Basic Queues is the standard SmartPBX queue workspace for accounts that do not include the paid Contact Center add-on. It distributes calls to a team, controls agent availability, and shows basic live queue activity. It does not include the paid Contact Center dashboard, licensed supervisor experience, or advanced reporting.

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Before you start

• Confirm that Basic Queues is the intended service and that you are authorized to change live call routing.
• Write down the queue name, extension, agents, distribution strategy, caller audio, maximum wait, and timeout destination before editing.
• Prepare a safe timeout destination such as a staffed team, approved voicemail, or another tested feature.
• Schedule changes for a low-volume period and have a rollback plan for any live queue.
• Confirm recording consent, notification, retention, access, and licensing before enabling Record Agent. The setting shown in the portal is not approval to record calls.

Open Basic Queues

The numbered markers in each image match the number badges directly below it.

Open Applications: Select Applications in the main navigation.

Select Basic Queues: Opens the queue workspace.

Review queues

Choose queue workspace: Queues shows configuration, Agents manages team members, Status opens live agent state, and Create starts a new item in the selected view.

Find queues: Search before creating a duplicate queue or extension.

Review queue details: Check the extension, strategy, assigned-agent count, tier-rule state, and description. Use the row actions only after confirming which live routes use the queue.

Create or edit queue settings

Select Create, or edit the intended queue.

Name and extension: Use a clear operational name and an unused extension from the approved numbering plan. This extension is the destination that other routes use to enter the queue.

Choose queue strategy: Select how eligible, available agents should receive calls. The choices are explained below.

Select caller audio: Choose an approved greeting and Music on Hold source. Use the plus control only when you are authorized to add a new greeting.

Configure tier rules: Leave this off unless the queue design intentionally uses agent levels and positions. Confirm tier behavior with support before changing a live deployment.

Save queue: Save only after the settings, agents, advanced timeout route, and test plan agree.

Queue strategies

• Ring All: Offers a call to all eligible available agents together. Use it when the whole team should have the same chance to answer and simultaneous ringing is acceptable.
• Longest Idle Agent: Selects the eligible agent who has been idle longest. This is a common choice for balancing opportunity over time.
• Round Robin: Rotates calls across eligible agents instead of beginning with the same person each time.
• Top Down: Starts with the highest-priority configured agent order. Use it when a defined first-choice sequence is intentional.
• Least Talk Time: Prefers the eligible agent with the lowest accumulated talk time.
• Fewest Calls: Prefers the eligible agent who has answered the fewest calls.
• Sequential Agent Order: Proceeds through the configured agent order. Use it only when that sequence has been deliberately designed and tested.
• Random: Selects among eligible agents without a fixed sequence.

Strategy selection affects workload and customer wait time. If you are replacing an existing strategy, compare live results during a controlled test period and be ready to restore the previous value.

Assign agents to the queue

Open the queue's Agents tab.

Add queue agents: Select only agents who should receive this queue's calls. After selection, level and position controls may appear; keep the rollout-approved values unless your routing plan defines a tier order.

Save agent choices: Confirm coverage and backup staffing before saving. Removing the last available agent can leave callers waiting until the timeout route is reached.

Set wait limits and the timeout route

Open Advanced.

Limit queue wait: Set the approved maximum wait and no-agent wait. A zero value can have special behavior; do not assume it means an immediate timeout without confirming the implementation plan.

Prefix caller ID: Add a short, recognizable prefix only when agents need to identify the queue before answering. Keep enough of the original caller identity visible for return calls and records.

Route timed-out calls: Choose the action first, then its target. Use a destination that has already been created and tested; an unset or incorrect timeout route can strand callers.

Save advanced settings: Recheck the destination and wait values before saving.

Review and create agents

Select Agents in the queue workspace.

Choose agent workspace: Queues returns to queue configuration, Agents manages agent records, Status opens live state, and Create starts a new agent.

Find agents: Search before creating a duplicate agent for the same extension or person.

Review agent details: Confirm the agent ID, type, call timeout, contact, default status, and number of assigned queues. Edit or delete only after checking every affected queue.

