When a call reaches your team, a routing strategy decides which phone rings. The right choice depends on team size, how urgent calls are and whether you want work shared evenly.
Ring all (simultaneous)
Every available extension rings at once; the first person to pick up gets the call.
- Good for: small teams and urgent lines where speed matters most.
- Watch out for: the same quick responders taking most of the calls, and noise in shared offices.
Round robin
Calls rotate through the team in order, so each person gets the next call in turn.
- Good for: sales teams where leads should be shared fairly.
- Watch out for: callers waiting while the system tries someone who is away — set a short ring time before moving on.
Longest idle
The call goes to the agent who has been free the longest. This balances workload naturally and is the default in many contact-centre queues.
Fixed order (hunt group)
Extensions ring one after another in a set order. Useful when a primary person should answer, with backups behind them — for example a receptionist, then the office manager.
Skills-based routing
Calls go to agents with the right skill — language, product or seniority — usually after an IVR choice. It improves first-call resolution but needs well-maintained agent profiles.
Always plan the overflow
Whatever strategy you use, decide what happens when nobody answers:
- Ring the first group for 15–25 seconds.
- Overflow to a second group or a manager.
- Offer voicemail, with messages sent to a shared inbox.
- Outside business hours, skip straight to the after-hours message.
On ReachMeLine, each extension can be linked to a phone number so incoming calls ring it, and several extensions can share the same number for team coverage.
