Create and manage call queuesUpdated 9 hours ago

A call queue is the routing system that controls which agents or teams receive incoming calls from Gorgias Voice. You can use call queues to prioritize and distribute calls to your team, manage call volume, and customize the caller's experience while they wait to connect with an agent.

You can create separate call queues to handle different branches of a Voice integration’s call flow, or route multiple integrations to the same queue, depending on how you’d like to manage call volume.

Requirements

• Available on all Helpdesk plans with the Voice Add-on
• Only Admins can create and manage call queues

Create a new queue

You can create queues from your Voice settings in Gorgias.

1. From your helpdesk, click the Settings icon in the bottom-left corner.
2. In the menu, locate Channels, then select Voice.
3. Select the Queues tab, then click Create Queue.
4. Enter a Queue name (for example, “🌓 After Hours” or “Billing & Payments”)
5. Click Save Changes.

When a call enters a queue, it is distributed to the first available agent based on the following logic:

• All inbound calls that enter a queue are distributed to available agents on a first-come, first-served basis; including when the same queue is assigned to multiple Voice integrations or call flow branches.
• A call is considered “served” once it begins ringing for an agent to answer. We do not wait for an agent to answer a call before distributing the next call in the queue.
• When an available agent is assigned to more than one queue with calls waiting, the call that arrived first across the two queues will ring first.
• Calls from a priority queue are always distributed to agents before calls from a non-priority queue, regardless of which call arrived first.
  
  

Manage queues

For every call queue, you can set a capacity to limit how many callers can wait in the queue, or set the queue as priority to serve these calls before any others. You can also manage routing options and customize your caller’s waiting experience.

Set a queue capacity

You can limit how many callers can wait in a queue at a time by setting a queue capacity. If your queue is at capacity when a new call comes in, calls will be directed to the next step in your call flow until the number of callers waiting in queue returns to below capacity. You can decide what happens when a queue reaches capacity in the call flow editor, by adding a Route to step.

1. From your helpdesk, click the Settings icon in the bottom-left corner.
2. In the menu, locate Channels, then select Voice.
3. Select the Queues tab, then select an existing queue or click Create Queue.
4. Under Queue capacity, enter a number.
5. Click Save Changes.
   
   

Set a queue as priority

You can set up any queue as a priority queue. Callers who enter a priority queue are routed to available agents before callers in a non-priority queue, regardless of which call arrived first.

1. From your helpdesk, click the Settings icon in the bottom-left corner.
2. In the menu, locate Channels, then select Voice.
3. Select the Queues tab, then select an existing queue or click Create Queue.
4. Click the toggle next to Priority queue to enable or disable queue priority.
5. Click Save Changes.
   
   

View connected integrations

You can view which Voice integrations are connected to a queue. When an integration is connected to a queue, it means that the integration’s call flow contains at least one branch that routes to that queue.

1. From your helpdesk, click the Settings icon in the bottom-left corner.
2. In the menu, locate Channels, then select Voice.
3. Select the Queues tab, then select a queue.
4. Click Show integrations to view and manage the integrations connected to the queue.
   
   

Enable or disable a queue

You can disable a call queue at any time to prevent it from receiving incoming calls. When a call queue is disabled, incoming calls will move immediately to the next step in the call flow. If you disable a queue while there are calls waiting, they will stay in the queue until the maximum wait time expires before moving to the next step in the call flow.

1. From your helpdesk, click the Settings icon in the bottom-left corner.
2. In the menu, locate Channels, then select Voice.
3. Select the Queues tab, then select a queue.
4. Click the toggle in the top-right corner to enable or disable the queue.
5. Click Disable.
   
   

Delete a call queue

If a queue you’d like to delete is being used in a call flow, you’ll need to route the call to a different queue before you’ll be able to delete it.

Deleting a queue is permanent, proceed with caution!

1. From your helpdesk, click the Settings icon in the bottom-left corner.
2. In the menu, locate Channels, then select Voice.
3. Select the Queues tab, then select a queue.
4. Click Delete Queue in the bottom-right corner.
5. Click Delete.
   
   

Manage routing options

Routing options allow you to customize the ringing behavior for calls, and the waiting experience for callers in a queue or on hold.

Assign agents to a queue

You can control who can answer incoming calls by assigning agents to a queue. When a call enters a queue, it will ring for the agents or teams assigned to the queue, and will not be distributed to other agents in your helpdesk. For example, you might create a team made up of agents who are specifically trained to answer billing issues, and assign them to a queue where you route calls about billing. This way, only your specialized agents will receive billing-related calls.

1. From your helpdesk, click the Settings icon in the bottom-left corner.
2. In the menu, locate Channels, then select Voice.
3. Select the Queues tab, then select an existing queue or click Create Queue.
4. Under Routing options click Distribution mode to expand it.
5. Under Ring to, click the dropdown menu then select either All Available Agents, or search for and select a Team.
6. Click Save Changes.
   
   

Select a ringing behavior

You can set the ringing behavior for calls that enter a queue to either round-robin ringing or broadcast ringing, and set a maximum ring time per agent. Round-robin ringing will ring assigned agents who are available one-by-one, starting with the agent who has been idle the longest. Once the maximum ring time is reached, the call will move on to the next agent. Broadcast ringing will ring for all assigned agents who are available at once, until the ring time is reached.

