Ring Group - Users Cannot Accept Multiple Calls

[StartSomethingGood]

Hello,

I'm somewhat new to 3CX but have had experience setting up call routes in the past on other phone systems. So far, I really like 3CX.

I have a small office with 5 users in it. They are using 3CX 4SC Standard Version hosted by 3CX.

There is a problem I cannot seem to find a solid answer for and am hoping it's just a change to my approach that will fix it.

I'm open to any suggestions on how to resolve. I would like to keep it hosted by 3CX on their platform rather than moving it local or to AWS or Azure.

When an incoming call comes in, it goes to a ring group (ext 800). This ring group rings all 5 users.

The problem occurs in the following scenario:

• Only one user is in the office (any user, this happens quite frequently because they are all out and about)
• Incoming call makes phone ring and the one user answers it
• While on phone, another call comes in. This rings all of the other phones except the user on the phone.
• The user has to put the call on hold, run to another phone and answer it.

Is there any way to allow the one user's phone when on the phone?
OR
Is there a better way to approach this so that if any one user is there by themselves, they can pick up multiple calls coming in?

Thanks

 

[VoIPTools]

With 3CX regardless of whether you are using queues or ring groups, the assumption is that the agent answering the call can only service one caller at a time. There is no supported way of being notified that another caller is waiting other than watching the groups in the web / windows client.

However, there is an unsupported solution, but unfortunately it is not possible when hosted at 3CX. There is a parameter you can set for ring groups that allows the agent to be notified when another call is waiting. But 3CX does not give their hosted customers access to the parameters screen.

ALLOWSUEBUSYOPTFORGROUP = 1

This parameter is not intended for production use, but many have used this setting with success. But 3CX does not support it's use. I've been told by 3CX support "it would be simple to add this setting to the user interface if we wanted people to use it". So, if you move to a different hosting company, that is an option, but use it at your own risk.

 

[StartSomethingGood]

Hi Matthew. Thanks for the reply. I saw the work around on another thread but I thought maybe there was something else I could do for them. Even if it meant upgrading their subscription. I may end up setting up a PoC in AWS just to test though and this may be the route I need to take. It's a small office and their call volume is pretty low. I was hoping to keep their solution as simple as possible though.

If there are two receptionists at a company, how do they handle incoming calls if one of them goes on break (with a supported 3CX setting)? This is the situation at one of my larger clients (300+ employees at local HQ office) and I thought 3CX would be great for them. But I'm not sure how to get past this to provide a solution within 3CX that can accommodate their current call flow. They receive several calls a minute that they transfer to other users, but they cannot miss an incoming call and the managers have stated that they want all calls to be answered by a human, not an auto attendant or voice mail.

They are currently using a really old Nortel CS1000 on prem system and it does this.

Is there an attendant console also that allows multiple calls to receptionist type roles in this situation, or would 3CX just not be the right fit?

Thanks

 

[Saqqara]

Look at queues instead of ring groups https://www.3cx.com/docs/manual/call-center-queues/

The incoming call is held in a queues until one of the receptionist is able to answer the call

 

[ChrisC_3CX]

@StartSomethingGood

I think you could actually utilize call pick up to achieve this. When a second call is calling the Ring Group and is in the ringing state, the agent who is currently on a call can put the current call on hold and then dial *20*. This will have the agent pick-up the second call and still keep the first call on hold. This of course provided that the agent is aware of the second call.

Note: Also, I know this does not apply for your case but I do confirm that changing the parameter mentioned by @VoIPTools is indeed not recommended as it has been known to cause a variety of issues in the past. As a matter of fact, modifying parameters in general is not recommended unless instructed to do so by a 3CX Engineer as this will, not only potentially cause issues, but also render the 3CX configuration unsupported.

 

[StartSomethingGood]

Thanks all. I'm going to test out some of these solutions on my system and see if any of them may work and report back.

 

[ChrisC_3CX]

Great! Let us know how it goes!

 

[StartSomethingGood]

I looked into call queues but they want the phones to ring immediately so people aren't waiting to be picked up, so that solution didn't work but it's good to that is there for future reference.

Here is my test setup at the moment, which I think works to some extent.

• 3CX Standard Hosted, 4SC
• 2 Yealink T23P phones (3 button)
• Button 1 is labeled "Pickup" which is just a custom *20* speed dial
• Button 2 and 3 are shared parking 1 and 2 respectively
• Incoming DID to Ring Group (Ring All) to both phones

If I'm on a call on Phone1 and a 2nd call comes in, Phone2 rings. Phone1 shows no indication of the 2nd incoming call and does not ring, but I can hear Phone2 ring because of close proximity.

On Phone1, I park my original call and then press the "Pickup" button. It picks up the call that is ringing Phone2 (ring group). I can then park the 2nd call and resume the 1st or even park the 2nd and accept a 3rd call. Up to 3 calls with a 3 button phone.

Not ideal because of the required extra button, close proximity and delay after waiting for *20* to process, but it works well enough for this situation. Making sure the users understand the process well is the other half of the battle.

Do you know if there is anything on the 3CX roadmap to add the ALLOWUSEBUSYOPTFORGROUP into production on hosted?

 

[ChrisC_3CX]

Do you know if there is anything on the 3CX roadmap to add the ALLOWUSEBUSYOPTFORGROUP into production on hosted?

If you're asking if we'll ever grant access to the 3CX parameters to hosted by 3CX instances, then no, it is not in our plans and I'm fairly certain that this will not change due to security reasons.

Also, I'm obligated to remind you that we would NOT recommend altering the particular parameter's value anyway.