Call groups, hold and transfer

A call group is a named set of members who answer calls together, such as Support, Sales or On call. During a call, the member on it can put the caller on hold, transfer the call, or talk to a colleague first.

Call groups

Every organization has a group called Everyone. It always holds every member, including anyone who joins later. Each number rings Everyone until you choose another group for it.

A call rings the members of the group who are free: in the group, switched to Taking calls with a ContactRoll page open, and not on another call.

To make a group, you need the permission the Roles page calls "Make and change call groups, say which numbers ring here, and set up what a call to each one does: its hours, its greeting, its menu and the group it rings". Owners and Administrators hold it.

• Open Settings, then Calling. The Call groups panel appears while Twilio is connected.
• Type a name into A new group’s name and press Make the group.
• Press Change beside the group, and set its Name, Who is in it, How it rings and When nobody is free. Press Save.
• Under Calls that come in, use each number's Rings list to choose the group it rings.

How a group rings

• Everyone at once: every free member at the same time, for 25 seconds.
• One at a time: the member idle longest goes first, for 30 seconds, then the next free member.

The line

Under When nobody is free, tick "Callers wait in line, and are put through to the first member who is free" and set the longest wait, from 0 to 10 minutes. A caller in line first hears "Everyone is busy at the moment. Please hold, and the next available person will take your call." and then your hold music. Callers are put through in the order they arrived. After the longest wait, the caller can leave a voicemail. With the box clear, a caller nobody is free for goes straight to voicemail.

Minutes in line are part of the call: Twilio bills them to your account, and they count toward This month’s minutes.

Calls now

Calls now shows each group as it happens: At the menu, Ringing, In a call (with "on hold" and how long), Waiting, in order, and each member as free, being rung, on a call or not taking calls. It updates every five seconds.

Hold

On a call that came in and was answered, or a call you placed once the person answers, press Hold. The caller hears your organization's hold music, and the hold is left out of any recording. The controls read "On hold · [time]". Press Resume to bring the caller back. After two minutes, the bar reminds you that somebody is waiting.

Transfer

Press Transfer… to open the panel. You can write A note for whoever takes it (up to 500 characters). Then press Transfer to [name] beside a member under Members, or beside a group under Call groups. The caller hears "Please hold while I transfer you." and you are free for the next call at once.

• To a member who is free: their browser rings for 25 seconds, then the caller is offered that member's voicemail.
• To a member who is on a call or not taking calls: the caller goes to that member's voicemail.
• To a call group: the group rings as it always does, then its line if it has one, then voicemail.
• If nobody takes it, you get a task attached to the call's case saying so.

The case follows the call: to a member, it becomes theirs when they answer; to a group, it moves to that group's queue until somebody there answers. The member it goes to sees "Transferred by" your name, and your note.

Talk to someone first (warm transfer)

In the transfer panel, a free member has Talk to [name] first, and a group with somebody free has Talk to [group] first. Pressing it puts the caller on hold with the hold music and rings your colleague for 25 seconds. For a group, up to five free members ring together, and the first to answer talks to you.

While you talk, the caller stays on hold and hears only the music. Then press:

• Complete transfer: the caller joins your colleague and you leave the call. The call and its case are now theirs.
• Take back: your colleague leaves, and the caller is back with you.

While it is still ringing, Take back stops the ringing. If nobody answers, the caller stays on hold with you, and you can Resume, transfer, or ask somebody else.

Hold music

Under What callers hear on hold on the Calling page, choose what callers hear on hold, during a warm transfer and in a call group's line. Every organization starts with ContactRoll’s own tones. You can also pick one of three classical piano pieces:

• Aria, from the Goldberg Variations;
• Prelude No. 1 in C major, from The Well-Tempered Clavier;
• Variation 13, from the Goldberg Variations.

Each piece has a player so you can listen first. Pick one and press Use this music. It applies to the next hold. Each piece is a public domain recording, so nothing is owed for playing it to callers. In a line, the music plays in parts of about fifteen seconds, and after each part ContactRoll looks for somebody free.