here, agents will be able to choose which caller ID to use. 

Agents that are Skype for Business clients can't use this option, so the user's phone number will always be used. 

If you leave this section empty, the outbound caller ID for the agents will be the agent's caller ID.

So, if you want to assign a calling ID to the configured call queued simply press the "Add" button. After that, a pop-up window will appear on the right-hand side of the screen. In this window, you will locate a search field that should be used to search for the resource account with the calling ID you want to use for the configured call queue.

If you have not already created a resource account with the calling ID you want to use, you can initiate this process here by entering random characters into the search bar. Subsequently, you should select the "+ Add resource account" option that will be displayed in the dropdown list of search results. The steps for setting up a resource account will follow the same procedure outlined in the "How to create and configure a Resource Account in Microsoft Teams?" which can be accessed through this link.

Once you have selected a resource account with the calling ID you want to use, the table of added calling IDs will become visible on the General Info tab of this form.

Ensure that the resource account you have added has both an assigned phone number and an active license. You can see this in the table of added resource accounts.

• Language: the language you select here will be employed for system-generated voice prompts and voicemail transcriptions. Upon clicking the field, you will see a drop-down menu displaying various language options. You can either scroll through the list to make your selection or, alternatively, use the search bar instead of manually scrolling through the entire list.
  

To finalize the creation of the call queue, it is essential to configure the parameters provided on the General Info tab. However, keep in mind that this call queue will not have assigned agents initially. While having an empty call queue may seem illogical, the purpose could be to create the queue first and add agents later. To configure the roster of agents, you will need to use the Call Answering tab, which is not covered in this specific article but is provided here: Creating and managing Call Queues. Additional Tabs

Call Queue Diagnostic Tool

If you are an administrator, you can use the diagnostic tool available via this link to validate that the recently created call queue is able to receive calls. After clicking the provided link, you will be directed to the Microsoft 365 Admin Center, specifically to the diagnostics section. Here, you should input the username associated with the Resource Account connected to the configured call queue, and then click the "Run Tests" button. 

The tests will return the best next steps to address any tenant, policy, and resource account configurations to validate that the call queue is able to receive calls.

To learn more about the additional tabs of this call queue creation form, please refer to this article: 

• Creating and managing Call Queues. Additional Tabs