A ring group and a call queue look similar and behave very differently under load. A ring group rings people and gives up. A queue holds the caller, plays them something, and keeps trying. Pick the wrong one and you either lose calls at busy times or you put two callers a day through a hold system they did not need.
3CX version 20, which is the only version 3CX currently documents. The skills-based strategies mentioned at the end are AI edition only.
Creating either one
- Open call handling. In the 3CX admin console, go to Admin Console, then Call Handling.
- Add what you need. Click Add Ring Group or Add Queue.
- Add the members and pick a strategy. The strategy is the part that matters. What each one does is below.
Ring group strategies
| Strategy | What it does |
|---|---|
| Ring All | Rings every member at once until somebody answers or the ring time runs out |
| Prioritized Hunt | Rings members one at a time from the top of the list downwards until somebody answers |
| Paging | Announcement to the group rather than a call |
| Paging Multicast | The same, over multicast |
It always starts at the top of the list, so the person at the top takes most of the calls and the person at the bottom takes almost none. That is sometimes exactly what you want, for example a senior person who should only be reached if nobody else picks up. It is not what you want for an evenly loaded team.
Queue polling strategies
Queues give you considerably more control, and the choice between them is really a choice about what you are optimising for.
| Strategy | What it does | Reach for it when |
|---|---|---|
| Ring All | Rings everyone at once until answered or the maximum wait is reached | Small team, every call matters |
| Prioritized Hunt | Sequentially from the top of the list | There is a genuine pecking order |
| Hunt Random Start | Picks the first agent at random, which spreads calls evenly | You want fairness with no bookkeeping |
| Round Robin | Distributes evenly among logged in agents | Fairness is the explicit goal |
| Longest Waiting | Goes to whoever has been waiting longest | Agents should not sit idle while others are hammered |
| Least Talk Time | Goes to whoever has talked least in total | Balancing workload over a shift |
| Fewest Answered | Goes to whoever has answered fewest calls | Balancing call counts rather than minutes |
| Hunt by Threes Random | Rings three random agents at once | Larger team, want speed without ringing everybody |
| Hunt by Threes Prioritized | Rings three at a time in list order | The same, but with a running order |
The ones you may not have
3CX also offers skills based strategies, SB Ring All, SB Hunt Random Start, SB Round Robin and SB Fewest Answered, with escalation that can be availability driven, time driven or cumulative. These exist on the AI edition only. If you are on Pro, Basic or SMB you will not find them, and that is licensing rather than a fault. Worth knowing before you promise a client skills based routing.
Choosing well
- Two or three people and a handful of calls a day: ring group, Ring All. Anything more is over-engineering.
- A published main number: queue, so callers are held rather than dumped.
- A team where the same person answers everything: Round Robin or Fewest Answered, and the problem was never technical.
- A senior fallback: ring group on Prioritized Hunt with them at the bottom.
- Whatever you choose, set the fallback deliberately. The default behaviour when nobody answers is the thing that actually decides whether a call is lost.
Common questions
- Can somebody be in several groups?
- Yes, and it is common. Watch the total ring load on people who are in four of them.
- Agents say they never get queue calls.
- Check whether they are logged in to the queue. Several strategies only poll logged in agents, which catches people out constantly.
- Can I see how the queue is performing?
- Yes, 3CX reports on queues. Ask us and we will set up something that lands in your inbox weekly rather than you remembering to look.
- Should the out of hours route be different?
- Almost always. Office hours routing and out of hours routing are separate decisions and it is worth making the second one on purpose.
If you need a hand
Call the service desk on 03333 22 11 00 or email support@easylifeit.com. If we manage your 3CX we can build and test this with you, which is quicker than discovering the routing is wrong during a busy morning.
Take this guide with you
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Click paths and every strategy description checked against 3CX’s Call Queues & Ring Groups V20 administration manual, September 2026. Edition availability is 3CX’s, and can change.
