Need to find a better solution for your customer service woes? Line hunting can help you offer faster and more reliable customer support. Here is everything you need to know about line hunting and hunt groups.
What is Line Hunting?
Line hunting — also known as call hunting, hunt groups, and call routing — is a business phone system strategy that connects calls to multiple phone lines either simultaneously or one after the other. The idea behind line hunting is to ensure that no call goes unanswered and callers don’t have to endure long waiting times.
How Does a Hunt Group Work?
Hunt groups work by letting calls run through a sequence of phones or let them ring on multiple devices at the same time to ensure an operator answers. For instance, an incoming call may ring on multiple phone lines and devices, also called simultaneous ringing or ring groups. Or, you can have calls go through a sequence of agents until someone answers the call, also known as sequential ringing. In both cases, if no one answers, the call is sent to voicemail as a last resort.
The best part of using line hunting or hunt groups is that the caller has no idea that the call is traveling to different lines or agents. In other words, they are not aware that the first two rings may go to one agent and the next two to the next agent in line.
As a business, you have complete control over how you want your calls to move through the system. Additionally, depending on your provider, you may even be able to control how many rings each line gets before it moves to the next agent.
Combining Ring Groups and Hunt Groups
Businesses can use both ring groups and hunt groups to their advantage. Line hunting ensures that the call travels through a sequence to get to the next available agent while ring groups ring on multiple devices so that the first available employee can answer.
Fortunately, with VoIP numbers, businesses do not have to choose between one or the other call routing option. With both solutions available, your office will be prepared to answer calls quickly, reducing wait times and missed calls.
The Role Hosted VoIP Plays
A VoIP phone system can help your business improve customer service and caller experience by using advanced communication tools like call routing and international forwarding options. Furthermore, employees and agents who are part of these groups do not have to present in the same office or location to use the service. This is because VoIP works over the internet, enabling users to connect no matter their location or device.
Types of Line Hunting
There are a few different types of line hunting that you can implement in your office. Let’s look at these in more detail.
1. Multiline hunting
With multiline hunting, multiple phone lines work as a single group. When a call comes in, if a line is busy, the call moves to the next available one. The caller hears a busy signal only if none of the lines on the group are available.
2. Linear hunting
Agents are listed in a line or sequence. The incoming call travels through this line and if the first line is busy, the call moves to the next available line. This continues down the sequence until someone answers.
3. Circular hunting
In circular hunting, also known as round-robin routing, calls go down the sequence and start at the beginning of the line, if no one answers them. In this type of hunting, calls move down the sequence and start from the beginning again, even if an agent in between becomes available.
4. Most-idle hunting
In this type of hunting, calls are sent to the line that has been idle the longest. This is a good way to maintain balance and distribute the workflow across representatives.
Considering Line Hunting for Your Business?
We’ve got the solution for you. United World Telecom offers both hunt groups and ring groups so your business can offer quick and reliable customer service. Find out more by calling us today or chatting with an expert!