If you’re reading this, you’re probably tired of missed calls, frustrated customers, and agents drowning in chaos. Call queues are supposed to help, but if you haven’t set them up right—or if you’re just getting started—it can feel like herding cats. This guide is for folks who actually need their Ringcentral phones to work: small businesses, office managers, IT staff, and anyone who’d rather not lose business because a call fell through the cracks.
Below, you’ll get a straight-shooter’s walkthrough of Ringcentral call queue setup, plus honest advice on what settings matter, which ones don’t, and a few pitfalls to dodge.
What’s a Call Queue, and Why Should You Care?
A call queue is basically a virtual waiting room for incoming calls. Instead of ringing everyone in the company at once (or, worse, sending callers straight to voicemail), you can:
- Route calls to the right team (like Sales, Support, or Billing)
- Make sure calls are answered in order, or by whoever’s available first
- Play hold music or announcements so callers aren’t just staring at dead air
Done right, queues keep things fair, professional, and a lot less stressful for your team.
Step 1: Figure Out What You Actually Need
Before clicking anything, get clear on:
- How many queues do you need? Most companies need a queue for each team that takes inbound calls (Support, Sales, etc.).
- Who should get calls in each queue? Think about who’s actually around to answer, not just who you wish was available.
- What happens if nobody picks up? Decide if you want calls to go to voicemail, another queue, or a backup number.
Pro Tip: Don’t overcomplicate this. You can always add more queues or tweak settings later. Start with what you know you need right now.
Step 2: Create a New Call Queue
- Log in to the Ringcentral Admin Portal.
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You’ll need admin access. If you don’t have it, stop here and ask your IT person.
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Go to “Phone System” > “Groups” > “Call Queues.”
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Click “Add Call Queue.”
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Give it a clear, simple name. (“Support Queue” is better than “Team Alpha Omega.”)
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Assign an extension and direct phone number.
- Extensions are fine for internal use, but if you want customers to call directly, assign a DID (direct inward dial) number.
Step 3: Add Members to the Queue
- Choose users wisely. Only add people who really answer calls. Adding everyone “just in case” spreads calls too thin and confuses reporting.
- Mix of teams? If your team cross-trains (say, Sales can help Support), that’s fine—just communicate expectations.
- Set business hours for each member if needed. If you have folks in different time zones or part-timers, make sure their availability reflects reality.
What doesn’t work: Don’t put shared mailboxes or unmonitored extensions in a queue. Calls will vanish into the void.
Step 4: Decide How Calls Are Distributed
Ringcentral gives you a few options for how calls get routed inside a queue:
- Simultaneous: Rings everyone at the same time. Fastest, but can get noisy and annoying if you have a big team.
- Rotating: Calls go to the next available person in a set order. Good for small, tight teams.
- Sequential: Always rings the same list in the same order. Fairness can be an issue; last in line gets fewer calls.
- Longest Idle: Rings whoever’s been free the longest. This is usually the most fair if everyone is answering calls regularly.
What to pick: For most teams under 10 people, “Simultaneous” or “Longest Idle” works best. Avoid “Sequential” unless you have a specific workflow reason.
Step 5: Set Up Queue Hours and After-Hours Handling
- Define business hours for the queue. You can set custom hours or use company-wide defaults.
- Outside those hours: Decide if you want calls to:
- Go to voicemail
- Forward to another number (like an answering service)
- Play a custom message (“We’re closed, call back tomorrow…”)
Don’t overthink it: Start with voicemail. If customers complain or you miss urgent calls, then look into after-hours forwarding.
Step 6: Add Hold Music and Announcements
Nobody likes silence—or worse, a jarring beep. Set up:
- Hold music: Pick something neutral. Avoid radio or pop hits (copyright and taste issues).
- Queue announcements: Short, clear messages like “Thanks for calling. All agents are busy. Please hold and we’ll answer soon.”
- Estimated wait time: Only enable this if you actually have decent queue analytics. Otherwise, you’ll just annoy callers with inaccurate info.
Skip: Fancy hold menus or multiple languages unless most of your callers really need them.
Step 7: Set Call Queue Limits and Overflow Rules
This is where you prevent disaster during busy times.
- Max callers in queue: Set a reasonable limit (maybe 10-20 for small teams). If too many people are waiting, new callers can get sent to voicemail or another destination.
- Max wait time: Don’t let callers wait forever. Set a cutoff (e.g., 5 minutes) before sending them elsewhere.
- Overflow and failover: Choose where calls go if the queue’s full or nobody picks up. Best options: a backup queue, a manager, or voicemail.
What to ignore: Don’t enable “comfort messages” every 30 seconds unless you want to drive people nuts. Once every minute or two is plenty.
Step 8: Test Everything Before You Go Live
This sounds obvious, but too many teams skip it.
- Call your queue from an outside phone.
- Try during and after business hours.
- Check what happens if nobody answers.
- Listen to your hold music and announcements.
Pro Tip: Ask a couple coworkers (or real customers, if you trust them) to call and give honest feedback. That’s how you catch things like “the hold music is way too loud” or “the voicemail greeting is confusing.”
Step 9: Monitor and Tweak as You Go
Once the queue is live, don’t walk away.
- Check call logs weekly. Who’s answering? How long are people waiting? Are calls being missed?
- Ask your team for feedback. They’ll know where things are breaking down.
- Adjust queue members and routing as needed. If someone’s always slammed, spread the load. If certain hours are dead, shrink coverage.
Don’t chase perfection: Just keep tuning until things are smooth enough that you’re not getting complaints.
What’s Worth Skipping (At Least for Now)
You’ll see a lot of advanced options—whispers, call barge, analytics dashboards, CRM integrations. Unless you have a big call center or very specific needs, you can safely ignore most of this at first. Focus on:
- Calls getting answered quickly
- Voicemails getting checked
- Customers not getting lost or bounced around
The rest is icing.
Keep It Simple and Keep Tweaking
Don’t let all the options in Ringcentral overwhelm you. Start with one or two queues, set up basic routing, test like crazy, and get feedback from real people. Iterate as your business grows or needs change. The goal isn’t a perfect system—it’s one that actually works for your team and your customers.
If all else fails, keep the phone numbers handy for Ringcentral support (and maybe a coffee for your IT person). Good luck!