What is a Hunt Group and How Does it Work?

Customer queries and incoming calls are assets for any business and call center operation. Resolving and attending to those customers’ calls promptly ensures that they feel heard and valued. 

If your business’s customer support or call center operation is failing to do so, then you need to try the Hunt Group or Ring strategy and promptly listen to their concerns, problems, and issues about your business’s products and services. 

Companies across several sectors rely on hunt groups to simplify communication, improve customer service, and optimize call handling by setting up hunt strategies for enhanced business phone systems.

It ensures your customer is heard in real time, resolves the customer or caller’s call wait times in seconds, and upgrades the call center operation, customer satisfaction, and customer assistance productivity to the next level by an effective forward calls method.

This blog provides information on how does hunt group work, the types of hunt groups, the benefits of call hunting groups, and the differences between hunt groups and ring groups. 

What is Hunt Group?

A Hunt Group is a phone feature that directs calls to a group of lines. It’s also known as a call hunt or line hunt group. It helps to distribute calls from one number to many lines.

Here’s how it works: You dial a company’s primary number. Instead of just one phone ringing, your call is sent to many phones. It continues to try phones until someone responds. If the first phone is used, your call is routed to the next available line. This continues till someone picks up.

Hunt Group or call hunting is similar to a call distribution system; the system keeps passing the call until someone picks it up. This design is helpful for busy offices, call center operations, sales agents, or customer support teams, where many people may be available to take calls. 

The goal is to ensure­ that incoming calls are answered quickly, that customers’ incoming calls are responded to with quick resolution, and that customers are satisfied.

How does Hunt Group work?

A Hunt Group is a valuable phone system feature that enables firms to manage incoming calls efficiently. It operates by routing calls from a single primary number to a group of several phone or VoIP phone lines. The primary purpose is to ensure that callers do not have to wait too long before someone can speak with them. This is very useful in busy workplaces or firms with several call receivers.

Here’s a quick overview of how a Hunt Group usually operates: 

Incoming calls: Calls placed to the Hunt Group’s central number are routed to the group rather than a single extension. 

Sequential Routing: The phone system will then check the first available line within the group. If the line is already in use or the person cannot pick up (for example, they are on another call), the system will automatically move on to the next available line in the queue.

Parallel Ringing: This procedure continually occurs until an open line is discovered where the call may be answered. 

Call Distribution or deflection: When all group lines are busy, callers are usually given the option of being placed on hold, queuing, directing them to the other channels, or leaving a voicemail message or voicemail greetings for call deflection. 

Overflow alternative: Some advanced Hunt Group configuration operators or destinations allow you to specify specific rules for overflow calls when all group members are unavailable.

Nevertheless, Hunt Groups is an effective technique for dividing and distributing call traffic among many individuals or departments. They assist businesses in providing a professional phone handling experience for consumers without leaving them on wait or in continual ringtone limbo. Group members are assigned to answer calls as they become available.

Types of Hunt Group

Each Hunt Group has its advantages and disadvantages. Certain types of Hunt Groups can be fitted for your business depending on your needs, objectives, and goals. Here are types of hunt groups listed below:

1. Circular Hunt Group or Round Robin

Calls are directed and distributed evenly in this hunt group type. Incoming calls are connected to the first line and extension, then ring. When the next call is connected to the call center, it is connected or directed to the next phone line and continuously to the last extension in continuous order. 

When all the lines are covered, this process is repeated: if the agent is unavailable, the next-line phone rings for an agent or employee to answer the call; furthermore, the call can be moved forward to the voicemail. Circular or round-robin hunt groups ensure that every customer representative or team member can receive the call and distribute the workload evenly within the workforce.

2. Simultaneous or Synchronous Hunt Group

All the connected phone lines and extensions in the uniform call network ring simultaneously, alerting each group agent and member simultaneously. This results in a fast call answer rate and ensures a lower inbound or customer call abandonment rate.

