Key takeaways

  • A VoIP call queue is a waiting list of callers on hold, arranged in the order they were received, similar to taking a number at a packed restaurant or DMV.
  • Some benefits of call queuing are shorter call times, higher caller satisfaction, lower agent workloads, better workflow management, enhanced analytics data, and improved measurement of team performance, just to name a few.
  • Effective call queue management involves strategies like using recorded greetings, segmenting agents and callers, automating processes, and offering callback options to reduce hold times.

You’re probably looking for a quick and dirty answer, at least to get you started. So let’s cut to the chase and give you the “and at this point, I’m afraid to ask” definition.

  • VoIP: Voice over internet protocol, i.e., internet-based phone services.
  • Queue: A line or waiting list, ordered by arrival.
  • VoIP call queue: When a caller dials your business’s VoIP phone line and gets put on hold, they’re added to the existing list at the bottom, with any additional callers that come in being added after them.

Basically, a VoIP call queue is the business telecom equivalent of arriving at a packed restaurant or taking a number at the DMV. Any time a caller hears the phrase “your call will be answered in the order it was received,” they’ve landed in the call queue.

What is a call queue?

A queue is a list, a line, or an order of operations. It’s a hierarchy based entirely on the order in which the items in the list will be dealt with. Virtually without exception, this order is strictly first in, first out—or FIFO—as our friends working in logistics and accounting would call it. The earlier something is added to the list, the sooner it’s addressed in the queue. New entries are always added to the bottom.

So, applied to an organization’s phone system, a call queue is the waiting list of callers who are on hold, pending an agent picking up the line. Make sense? Great; time to dig a little deeper.

Terms to know

For the sake of thoroughness, let’s go over a few relevant and adjacent terms and concepts, so you have a broader foundation of familiarity with all of this stuff.

  • Call handling: This refers to the entire kit-and-kaboodle of, well, handling calls. Every portion of the customer experience, from when they hit the call button to when they hang up, as well as all of the systems, policies, tools, and efforts that happen on the business end when answering these calls.
  • Call routing: Call queues are usually closely related to call routing, or the practice of sorting callers before handing them to a live agent, so they (hopefully) reach the right department to address their concern on the first try. Any time you hear “Press 1 for customer support,” this is what’s happening.
  • Interactive voice response (IVR): While a standard virtual receptionist can only take a few predetermined inputs from callers when routing them, IVR can perform some more complex tasks, such as taking payments, providing account updates, accepting orders, and more. It can also route calls based on spoken inputs from the caller, not just keypad entries.

Read more: What Is Interactive Voice Response (IVR)?

A call by any other name

It’s also worth noting that there’s been a shift in the past decade from calls—call centers, call queues, call routing, call handling, etc.—to tasks—contact center, task queues, task routing, etc.

Defining everything by real-time voice-only communication made sense when phone calls were the primary (or even sole) form of interacting with a business aside from walking through the door. These days, however, businesses interact with customers across a variety of platforms, channels, mediums, and the like. 

While all of these methods of communication can, technically, still be siloed from each other, that’s not a very sound strategy. Arbitrarily distinguishing between these only adds needless complexity to workflows. That’s especially true when the same agents that answer the phones also respond to chat messages, social posts, emails, and any other avenue a customer might use to get a hold of someone at your company. 

How does a call queue work?

Here’s a quick example of what the call queue might look like to a customer: 

  1. The customer calls your business and is greeted by the virtual receptionist or IVR.
  2. In the absence of any call routing, callers will be added to the queue once the recorded greeting has been played.
  3. Calls will wait in the queue until those ahead of them have been answered and an agent is finally available to answer the one next in line.
  4. The live agent addresses the caller’s concerns, transferring and/or escalating the call as necessary. 
  5. The call ends, and everyone goes their separate ways (well, the caller does; everyone else stays at their desks for now).

You’ve likely experienced this from that side for one reason or another. For agents and team members on the business’s side, the process looks a bit different:

  1. The call enters the VoIP system, and the software begins tracking them.
  2. VoIP software administers any input prompts or call routing as determined previously during system setup.
  3. The software logs caller inputs, routes them as appropriate, and adds them to the relevant queues.
  4. Team members assigned to certain queues will see new callers appended to the bottom of their lists, awaiting an available agent.
  5. Once an agent answers the call, the software timestamps the interaction, recording how long the caller was on hold and beginning the timer for the next leg of the call.
  6. Software automatically logs info (varying by software/provider), and agents input info manually as necessary.
  7. Calls are transferred and/or escalated as needed, adding them to queues elsewhere.
  8. The call is finally concluded, with the system marking the call duration and the agent in question recording any remaining pertinent details (such as if the issue was resolved). 

Best practices and strategies for call queuing

There are a number of tactics that will likely help you make the most of your call queues, not to mention improve customer experiences. Here are just a few.

You’ve got to start somewhere

If you haven’t already, you’ll want to make a recorded greeting of some kind. Even if you’re not using IVR, you can’t very well have callers be dumped into the queue without a word of explanation or guidance. 

Read more: 35 Best Business Voicemail Greetings

Where are you routing to?

