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How to use announcements in queues

PBX can play various announcements to callers in queue:
  • his position in queue (announce-position)
  • average wait time (announce-holdtime)
  • recurrent "Thank you for waiting" announcements (queue-thankyou)
  • any other customized sound file

It is important to set the values ​​that define how these announcements are played to the caller, because announcing too often their position in queue or playing too often the average wait time message can disturb the caller, causing him to end the call or to have inappropriate behavior towards agents.

Please note!
The announcements are ONLY played within the timeout / retry period set on the queue (see above).
As a rule, this works properly, but in the event that all queue members are busy / unavailable, the timeout / retry period is ignored. In this case sound files are played as per your setting of the announce-frequency parameter (see below).
If a queue member is available and is called by a queue, the timeout / retry values ​​become critical.

Example :
- announcements have to be played every 20 seconds
- the timeout value is set 60 seconds
In this case, when a queue member is called, announcements will be heard only at every 60 seconds!

Available options about what and when to announce to callers:

  • min-announce-frequency = defines a minimum time which must pass between position/holdtime announcements. This stops the caller receiving multiple queue position announcement messages in quick succession for a queue that has many callers and is being serviced quickly.
    The variable is set by default 10 (seconds).
    This variable is useful in a queue with many waiting callers who are served quickly, therefore their position is changing frequently.
  • announce-frequency = controls how often the queue position (if ‘announce-position’ is set), estimated hold time ("announce-holdtime") and the thank you file ("queue-thankyou") are played
    The variable is set by default 30 (announcements play every 30 seconds). This value is ignored if the caller's position in queue has changed (see min-announce-frequency)!
  • announce-holdtime = Yes / No; it defines whether the estimated holdtime will be communicated with other announcements
    The variable is set by default no = the caller queue position is never communicated.
    If you set the value yes, the required messages have to be uploaded in advance in Sound files section.
  • announce-position = Yes / No; it controls the decision to announce the caller's position in the queue.
    The variable is set by default with the value no, in this case only the holdtime announcements are played (when announce-holdtime= yes )
    If you set the value yes , the required messages have to be uploaded in advance in Sound files section.

Available in other languages: RO

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