Call Queues - Hiveku Builder

A call queue holds inbound callers in line until an agent is available. Unlike a ring group (which rings phones now), a queue parks callers with hold music, announces their position, offers a callback option, and routes to whichever agent comes free first. Manage queues in /dashboard/communications/ under the Queues tab.

When to use a queue vs a ring group

Use a ring group	Use a queue
Small team (2-5 agents)	Larger team (5+ agents)
Predictable, low call volume	Variable or high volume
Caller hangs up if no answer	Caller waits with hold music
No callback feature needed	Callbacks reduce abandons
Simple routing	Position announcements, ETA, agent presence

You can chain them — a ring group fails into a queue when no one answers in 20 seconds.

Anatomy of a queue

Hold music

Plays while the caller waits. Default options or upload your own.

Position announcement

“You are caller number 3 in line.” Optional, configurable interval.

Estimated wait time

“Your estimated wait is 4 minutes.” Computed from rolling average handle time.

Callback option

“Press 1 to keep your place and we’ll call you back.” Recovers ~30% of would-be abandons.

Agent presence

Agents log in/out, set break, set busy. Routing skips unavailable agents.

Strategy

Round-robin, longest-idle, fewest-calls, random — same as ring groups.

Create a queue

Name and describe

“Sales Hold”, “Support — Tier 1”, “Billing”.

Add agents

Pick the extensions that can take calls from this queue. An extension can be in multiple queues.

Pick a strategy

Round-robin, longest-idle, fewest-calls today, or random.

Set hold music

Pick from default playlists or upload your own.

Configure announcements

Position announcement on/off + interval (e.g., every 30 seconds), ETA on/off.

Configure callbacks

Allow callbacks on/off, after how long in queue (e.g., offer after 60 seconds).

Set max wait and overflow

After N minutes in queue, what happens — voicemail, another queue, an IVR, hang up.

Hold music

Three options:

Default playlists
Upload your own
Mixed audio (music + announcements)

Hiveku ships several royalty-free playlists — calm, upbeat, classical, jazz. Switch instantly.

.mp3 or .wav files. Total playlist length should be at least 5 minutes to avoid noticeable looping.

Use only music you have rights to. Royalty-free libraries (Epidemic Sound, Artlist, etc.) are safe; popular music played to callers without a license is a copyright violation.

Position and ETA announcements

Setting	Effect
Position every 30 sec	Caller hears “You are caller 3” then “now caller 2” then “now caller 1”
Position only at entry	One announcement, then music
ETA every 60 sec	Caller hears “Estimated wait 4 minutes” updates
Both	Position + ETA each interval
Neither	Pure music

ETA is computed from the rolling average handle time of recent calls in this queue, multiplied by your position. It’s an estimate, not a guarantee — but it’s far more useful than silence.

Callback option

When enabled, after N seconds in queue (default 60), callers hear: “Press 1 to keep your place in line and we’ll call you back when an agent is available.” When the caller presses 1:

They hang up
Their position is preserved in the queue
When an agent becomes free for their turn, the system first calls the agent, then bridges to the caller
If the caller doesn’t answer the callback, they’re skipped and the next caller (or callback) is offered

Callbacks recover roughly 30% of would-be abandons in our analytics. They’re the single highest-impact queue feature.

Agent presence

Agents have presence states they toggle from their phone or browser:

State	Effect
Available	Eligible to receive queue calls
On call	Currently on a call (set automatically)
On break	Logged out for break — no calls
Wrap-up	Post-call work — temporary skip, auto-returns to Available after configurable wrap-up time
Busy	Manual hold — no calls until manually returned to Available

The Queues tab shows live presence for each queue: “3 agents available, 1 on call, 1 on break”.

Wrap-up time

After a call ends, the agent is auto-set to “Wrap-up” for N seconds (default 15) so they can finish notes before the next call. Configure per queue. Set to 0 to disable.

Overflow

When a caller has been in queue past max_wait_seconds, the call fails over to the configured overflow:

Voicemail — Default. Caller leaves a message.
Another queue — Spill to a backup team.
IVR — “Sorry for the wait, press 1 to leave a message or 2 to be called back.”
External number — Forward to an answering service.

Service-level alerts

Get alerted when queue health degrades:

Average wait time exceeds N minutes
Abandon rate exceeds N%
Available agents drops to 0

Alerts go to email, Slack, or webhook. Configure in the queue’s detail page.

Analytics

The Analytics tab shows per-queue metrics:

Inbound volume — calls offered, answered, abandoned
Service level — % answered within N seconds (default 30)
Average wait time
Average handle time
Abandon rate
Per-agent performance — calls taken, avg handle time, idle time

Filter by date range, hour-of-day, day-of-week.

API

# Create a queue
curl -X POST https://api.hiveku.com/api/communications/queues \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer hk_live_xxx" \
  -d '{
    "name": "Sales Hold",
    "strategy": "longest_idle",
    "agents": ["101", "102", "103"],
    "hold_music_playlist": "default-calm",
    "callback_enabled": true,
    "callback_offer_after_seconds": 60,
    "max_wait_seconds": 600
  }'

# Live queue status
curl https://api.hiveku.com/api/communications/queues/q_01HQ/status \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer hk_live_xxx"

Troubleshooting

ETA is way off

ETA is based on the last 20 calls’ average handle time. Right after launch, or after a routing change, the sample is small and ETA is noisy. It stabilizes after a couple dozen calls.

Callbacks aren't being attempted

Check that at least one agent is “Available” and the queue has cleared the original caller’s position. Callbacks fire when their slot reaches the front.

Hold music sounds choppy

Hold music is transcoded to PCMU/PCMA for compatibility. If you hear glitches, the source file may be corrupted or have an unusual sample rate — re-export at 8 kHz mono and re-upload.

​When to use a queue vs a ring group

​Anatomy of a queue

Hold music

Position announcement

Estimated wait time

Callback option

Agent presence

Strategy

​Create a queue

​Hold music

​Position and ETA announcements

​Callback option

​Agent presence

​Wrap-up time

​Overflow

​Service-level alerts

​Analytics

​API

​Troubleshooting

​Next steps

Ring groups

Compliance

When to use a queue vs a ring group

Anatomy of a queue

Create a queue

Hold music

Position and ETA announcements

Callback option

Agent presence

Wrap-up time

Overflow

Service-level alerts

Analytics

API

Troubleshooting

Next steps