Have separate lines for each type of caller unless you’re a smaller organization that doesn’t need to filter calls and preemptively direct them to the right team member. You’ll need to segment your agents the same way you segment your callers.

Unless you’re a smaller organization, have separate lines for each type of caller, or otherwise don’t have any need to filter calls and preemptively direct them to the right team member, you’ll need to segment your agents the same way you segment your callers.

The criteria you use to group agents will depend on your specific use case. But common ways routing queues can be separated include:

  • Departments: Sales, accounting, technical support, etc.
  • Skill, seniority, or authorization privileges: Reserve your experts and managers for problems that only they can fix.
  • Languages: It’s easier to solve problems when both parties can understand each other.
  • Time zones: This ensures calls are routed to agents who are working during customers’ local time.

Automate wherever possible

You have two primary goals when it comes to call handling: meeting the needs of callers and reducing the burdens on your staff. Automation will aid in the latter and often lead to the former as a natural byproduct. 

Automation can take a lot of different forms in this context—the VoIP system recording call transcripts on its own, IVR streamlining call routing and handling simple tasks for you, workflow automation, and automated texts/emails/replies. But the point here is that anywhere direct human intervention isn’t needed stands to benefit from implementing automation in the process. 

The simpler, the better

If you’ve ever had to call a company that’s made you wade through a labyrinth of inputs, questions, routing options, and more, then you know how irritating it can be when a company’s attempts at automation only make it more difficult to reach a solution. 

Call length tends to be a core KPI for most teams that work the phones. But how long it takes a caller to reach the queue is nearly as important as how long they’re on hold and how long it takes an agent to resolve their concerns. 

As customers become more familiar with these systems and more savvy at addressing the concerns they can solve on their own, it will become all the more important to help those callers reach the correct queue faster. Odds are, if their concern was simple enough for, say, the IVR to handle, they wouldn’t be calling in the first place, let alone mashing 0.

Leverage callbacks

No one really likes holding their phone up and waiting for half an hour or more just to reach a live agent. It’s annoying, it’s disruptive, it’s boring, and unless they can go hands-free, it’s physically uncomfortable. 

Callback queues are an alternative that’s been rising in popularity. And while it’s not perfect (not knowing when the call is coming in, thinking the call is spam, callers assuming you’re not going to call back), it can provide a more positive customer experience for those willing to opt for it. Plus, it can help reduce the burden on your system and your team. 

Check the charts

Have you ever gone to the doctor for an issue and given the full spiel to the nurse, who writes it all down, only for the doc to walk in the door and ask you to repeat it all again from the top? It’s frustrating, and it’s a time sink for everyone involved. 

The same is true for callers who have to repeat information or provide information that agents can reasonably review on their own before answering. Most VoIP systems integrate with CRMs these days, and it will speed things up measurably if agents can pick up the phone having already “read the charts,” so to speak. 

Benefits of using call queues

Why would you want to use call queues? Why can’t you just send callers to voicemail when all the agents are busy?

Customers prefer not waiting over waiting. Some calls might be more urgent than what’s suited for an answering machine. Some teams aren’t as prompt or thorough about answering messages. And some customers will just hang up in frustration rather than leave a message.

Those aren’t the only reasons to use call queues, though:

  • Higher customer satisfaction rates, thanks to higher numbers of calls answered.
  • Shorter call durations in all respects, especially when routing is implemented.
  • Reduced agent workload and burden.
  • Better workflow management since the system is keeping track of who’s in line for you.
  • More accurate analytics, as you won’t be missing calls or messages that might point to customer trends, recurring support issues, fluctuations in call volume, and more. 

Frequently asked questions (FAQ)

When calls come in, they get added to the list in the order they’re received and are answered starting with the oldest call in the queue. It’s similar to the lines at the grocery store or a fast food restaurant.

VoIP calls function the same way normal calls do. But they operate by running communications over the internet rather than through traditional phone lines. It’s similar to the way snail mail and email relate to each other. Plus, VoIP comes with software that can do a bunch of cool extra stuff.

The “types” in this context refer to how the answering agent is determined, rather than the order of calls to be answered. Queues can be answered in various ways: through a round-robin system (rotating through agents based on idle time), by referring calls to agents in a predetermined order, by referring calls to groups of agents in a preset order, or by leaving callers on hold until manually answered.

Some benefits of call queuing are shorter call times, higher caller satisfaction, lower agent workloads, better workflow management, enhanced analytics data, and improved measurement of team performance, just to name a few.

The industry standard is “80/20”—meaning 80% of calls are answered in 20 seconds or less. Anyone who’s ever heard hold music, though, can tell you that wait times can be way, way longer than that. That said, most data on call center KPIs points to a drastic drop in performance around the two-minute mark.

Stephen Porritt Avatar
Stephen Porritt
Stephen Porritt is a frequent contributor to TechnologyAdvice. Stephen has covered a variety of topics over his career including CRM, Business Intelligence and Project Management. He has more than ten years of experience writing content in a variety of verticals. He does his best work when he’s clarifying complex subject matter, helping brands share their unique expertise, and cracking dad jokes.