3. Sequential Hunt Group

In a Sequential Hunt group, inbound and incoming calls are directed to the group’s first available agent or team member. When the first agent or call line is unanswered, the call is forwarded and presented to the next available hunt group member or customer support representative. In this hunt group, the system tries to find the available agent to pick up the incoming ringing call in a predefined order until it finds a free agent.

4. Longest Idle Hunt Group 

This Hunt group type typically routes or forwards the call to the specific phone extension or line that is inactive or hasn’t received any calls for a long time. It considers the length of time and then the priority of forwarding or ringing calls to the longest idle line or extension, allowing the highly free agent to pick up the call to balance the agent call loads.

What are the advantages of the Hunt Group?

The following are some of the benefits of using Hunt Groups for business communication:

• Enhanced Customer Support Service: Hunt Groups efficiently distributes incoming calls among a team, reducing the likelihood of missed calls and long wait times. This leads to a more positive customer experience, as callers are more likely to reach a live representative quickly.
• Improved Efficiency: Hunt Group automates call distribution and eliminates manual call forwarding activities or the need for multiple phone extension lines for each individual. As a result, call representatives, or customer assistance agents are available for human-required tasks or complex issues necessary for the effective operation of the call center and customer issue resolution.
• Optimized Workflows: Call hunting ensures calls are directed to the most relevant party or person to handle the inquiry depending on the issues, which may lead to faster resolution.
  Hunt Groups allow different routing rules based on day or business hours, caller ID, or team members’ skills that automatically optimize the workflows.
• Increased Productivity: The Hunt Group method can increase agent productivity by reducing the time spent on call handling tasks and directing incoming calls to the right person.
• Improved Employee Satisfaction: Hunt Groups can help distribute workloads evenly among team members, reducing stress and burnout. Additionally, by ensuring calls are directed to the most qualified person, Hunt Groups can help employees feel more confident handling customer inquiries.

Difference between Ring group and Hunt group

Here is the difference between the Ring group and the Hunt group in the table below:

Ring Group	Hunt Group
Incoming Calls ring all members of the group simultaneously.	Incoming calls Ring phone line extensions in a pre-defined or sequential order.
Each member’s phone rings for a set time before moving on (optional).	Each extension rings for a determined set time before moving on to the next in the list.
In limited cases, the phone may be forwarded to voicemail or another number after all members have rung.	More flexible for call forwarding, such as forwarding to voicemail, call queue, or another Hunt Group.
Ideal for situations where immediate response is necessary (e.g., call centers, sales teams).	Suitable for situations where calls can be handled by any available team member (e.g., customer service, small teams).
Faster call answer times by creating a sense of urgency for call response	Offers more control over call routing, Ensures calls reach an available member
Calls are not guaranteed to be answered by the most qualified person	Calls can be guaranteed to be answered by the most qualified person to the maximum degree.

Conclusion

Hunt group features help businesses with high incoming traffic call volume by optimizing the best distribution of inbound calls, ensuring call center operation efficiency, and optimizing call wait times for better customer experience and support.

If you also want to manage a smooth and effective call center business, try Dialaxy’s cloud-based contact center solution. It offers efficient call handling, enriched modern VoIP telephony features, and a hunt group and ring strategy that power your business communication system and operation to the next level. 

Try a 7-day free trial to experience Dialaxy call management software’s best and most effective hunt group and ring strategy features without additional or hidden charges.

FAQs

What are some advanced Hunt Group features?

Some advanced Hunt Group features include:

• Time-based routing: Depending on the time of day or week, route calls to specific Hunt Groups.
• Skills-based routing: Route calls to team members that are most relevant to the call type.

Who should use Hunt Group?

Businesses or organizations that receive moderate to high volume of calls have multiple departments and teams, and value customer service should use the Hunt Group.

How can I set up a Hunt Group?

Hunt Groups can be set up by contacting support or accessing your online account settings, which depend on your phone service provider.

Can I use Hunt Groups with mobile phones?

Yes, Mobile devices can be integrated with some business phone systems. As a result, your team can receive calls while part of a Hunt Group on their mobile phones.