Select Create to add an agent.

Choose agent contact: Select the managed extension or approved destination that should receive queue calls.

Name and type: Use a recognizable agent name. Callback is the normal choice for offering calls to a selected contact; use UUID Standby only when support has designed that specialized deployment.

Set status and timeout: The default status can be Logged Out, Available, or On Break. Set a call timeout long enough for the agent to answer without making every caller wait unnecessarily.

Save agent: Save, then assign the agent to the intended queue. Creating an agent alone does not add that agent to a queue.

Use advanced agent settings carefully

Open the agent's Advanced tab.

Protect agent access: Treat the Agent ID and Agent Password as confidential credentials. Use unique approved values and never include a password in a ticket, screenshot, or shared document.

Set no-answer behavior: Max No Answer and No Answer Delay determine how the service reacts when an agent repeatedly misses offers. Keep rollout-approved defaults unless you understand the staffing effect.

Set recovery delays: Wrap Up Time provides post-call work time. Reject and Busy delays control when an agent can be offered another call after those outcomes. Tune these values with the team, not during an incident.

Control agent recording: Do not enable or leave recording enabled until service entitlement, consent, notification, retention, access, and download rules have been approved. Contact support if the required policy is unclear.

Monitor live queue activity

Open Status from Basic Queues or select Active Basic Queues from the Status menu.

Refresh live data: Use automatic refresh for observation or Refresh for a one-time update. Repeated manual refreshes do not repair a routing problem.

Return to configuration: Select Basic Queues when an approved setting needs review. Do not edit a live queue only because one snapshot looks unusual.

Review queue activity: Compare waiting, trying, answered, and active-call counts with the number of available agents. A temporarily unavailable status view does not necessarily mean calls have stopped.

The live table uses these values:

• Agents is the number assigned to the queue. It does not mean those agents are signed in or available; use Agent Status for that.
• Waiting means the caller is in the queue and is not currently being offered to an agent.
• Trying means SmartPBX is offering the call to an agent.
• Answered means the caller is connected to an agent.
• Active Calls counts every live caller row. It can be greater than the three displayed state counts when another temporary call state is present.
• Time is the elapsed time since the caller entered the queue. For an answered call, it includes the connected conversation and is not just hold time.
• Agent identifies the agent being tried or serving the call.

Automatic refresh is off when the page opens. Turn it on only while actively observing; it updates approximately every five seconds. The page is read-only: it cannot end, transfer, monitor, or record a call, and it does not show whether recording is enabled.

If live call data is unavailable, the page can show zero counts even while calls exist. Zero can also mean the queue is not loaded on the live calling service. Confirm with a controlled test call, Agent Status, registrations, and Call History before treating zero as proof that the queue is quiet.

Change live agent status

Open the Status view from the Basic Queues workspace.

Use bulk status: Select agents first, then use a bulk action only for an approved team-wide change. Confirm the selection count before continuing.

Return or refresh: Back returns to Basic Queues. Refresh retrieves the latest visible state.

Review live status: Compare runtime status, current state, default status, answered calls, and no-answer count before changing an agent.

Set and save status: Choose Available, On Break, or Logged Out, then save. Confirm the runtime status updates before relying on the agent for live coverage.

Connect and test the queue

1. Save the queue, its agents, and the approved timeout destination.
2. Point a test route to the queue extension. Do not move the production phone number until the controlled route works.
3. Set at least one test agent to Available and confirm the intended device is registered and reachable.
4. Call from an approved test number. Confirm greeting and hold audio, agent order, displayed caller identity, answer behavior, wrap-up behavior, and timeout routing.
5. Repeat with all agents unavailable to prove the no-agent path.
6. After approval, connect the real inbound route and monitor the first live calls. Restore the previous route if callers cannot reach a safe destination.

When to contact support

Contact support when Basic Queues is missing, the licensed service or permissions are unclear, you need help choosing a strategy, a queue receives no calls after the route is connected, agent state will not update, live activity is unavailable, caller audio or timeout routing is wrong, or recording policy has not been approved.

Applies to SmartPBX version 1.9.5.