1. From your helpdesk, click the Settings icon in the bottom-left corner.
2. In the menu, locate Channels, then select Voice.
3. Select the Queues tab, then select an existing queue or click Create Queue.
4. Under Routing options, click Distribution mode to expand it.
5. Select either Round-robin ringing or Broadcast ringing.
6. Enter a Ring time per agent in seconds.
7. Click Save Changes.

Enable wrap-up time

Wrap-up time makes agents unavailable for a period after a call ends, giving them time to complete any wrap-up tasks before they’re assigned a new call. Wrap-up time will automatically apply to calls that are longer than 20 seconds, and you can set the time period for as little as 10 seconds, and up to 10 minutes.

1. From your helpdesk, click the Settings icon in the bottom-left corner.
2. In the menu, locate Channels, then select Voice.
3. Select the Queues tab, then select an existing queue or click Create Queue.
4. Under Routing options, click Distribution mode to expand it.
5. Click the toggle next to Enable wrap-up time to enable or disable it.
6. Enter your desired Wrap-up time in seconds.
7. Click Save Changes.
   
   

Customize callers’ waiting experience

For each call queue, you can change the maximum wait time and the music that callers hear while they wait to connect with an agent.

Set a maximum wait time

You can decide how long a caller waits in a queue before the call moves to the next step in the call flow. When the queue’s ring behaviour is set to Round-robin, and the Ring time per agent is set to 30 seconds, if your maximum wait time is 120 seconds, the call will ring for up to 4 agents before advancing in the call flow.

1. From your helpdesk, click the Settings icon in the bottom-left corner.
2. In the menu, locate Channels, then select Voice.
3. Select the Queues tab, then select an existing queue or click Create Queue.
4. Under Routing options click Caller experience to expand it.
5. Enter your desired Wait time in seconds.
6. Click Save Changes.
   
   

Select your hold music

You can customize the music callers hear while they’re waiting in a queue, or when an agent puts them on hold. You can select music from our library, or upload your own.

1. From your helpdesk, click the Settings icon in the bottom-left corner.
2. In the menu, locate Channels, then select Voice.
3. Select the Queues tab, then select an existing queue or click Create Queue.
4. Under Routing options click Caller experience to expand it.
5. Select Choose from library, then select a file from the dropdown menu. Alternatively, click Upload file to upload a custom recording file.
6. Click Save Changes.
   
   

Route calls to a queue

To direct calls to a queue, you’ll need to build a Route to step into the call flow for a Voice integration. When you route calls to a queue, you can also decide how to Handle busy times and allow Callback requests.

Edit a call flow

1. From your helpdesk, click the Settings icon in the bottom-left corner.
2. In the menu, locate Channels, then select Voice.
3. Select a Voice integration from the list, then click the Call Flow tab at the top of the screen.
4. Click the Add step icon along the branch you’d like the step to occur, then select Route to.
5. From the side panel, select Queue, then click the dropdown menu and select a queue.

We recommend adding a Send to voicemail step as the next step in a call flow that routes to a queue. This way, when your customer is routed to a busy queue, they’re sent to voicemail if they reach the maximum wait time. If you don’t add a step after the Route to step, the call will disconnect.

Handle busy times

If you’d like to create a customized experience for callers who reach a busy queue, the Skip queue when it’s too busy setting will add a dedicated branch to your call flow for overflow callers to follow. Calls that enter the queue when it’s at capacity will be automatically sent to the Skip queue branch and will follow the path you laid out for them there.

1. From your helpdesk, click the Settings icon in the bottom-left corner.
2. In the menu, locate Channels, then select Voice.
3. Select a Voice integration from the list, then click the Call Flow tab at the top of the screen.
4. Click the Add step icon along the branch you’d like the step to occur, then select Route to.
5. From the side panel, select Queue, then click the dropdown menu and select a queue.
6. Check the box next to Skip queue when it's too busy, then return to the call flow editor.
7. On the Default branch, add a step to determine what happens when callers reach the maximum wait time in a queue. You might choose to send these calls to voicemail.
8. On the Skip queue branch, add a step to determine what happens to callers who don’t get added to the queue because it’s at capacity. You might choose to route these callers to a different queue, or send the call to SMS.
   
   

Enable callback requests

You can enable callback requests so that callers who join busy queues can hang up, and receive a call from an agent at a less busy time. When call back requests are enabled, callers can request a callback by pressing * (star) on their phone’s keypad. This will end the call, and create a ticket in your helpdesk for agents to manually follow up later. The ticket will be tagged with Callback requested and assigned to the same team that’s assigned to the queue.

1. From your helpdesk, click the Settings icon in the bottom-left corner.
2. In the menu, locate Channels, then select Voice.
3. Select a Voice integration from the list, then click the Call Flow tab at the top of the screen.
4. Click the Add step icon along the branch you’d like the step to occur, then select Route to.
5. From the side panel, select Queue, then click the dropdown menu and select a queue.
6. Check the box next to Allow callers to request callbacks.
7. Add a text-to-speech message or custom recording that informs shoppers to press * (star) to request a callback.
8. Add a text-to-speech message or custom recording that confirms that the callback has been requested.
9. If you’d like callers to leave a voicemail, check the box next to Allow callers to leave a voicemail after callback requests.