A Routing Strategy defines the logic used to distribute incoming calls to your team. It determines which agents are notified and in what order, allowing admins to balance customer wait times with agent workload.
When configuring a phone number, you must select the strategy that best aligns with your contact center's operational flow.
1. Ring All (Default)
The Ring All strategy is a broadcast-style method where every available agent is notified of an incoming call at once.
- How it works: When a call reaches the front of a queue, the system sends a notification to all available agents simultaneously.
- Connection: The first agent to answer the call is connected to the caller.
- Cleanup: As soon as the call is answered, the notification is automatically cleared for all other agents.
- Primary Goal: To ensure the call is picked up as quickly as possible by whoever is ready first.
2. Longest Idle Agent First
The Longest Idle Agent First strategy uses a "waterfall" logic to distribute calls. It focuses on workload balancing by routing the call to the agent who has been idle(not on call) for the longest duration.
How the Waterfall Routing Works:
- Selection: When a caller reaches the front of the queue, the system identifies the available agent who has not answered a call for the longest time.
- Notification: A call notification is sent to that specific agent.
- The Response Window: The agent has up to the configured
max_call_answer_timeto accept or reject the call. - Sequential Offering: If the agent does not answer within that time or declines the call, the notification expires. The call is then offered to the next eligible agent (the one with the next longest idle time).
- Cycle Exclusion: Each agent who misses or declines the call is excluded from the remainder of that specific routing cycle.
- Passive State: If the system runs out of eligible agents and the caller is still waiting, the call moves to a Passive State. In this state, any agent with access to that queue can see the call and pick it up manually.
- Resolution & Termination: This process continues until one of the following occurs:
- The call is answered (clearing all pending notifications).
- The caller exceeds the
max_queue_wait_time(the call drops or moves to voicemail if configured). - The caller abandons the call (the system creates an abandoned call ticket if configured).
- Handling Parallel Calls: In cases of multiple incoming calls, the system processes them in a waterfall sequence. The second call in the queue is picked for routing as soon as the first call is "cleared" by the first agent in its cycle (via acceptance, decline, or timeout). This ensures that waiting time is managed efficiently even during high-traffic periods.