rolling incoming calls from one hunt group to another if no agents available

[jtg0017]

Greetings all,
I have a question regarding hunt groups on the Mitel 5000, specifically having a call roll from one hunt group to another. I need calls to a certain DID (one example, the line for our Puerto Rico customers) to try for an agent in Hunt Group 1 (call it HG 100), and if no agents are logged in or available, roll over to another Hunt Group (call it HG 200).

In this example, Spanish-speaking agents … if I have 5 bi-linguals in the HG 100 Agents list, but none of them are on duty, I’d like the calls to our Puerto Rico DID to check for agents associated with HG 100, if none are logged on then roll the call to HG 200.
I’ve tried to accomplish this with the “Overflow” and “Recall” timers from HG 100 pointing to HG 200, but we are seeing some strange effects. Calls are getting “stuck” and ticking up our “Longest Holding” stats despite an agent from HG 200 being on the line with the customer. Also, an agent on HG 200 will be on the phone with a Puerto Rico customer, and the call will transfer to another agent. Seems very strange, bad customer experience and I suspect this is due to my inexperience with programming the switch.
Does anyone have advice on a less problematic approach to making this rollover happen “cleanly” when an agent is not available for HG 100? Thanks in advance.

[DND ON]

Press F1 while in hunt group programming for a good tutorial on how hunt groups work. Announcement and Overflow probably don't do what you think they do. Overflow is causing your problem with active calls being pulled back to another agent.

You basically have two options:

Make the second hunt group the Recall destination of the first hunt group. The obvious issues are that the calls will remain in queue in the first hunt group until the Recall timer expires (even if no agents are available), then will be presented as a new call in the second hunt group, resulting in excessive wait times.

The other option is to add agents from the second hunt group into the first hunt group. You can experiment with extension lists so calls are always presented to certain agents first, or use linear routing to individual members or agents.

[jtg0017]

That's great info, thanks DND ON. I have removed the Overflow to the second Hunt Group, hopefully fixing some of that funky behavior. I did try to mitigate the effects of the call going to the back of the line in the second hunt group, by making it a max priority hunt group with every agent a member, so the "Recalled" call goes to the first available agent on the floor.

I'll definitely research the extension lists and linear routing, I've seen those terms when I'm poking around the switch but didn't realize they might be applicable here. Our agents don't have assigned seats, so routing by extension might not be an option but I'll definitely look into it. Really appreciate the advice!!

[DND ON]

Routing by agent or extension doesn’t really matter, the concepts are the same. Using Agent IDs does allow you a little more flexibility. Some more food for thought:
 
If you want certain agents to do double duty by answering both hunt groups, make them an agent in both groups. Give their primary hunt group higher priority. They will be available to answer calls in both groups, but calls to their primary group will take precedence.

Assign Agent IDs to hunt groups in number ranges, to minimize confusion. For example: 10 to 19 are in hunt group 1; 20 to 29 are in hunt group 2; 30 to 39 are in both. Supervisors can assign Agent IDs to specific employees as workflow changes dictate.

In any event, read through the tutorial so you have a thorough understanding, and don’t be afraid to experiment. The 5000 has great ACD functionality; you’ll find a solution.