A call group rings several phones for one call, either all at the same time or one after another. Use it for a team number, a hotline or a reception that several people answer. Call groups are managed under Dialplan → Call Groups.
Changes take effect after you apply them, see Applying changes.
Call group list
Click Call group above the list to add one. The list shows the Number (or – for groups without a number), the Name (with a public badge when the group is reachable from outside), the Members and the Strategy (ring all or one after another). The buttons at the end of each row edit and delete the group. Deleting a group also removes the incoming routes and IVR keys that led to it.
The search field above the list finds call groups by number or name; how searching and paging work is described in Lists.
Add or edit a call group
| Field | Meaning | Default |
|---|---|---|
| Name | A name for lists and destination pickers, for example Sales. | – |
| Number | The internal number of the group (1–20 digits). Optional: a group without a number can still be the destination of an incoming route or an IVR key. | empty |
| Members | The phones and other call groups in the group, at least one. For One after another, the members ring in the order shown here; drag a member to another place to change the order. See Call groups in call groups. | – |
| Ring strategy | Ring all at once: all members ring together, the first to answer takes the call. One after another: the members ring in turn. | Ring all at once |
| Ring time (seconds) | Ring all at once: how long the group rings (5–600); empty rings until the caller hangs up. One after another: how long each member rings before the next one; empty uses the member’s own ring time (of the phone, or of the contained call group), or 20 seconds if it has none. | empty |
| Description | A note for your reference. | empty |
| Reachable from outside | Callers from providers may reach the group directly by its number. | off |
| Public name | With Reachable from outside: an alternative number or name for callers from outside. | empty |
Calls that nobody answers go to the voicemail box of the first member (the first phone of a contained call group), if that phone has voicemail enabled; otherwise the call ends. The missed call e-mail of the first member is used for the group as well. Disabled phones are skipped.
Call groups in call groups
A member can also be another call group. It stands for all of its phones, so you keep each team in one group and build larger groups from them, for example Support = Support L1 + Support L2. A change to Support L1 then applies to Support as well.
- With Ring all at once, the phones of all contained groups ring together.
- With One after another, a contained group is one step: all its phones ring at the same time, then the next member follows. Its own ring strategy does not matter here.
- A phone that is in several of the groups rings only once, at its first place.
- A group cannot contain itself, directly or through another group. Such groups are not offered in Members, and saving is refused.
- Deleting a call group removes it from the groups that contain it.
Set up a team number
- Make sure every team member has a phone.
- Click Call group, enter a Name and a Number, and select the Members.
- To have unanswered calls recorded, put a phone with voicemail first, and set a Ring time so the call reaches the mailbox.
- Click Create and apply the changes.
- To route an outside number to the team, add an incoming route with the group as destination.
Instead of a call group, you can also add several incoming routes with the same number and different phones on a provider; those phones then ring at the same time.