Call Queue Systems and Wallboards for Business
No caller left ringing out, and a live screen that shows who's waiting and for how long.
Indigo Unified Communications sets up call queue systems and wallboards for businesses and charities across Glasgow and Scotland. A call queue holds callers in line, plays a message or music, and passes each call to the next free person. A wallboard shows your team, live, how many callers are waiting and how long they've waited. 8x8, 3CX and Microsoft Teams Phone all offer call queues. We design the queue with you, set it up and support it from Glasgow.
What is a call queue?
A call queue answers calls when everyone is busy. Instead of ringing out or going to voicemail, the caller hears a message and waits in line. As soon as someone is free, the phone system passes them the call that has waited longest.
It's different from a hunt group or ring group, which rings a set of phones at once or in turn and then gives up. A queue keeps hold of the caller. Most businesses use both: a ring group for a small office and a queue for a busy sales, booking or support line. What is a hunt group? →
What a good queue does for your callers
- A clear message so callers know they've reached the right place
- A fair order, so the longest wait is answered first
- Queue position or waiting-time messages, where the platform supports them, so people know what to expect
- A callback option, so callers can hang up and be called back instead of waiting
- A way out, such as voicemail or another team, after a set time
- Out-of-hours routing, so evening calls get a sensible message. IVR and auto attendant →
What is a wallboard?
A wallboard is a live screen, usually on a TV in the office or on a supervisor's desktop, showing how the phones are doing right now. Typical figures are:
- Callers waiting and the longest wait
- Calls answered and missed today
- Which agents are free, busy or logged out
- How many calls were answered within your target time
When the team can see the queue building, people pick up without being asked.
How queues and wallboards work on 8x8, 3CX and Teams Phone
| 8x8 | 3CX | |
|---|---|---|
| Call queues | Yes, with Advanced Queue Management for teams outside a contact centre | Yes, with strategies such as round-robin and skills-based, depending on the 3CX edition, which we confirm in your review |
| Callback | Queued and web callback | Yes |
| Wallboards | Real-time wallboards in contact centre analytics | Real-time wallboards and supervisor dashboards on PRO |
| Listen, whisper and barge | Yes, on X4 licences and above | Yes |
| Reports | Queue and ring group reports, scheduled reports | Scheduled reports, plus Power BI and Grafana on PRO |
Microsoft Teams Phone includes call queues and callback too, which suits simpler queues for teams already in Teams. We can provide a wallboard for Teams Phone queues as well. Microsoft Teams calling →
3CX says its contact centre features come with no per-agent fees, while 8x8 is priced per user. How we price phone systems → For larger or multi-channel teams, see cloud contact centre →.
What we set up
- A review of your call volumes, busy times and missed calls
- Queues for each team, with the right order and time limits
- Welcome and waiting messages, and music on hold →
- Callback, voicemail and overflow to another team
- Wallboard screens supplied and sized for your office, with the wallboard view and supervisor dashboards set up on 8x8, 3CX or Teams Phone
- Agent log-in and log-out, so part-time staff only get calls when they're working
- Training for agents and supervisors, and support from our Glasgow team
Who uses call queues
- Leisure and entertainment: booking lines that get busy after an announcement or before a holiday, where every missed call can be a lost booking. Leisure and entertainment →
- Charities: helplines where callers must not be left ringing out, and volunteers log in and out of the queue. Phone systems for charities →
- Construction and renewable energy: a head office sales or service line that shares calls between office staff, while field teams stay reachable on the mobile app. Construction → · Renewable energy →
To see the trends behind the live screen, such as your busiest hours each week, see call reporting and analytics →.
Frequently asked questions
What is a call queue system?
A call queue system holds callers in line when all your staff are busy, plays a message or music, then passes each call to the next free person in order. It stops calls ringing out or going straight to voicemail. 8x8, 3CX and Microsoft Teams Phone all include call queues, and Indigo Unified Communications sets them up for businesses across Scotland.
What's the difference between a call queue and a hunt group?
A hunt group, or ring group, rings a set of phones at once or in turn, and if no one answers, the call goes to voicemail or rings out. A call queue holds the caller in line until someone is free, with messages while they wait. Hunt groups suit small offices. Queues suit busy sales, booking and support lines.
What does a call centre wallboard show?
A wallboard is a live screen showing how many callers are waiting, the longest wait, calls answered and missed today, and which agents are free or busy. It's usually shown on a TV in the office, which we can supply, or on a supervisor's screen. Seeing the queue build helps the team react before callers hang up.
Can callers ask for a call back instead of waiting?
Yes. 8x8, 3CX and Teams Phone all offer a callback option. The caller keeps their place, hangs up, and the system calls them back when an agent is free. It reduces abandoned calls and frustration at busy times. We set the rules with you, such as when callback is offered and which number is called back.
Do small businesses need call queues?
Often, yes. If a missed call means a missed sale or booking, a queue helps even with two or three people answering. It holds callers briefly, offers a callback or voicemail, and shows how many calls you'd otherwise have missed. Many small teams start with a simple queue and add a wallboard later.
Book a free phone system review
We'll look at your call volumes, missed calls and busy times, then recommend how your queues and wallboards should work on 8x8, 3CX or Teams Phone. You'll get a written recommendation within 2 working days.