Setting an Offline Failover for a Call Queue

In the event of an outage, such as those due to Electricity or Internet Service Provider issues, the Call Queues can be set up to automatically forward phone calls to a preassigned destination. This will allow calls to continue coming into a secondary destination such as a Cell Phone, Auto Attendant, Voicemailbox, or Answering Service. 

 Requirements:

• Office Manager portal access, or access to edit call queues

Set-Up

For this to be set up, there are two main settings that need to be adjusted

1. The setting for the Call Queue set to Require Agents set to 'Yes'
2. Call Queue User having Destination set for When Offline

1. Adjust the Settings for the Call Queue

1. Navigate to the Call Queues section of the Stratus Web Portal.
2. Select your desired Call Queue to adjust the settings.
   
3. Under the Pre Queue Options Tab, set Require Agents to 'Yes'. Click Save. 
   

2. Adjust the Call Queue User's Answering Rules

1. Navigate to the Users section of the Stratus Web Portal.
2. Select your desired Call Queue to adjust the settings.
   
3. Navigate to the Answering Rules Tab of the User
   
4. There should be a Default Time Frame listed. Click the Edit button on the far right-hand side to bring up the Edit Answering Rules Menu 
5. Select the checkbox for When Offline. Then Enter in your desired destination for the calls to go to in the event of an outage. Click Save. 
   

Destination Options

• A cellphone (3rd party 10-digit number)
• Answering Service (3rd party 10-digit number)
• Alternative Call Queue
  • Such as second physical location
  • Such as a call queue with Cell Phones for Remote Agents
• Voicemailbox
• Auto Attendant

Result

Incoming Calls that would normally end up at the call queue to be answered by phones will now be routed to the preassigned destination listed in the When Offline field. 

Notes

• ALL phones and destinations in the call queue need to be offline. This means that if a single phone is online, the failover will not occur. This could happen if Agents in the queue are at different physical locations or if a remote agent is listed in the queue. 
• Agent's Statuses can be viewed under Edit Agents. 
  • ONLINE = Green. On a Call = Red
    
  • OFFLINE = Grey
    
• An Agent's Offline status may take up to 5 minutes to be recognized by the portal. Once all agents show as Offline, then the failover settings will start to work.