Call Queueing
A Queue is a predefined sequence of calls. The order of the queue must be set and can be changed at any time. Queues are intended for more complex Producer-lead programming where the Presenter is only interested in (or in some cases allowed to see!) calls and/or messages that have been approved. The PhoneBOX client screen can be re-arranged so that a presenter is only shown the queue of calls which de-clutters their screen so they can concentrate on the current call and the ones coming up rather than all the ringing calls and ones that aren’t being passed to air.
PhoneBOX allows you to build a Queue of callers and sort them into an order which would be useful on air. Queues may be built on one workstation and then actioned from another workstation, for example in the case of a Producer (who would build the sequence of callers and messages), and a Presenter (who would actually talk to the callers on the air and read out the message content). Below is an example of an incoming call being shown in the Queue view:
The view of PhoneBOX has been changed to Queue mode by clicking on the button that is by default called ‘Line Numbers’ but changes to‘Queue’ when that option is selected.
Adding calls into the queue
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The calls on the left are the available calls on the system, the easiest way to add these into the queue is to drag them from the right hand side of the screen to the left hand side in the order that you wish to take them to air.
It’s also possible to queue the call from the Call Details window by pressing the Queue button, when you do so if the call is active you also get the option of being able to Hold + Queue the caller.
Holding a call to an alternative hold source
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This facility allows Users to route specific calls to a different hold audio source from the rest of the callers. This should not be confused with services within PhoneBOX, where it is possible to view calls for multiple stations on a single screen. When callers for Station A are placed on hold they hear output from Station A, and when callers for Station B are placed on hold they hear output from Station B. In contrast, this facility is intended to allow Station A callers to hear something other than Station A audio when placed on hold.
This facility is intended for use in competitions where you wish to temporarily exclude one or more of the participants from the programme so they can’t hear the answers given by other callers. This facility must be set up on your PhoneBOX system and may require some additional hardware. Please contact your PhoneBOX system administrator if these facilities are not available on your system.
To hold a call to an alternative hold source:
With the call routed to your handset, right click on the line box for that call
Choose ‘Alternative park’ from the menu
The Parked notification text in the top right will have an asterisk next to it to indicate the caller is in an alternative park group.
Once a call is routed to an alternative hold source, it can be un-held and re-held in the normal way and each time it returns to the alternative hold source. If you wish to re-hold the call to the normal hold audio source like the rest of the calls, the following procedure must be followed.
To re-hold a call to the standard hold source:
Route the call to a device (e.g. your Handset) in the normal way
When you want to place the call back on the standard hold source, right click the relevant line box
Choose ‘Park call’ from the list
The call is held on the normal hold source again.