Hunt groups vs call queues: which does your business need?

When more than one person answers the phone, you need a rule for who rings first. Most phone systems offer two: hunt groups and call queues. They sound similar but they solve different problems. Here is the difference in plain English.

What is a hunt group?

A hunt group is a list of phones that ring when your number is called. You choose how they ring:

• All at once: every phone rings and the first person to answer gets the call.
• In order: the first phone rings for a set time, then the next, and so on.
• Round robin: calls take turns so the work is shared fairly.

If nobody answers, the call goes to voicemail or another number. Hunt groups suit small teams where a missed call can go to voicemail and be returned quickly.

What is a call queue?

A call queue holds callers in line, with hold music or messages, until someone is free. Instead of going to voicemail when everyone is busy, the caller waits their turn and is answered in order.

Queues suit teams that take a lot of calls at once: a sales line, a booking line, a support desk. Callers who would hang up on voicemail will often wait a minute in a queue.

The key difference

Ask yourself: what should happen when everyone is busy? If the answer is "take a message and call back", use a hunt group. If the answer is "keep them on the line until we can answer", use a call queue.

Can you use both?

Yes. A common set-up is a greeting menu ("press 1 for sales, 2 for support") where sales goes to a hunt group of two people and support goes to a queue. You can change it any time from your dashboard without calling anyone.

Which plans include them?

• Hunt groups: included from Entry (£4.75 a month).
• Call queues: included from Plus (£8.95 a month), along with business-hours routing and automatic recording.

Read the step-by-step guides to hunt groups and call queues, or see every feature by plan on the pricing page.