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Overview
The goal of this article is to provide guidance on how shared lines operate under Microsoft Teams with the use of Auto-Attendants and Call Queues. We will go over our default setup for shared lines, and the available options for adjustment of queues and attendants.
Contents
- Understanding the Terminology
- Default Shared Line Setup and Use
- Configuration
- Usage Example
- Incoming Call Appearance
Understanding the Terminology
Shared Lines - It's important to note that Microsoft Teams Calling does not use the language "Shared Line" anywhere in it's system and you won't see anything labeled as such in the Teams Client when using it. Rather, the term is a concept of how we think of lines used my multiple individuals to either answer or call out from rather than using a personal line. The most frequent use of such items within System Administration would be the various "Office Main Line" numbers that we have in operation. Other examples would be special service numbers such as the Helpdesk number.
Call Queues - In simple terms, these are "waiting rooms" for incoming callers. When someone calls in, they are placed on a brief hold while the system attempts to find a user assigned to the queue to answer. If no one is available, a set of actions to take with the call, such as sending to voicemail, will occur. Most "shared lines" will be set up using call queues to route the calls to the appropriate group of users.
Agents - In Call Queue terms, these are the users attached to a call queue to receive calls
Auto-Attendants - Think of these as virtual operators that help route a call to particular users, queues, or groups. While there are multiple ways such an item can be configured, commonly these are used to provide a list of options to a caller asking them to press a particular key to route the call to that choice. A common example is listing names to the caller, e.g., "press 1 for Joe, press 2 for Sally..." and routing to them when the press the matching key.
Resource Accounts - Think of these as "fake" users. As all phone numbers in usage have to be attached to an account in Microsoft Teams, resource accounts are what are used behind the scenes to hold the number without requiring an additional Office365 user license/cost. These accounts are then attached to either a Call Queue or Auto-Attendant. From an end user perspective the main appearance of these will be the name that shows up on an incoming call when a call queue or auto-attendant rings them. (e.g., "Call for Resource Account 1 from 555-555-5555" would be what the incoming call appears as)
Teams Phone Groups - As with Shared Lines, Microsoft Teams calling does not use this language, rather groups related to assigning members to call queues and voicemail delivery will be labeled with the "TeamsPhone_" prefix for administrative practicality of locating them. While there are various options for where to redirect voicemail for call queues and auto-attendants, the most-straightforward is using a group in Office365. When set up this way, the voicemail will be sent to the e-mail accounts of all members of the group. When voicemail is delivered to a group, it will appear in all the group members inbox as "Shared Voicemail (Resource Account Name)" with the calling number listed, voicemail transcribed, and audio file attached.
Default Shared Line Setup and Use
This section will provide a quick rundown of how we will initially configure any shared lines and give an example of how a call would process in Teams. Keep in mind, if the owner of the line has asked for modification to these default settings, the way things work in usage may be different.
Default Configuration
Shared lines will be set up as Call Queues with the following options set:
- Resource Account for Incoming/Outgoing Calls
- A resource account with the display name in the format of "Office" Line Queue will be set up with the office number and attached, "Office" will be the name of the particular office the line is for. All queue agents will be allowed to make outgoing calls with this number
- Initial Greeting
- The default greeting message will be set as "Thank you for calling 'Office Name', please wait while we find an available member of our staff"
- Call Agents/TeamsPhone Group
- Any users who previously used a shared line (for existing numbers) or any request to have the line (for new setups) will be added as an agent and to the group
- Routing Method
- Attendant routing, aka, the system will ring all agents at the same time.
- Agent Opt Out
- Enabled. This allows each agent to take themselves out of receiving calls from the queue in their Teams client settings.
- Agent Alert Time
- 30 Seconds. This is how long the call will ring to the agents
- Maximum Calls in Queue
- Call timeout
- 45 seconds. This is how long the system will wait for it to be answered before taking an action. It is required to be at least 15 seconds longer than the Agent Alert Time.
- Max queue size, call timeout, or no agents signed in action
- Send voicemail to TeamsPhone group
- Greetings for queue full, call timeout, or no agents signed in
- The default greeting message for these items will be set as "We are unable to answer your call at this moment. Please leave your name, number, and reason for calling and we will return your call as soon as possible"
- Authorized Users
- All Agents/TeamsPhone Group members will be added. This setting allows added users to change the various greetings (i.e. initial greeting, timeout greeting, queue full greeting)
Usage Example
For this usage example of how a call would flow with the default configuration, we'll assume the following items.
- Resource Account/Queue Name: Acme Main Line with number 518-555-7777
- Call Agents/TeamsPhone Group Members: Joe, Bob, and Sally
- Bob has set himself to be "Opted Out" of receiving calls for this queue in his Teams client settings.
Call Flow
- Someone dials 518-555-777
- The Acme Main Line Queue picks up the call. It plays the greeting "Thank you for calling the Acme Office, please wait while we find an available member of our staff"
- Joe and Sally's Team clients start ringing at the same time. Bob opted out so his client doesn't ring.
- Sally is already on another call, so she declines the call on her client.
- Joe's phone continues to ring
- If Joe answers, he has a normal call
- If Joe doesn't answer, after 30 seconds his client stops ringing. As he was the last agent available in the queue, the call now will be sent to voicemail.
- The caller hears the message, "We are unable to answer your call at this moment. Please leave your name, number, and reason for calling and we will return your call as soon as possible", and then can leave their message
- Bob, Joe, and Sally all receive an e-mail with the voicemail message the caller left.
Incoming Call Appearance
A call redirected from a queue appears largely the same as any other incoming call in Teams, with some subtle differences to alert the agent where the call is coming from. The main difference is that the caller ID will be preceded with a label stating "Call for 'queue name'" as seen in the image below
