17.8. Hunt groups

17.8. Hunt groups
	Chapter 17. VoIP

The basic idea of a hunt group is simple: It has a number, which when called causes a number of extensions to be rung, perhaps in order, to hunt for someone to take the calls. In practice there are a number of options as to how the hunt group works.

Creating a hunt group involves picking an extension number. In the same way as a telephone user is set up, you can also set a display name and DDI number.

The main set of numbers that the hunt group will call is specified in the ring attribute. By default this causes all of the numbers listed to be rung at once.

Tip

You can list internal extension numbers for ring and overflow lists, or you can include full DDIs or even external phone numbers to be included.

Tip

It is possible to set a wrap up time on a phone (a per-telephone setting), which stops group calls ringing the phone for a period of time after the call ends. This is to allow notes to be made, etc, after the call.

17.8.1. Ring Type

You can specify a different type of ringing rather than just ringing all phones at once:

Table 17.1. Ring Type

Type	Operation
all	Ring all phones at once
cascade	Ring phones in a sequence, but do not stop ringing existing phones when starting to ring the next one
sequence	Ring phones in a sequence, ringing one phone at a time

You can set the timing used for calls to progress through the list of phones.

17.8.2. Ring order

When not ringing all phones at once, you can control the order they are rung:

Table 17.2. Ring Order

Order	Operation
strict	Use the order you have listed the phones, starting from the first phone each time the hunt group is called
random	Use a random order
cyclic	Ring in order that you have listed, but continue that pattern on the next call rather than starting again
oldest	Consider how recently a phone has been in use, and ring the oldest first. This only works with internal phones, not external numbers which are always rung last

17.8.3. Overflow

You can specify an overflow set of phone numbers to be rung if the call has been ringing too long. You can configure how long is too long. When you get to overflow time all phones are rung including the overflow list.

17.8.4. Out of hours

You can set a profile on the hunt group, which is typically a time and day based profile. When the profile is off the hunt group does not work, or you can set an alternative ring group to apply when out of profile. This can cascade through out of profile groups. You can, instead, set an alternative ring list to use when out of hours number.

Tip

The ring list and overflow list cannot use the numbers of other hunt groups, but the out of hours number can be another hunt group number.


17.7. VoIP call carriers		17.9. Call pickup/steal