Set up an enhanced ring group for your team

An enhanced ring group puts your team behind one number and lines callers up when everyone's busy. This guide builds one and sets who rings first.

Enhanced ring groups come with every plan. Contact Center Lite adds live wallboards, a member performance dashboard, scheduled reports with automated delivery and Smart Callback.

Some labels in your portal or apps may look slightly different from this guide.

Create the group

1. 1
   Step 1:

   Open the list

   In the admin portal, open Enhanced Ring Groups. The list shows each group's name, number, ring strategy and member count.

2. 2
   Step 2:

   Add a group

   Start a new group. Give it a name your team will recognize, such as Support, and a number to dial.

3. 3
   Step 3:

   Limit the line

   In Max Waiting Callers, enter the most callers who can wait at once. Later callers go to the destination you pick for a full group, covered in what happens when nobody is available.

4. 4
   Step 4:

   Choose when hold music starts

   In Ring to Answer, enter how many rings callers hear before they join the line. Enter 0 to put them on hold music right away.

5. 5
   Step 5:

   Add the members

   Select Members, pick the users who should take the group's calls, and add them to the list.

6. 6
   Step 6:

   Save and test

   Save the group. Call its number from another phone and check that the right people ring.

To send outside callers to the group, point a key in your phone menu (IVR) at it, or ask CallSprout support to send a phone number to it.

Decide who rings first

Each member has a Penalty, a number from 0 up to a maximum the form allows. A lower number means higher priority, so 0 rings first. With the ringall strategy, only the free members who share the lowest penalty ring. Use the move up and move down buttons to change the list order, which counts for strategies that ring members one at a time.

Pick a ring strategy

Choose a Ring Strategy in the group's member settings.

Four more settings shape the ringing:

• Static Members Login on means members have to log in before group calls reach them. While it's on, penalties don't apply, and the ring order follows when people logged in rather than your list.
• Member Ring Timeout is how many seconds a member's phone rings on each try.
• Autofill on offers waiting callers to every free member in parallel, and off sends them one at a time. On usually suits a busy line.
• Ring Members in Use decides whether a member who's on another call still rings.

Other settings worth a look

• Hold music. Pick a hold music class in the group's general settings. To keep that music playing when a member puts a caller on hold, turn on the option to use the group's hold music for members. It starts off and needs the group's own hold music class.
• A label for members. Replace CallerID adds text, such as the group's name, to the caller ID members see. See show which number or menu a call came from.
• Mobile members. Turn on Wake up Mobile Devices so group calls reach Communicator GO on members' phones even when the app is asleep.
• A heads up for members. Member Announce plays a short recording to the member before the caller connects. Its file name usually starts with member-announce-. Report Holdtime tells the member the caller's wait time.
• Recording. Set Record ERG Calls to Yes to record the group's calls. The group doesn't follow your account's recording setting, so set it here. Recording and monitoring laws vary by state, and your company is responsible for any notice and consent they require.
• Business hours. The group can follow your account's hours or have its own. See set business hours and after hours routing.