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M365 Teams - Calling Queues

What is a Teams Call Queue?

Call Queues are a feature that allows phone calls made to one phone number (the “resource”) to be distributed to many Teams Voice numbers. The Teams Voice users in the Call Queue have their own individual phone numbers, but calls made to the resource number are distributed to all the numbers in the queue.

Who receives phone calls from the Teams Call Queue?

Currently all Help Desk staff members are added to the call queue(s) once they have been assigned a Teams telephone number.

If you have a Teams Phone number but have forgotten what it is, you can view the number in the Calls Tab within the Teams App. The number will be above the on screen number pad.

How are the calls distributed?

The Help Desk queues are set up for Round Robin distribution. This means the first call made to the queue goes to user #1, the second call goes to user #2, and so on, until all users have received one phone call. The queue then starts over again distributing the next call to user #1.

When all agents are on a call, the call assignment will then wait until someone's status changes to "available" and will then assign calls in the queue to the next open agent.  

“With round robin, routing of incoming calls is balanced so that each call agent gets the same number of calls from the queue.”

What happens when the call queue sends a call to my number?

It will look just the same as if you got called directly in that you'll get a notification that lets you accept or decline the call.

• Click Accept with audio to answer with audio only.
• Click Accept with video to accept the call and enable video as well.
• Click Decline call to decline the call and go on with your day.

How are callers getting into the call queue?

Calls are being forwarded from the x4040 number.

How do i prevent calls from coming to me when I am not available?

Your O365 / Teams presence should dictate whether you can receive calls. The following statuses have been tested by our employees and are proven to prevent you from receiving calls:

• Out of office
• Busy

You should receive calls from the queue if you are in the following states (testing needed):

• Free
• Tentative
• Working elsewhere

There is also a toggle button that should prevent all calls from coming to you when enabled regardless of your presence. Found under Settings > Calls

How does the Teams call queue interact with the client division by team?

For example, a manual password reset will need to go to an HD2. How does this work with phone calls for all clients being distributed at random?

• The employee who receives the phone call should attempt to resolve the incident during the first phone call.
• If the employee cannot resolve the incident during the first call, they should @mention the team that supports the client in Teams and ask for someone to take the call. The call can then be transferred to someone from the appropriate support team. NOTE: this should not be done for “level 1” issues that anyone can resolve! Resolve those on the first call if at all possible!
• If no one from the appropriate team can respond to your Teams message, let the customer know that someone will give them a call back. Confirm a good callback number and assign the incident to the appropriate team. Send them a message in Teams to let them know you are making the assignment. NOTE: Do not skip the step of messaging the person in Teams. The Teams message is a great common courtesy, and it will also inform you if that person is out-of-office. You should not assign incidents to someone who is out-of-office.

How do I transfer a call to another agent? Place a call on hold? Etc?

Currently, we are not putting clients on hold. If you put them on hold, you will not be able to get the client back. Transferring is possible but you can only transfer calls when you're talking one-on-one.

1. To transfer a call, select More options>Transfer in your call controls. Then, type the name of the person you want to transfer the call to and select them. To finish, select Transfer.
2. Click the drop-down arrow in the Transfer button to see more transfer options. Choose Work to transfer the call to their Teams number, or Work voicemail to send it straight to their voicemail. If they've added any other phone numbers to their account, like their mobile number, you'll see those options in the list, too.

What should I say when I answer a call from the call queue?

Use these call scripts or a close variation:

1. Identify yourself and the department.
   • "Thank you for calling the UWM Help Desk..."
2. Gather necessary information.
   • Ask for their ePanther ID and a call back number
   • Ask if they already have an incident
3. Ask for time as you need it while you are typing, gathering information, etc.
4. Ask for hold time as you need it.
   • "May I place you on hold while I review this incident?"
   • "May I place you on hold while I consult with someone about this?"
5. Thank the customer for their patience.
   • "Thank you for holding..."
   • "Thank you for your patience..."
6. Offer your help.
   • "How can I help you today?"
   • "I see you need help with [problem], is that correct?"
7. Propose a solution
   • "It looks like you have an expired password..."
   • "I will transfer you to a Higher-Level Technician..."

How do I check voicemail?

There are two voice mail boxes to consider, your personal voicemail box and the Call Queue voicemail box. You should not receive any calls in your personal voicemail box, as long as the client calls the Help Desk and does not redial your Teams Number.

The Call Queue voicemail is monitored by the Supervisor team, as the voicemails are sent to the helpdesk@uwm.edu shared mailbox which automatically creates an incident in Cherwell.