Hold the call. Don't drop it.
When every member of a hunt group is on a call, queuing keeps the next caller waiting with music on hold rather than dumping them to voicemail. Position-in-line announcements at configurable intervals. Max-wait fallback (typically to voicemail) when the queue gets too long. Per-queue music selection — default catalog or upload your own.
Call queuing on Kelir.
Call queuing is the layer that sits between a hunt group being busy and the call going to voicemail. Without queuing, when a hunt group can't pick up immediately, the call drops to the catcher voicemail. With queuing, the call holds — the caller hears a brief announcement ("All agents are busy, you're number 2 in line"), then music on hold, then either gets connected to the next available agent or — after a configurable max-wait — falls through to the configured fallback (voicemail, an external answering service, an apologetic disconnect).
Queuing is a Team-plan feature. It activates on Team Starter and Team Pro at the hunt-group level. Configure per hunt group: max queue length (typically 3–10 callers depending on team size), per-caller max wait (typically 90 seconds to 5 minutes), position announcement frequency (typically every 30 seconds), and music-on-hold selection (default catalog or custom audio upload).
The same primitive ships on RingCentral, Dialpad, 8x8, Vonage Business, and Nextiva. Functionally similar. Differences: Kelir's queuing handoff lands the call on a real cellular eSIM line — when the queue advances and an agent becomes available, the call rings on the agent's actual phone's native dialer over VoLTE, not a softphone session. Also: Kelir's queuing is on Team Starter ($29.99/seat); softphone competitors typically gate "advanced call queues" behind a higher business or contact-center plan.
Call queuing is most useful for small support teams and sales rooms — anywhere inbound volume routinely exceeds available agents but you don't want to lose calls. Configure aggressively short queues (max 2–3 callers) for personal-touch businesses where waiting feels wrong. Configure longer queues with position announcements ("you're number 6 in line, average wait is 4 minutes") for high-volume support work where callers will wait if they know how long.
Setup walkthrough.
Configured from Admin portal at app.kelir.io. The setup below assumes a working Kelir account and an active eSIM.
- 1
Open app.kelir.io and navigate to Routing → Hunt groups.
- 2
Pick the hunt group you want to add queuing to (e.g. Sales line, Support team).
- 3
Toggle Call queuing on for this hunt group.
- 4
Set the max queue length — typically 3–10 callers. Calls beyond this limit fall through to the queue-full fallback.
- 5
Set the per-caller max wait — typically 90 seconds to 5 minutes. Calls waiting longer than this fall through to the max-wait fallback.
- 6
Pick the fallback behavior for both: route to voicemail (typical), forward to an external number (an answering service, paging service), or play a busy/disconnect prompt.
- 7
Configure the position announcement frequency — typically every 30 seconds. The caller hears "You're number 3 in line" on each cycle.
- 8
Pick music-on-hold: default catalog (instrumental, royalty-free) or upload custom audio (MP3 or WAV, up to 5 minutes loopable).
- 9
Optionally configure pre-roll: a brief message before the music plays ("Thanks for calling, all agents are currently helping other customers — please hold.")
- 10
Save. The next inbound call to this hunt group queues if all agents are busy.
Where call queuing earns its keep.
Small support team, occasional surges
5-agent support team. Max queue 5 callers, max wait 3 minutes, position announcements every 30 seconds. Daytime surges queue cleanly; max-wait fallback to a shared voicemail with promised callback within the hour.
Sales line during peak inbound
Marketing campaign drives inbound spikes. Sales hunt group queues up to 8 callers, max wait 5 minutes, custom music-on-hold (light upbeat). Calls that exceed max-wait route to a sales voicemail; rep returns calls within 30 minutes.
Clinic during morning rush
Reception line overwhelmed 8–10am. Queue holds up to 4 callers with max-wait 4 minutes, then falls through to a recorded message offering online scheduling links. Reduces missed-call rate during the daily peak.
Custom hold message during a service incident
Mid-incident, support team uploads a custom pre-roll: "We're aware of the outage, our team is working on it. Hold for a status update." Replaces standard pre-roll temporarily; reverts when incident is resolved.
Pro: skill-based queuing
On Team Pro, the queue can be sub-divided by skill — Spanish-speaking callers route to a Spanish queue, billing questions route to a billing-skilled queue. Each sub-queue has its own max length and wait. The routing engine matches before falling through to the general queue.
The same feature.A real cellular line.
Call queuing is a standard UCaaS feature. Differences are plan availability, the experience the caller has during hold, and the cellular delivery on the agent's end when the queue advances.
- Queuing is on Kelir Team Starter ($29.99/seat). Softphone competitors typically gate advanced queuing behind a higher business or contact-center plan ($35+/seat).
- When the queue advances and an agent becomes available, the agent's eSIM line rings via cellular VoLTE — same as a personal call.
- Music-on-hold delivered through the cellular voice path, not over an internet-routed softphone audio path. Same fidelity as the rest of the call.
- Custom music-on-hold uploads (MP3 / WAV, up to 5 minutes loopable) — useful for branded hold experiences or temporary message updates.
- Per-queue overflow rules — different fallbacks for queue-full vs max-wait, with each routing independently.
- Position-in-line announcements with caller-hears "you're number N" every configurable interval — works the way a contact-center queue works, simplified.
Common questions
No. Queuing distributes load across multiple agents, so it requires a multi-user team. It activates on Team Starter ($29.99/seat) and Team Pro ($39.99/seat). On Solo, when you're on a call and another comes in, it goes straight to voicemail.
Configurable per queue. Typical settings are 90 seconds to 5 minutes max-wait. After the max-wait expires, the call falls through to the configured fallback (voicemail, external answering service, etc.). Most support teams settle around 3-minute max-wait with a fallback to voicemail.
Yes. Default music-on-hold is a royalty-free instrumental catalog. Upload custom audio (MP3 or WAV, up to 5 minutes long, set to loop) for branded hold experiences. Different queues can have different music.
If you enable position announcements, yes. The caller hears "You're number N in line, estimated wait is M minutes" at configurable intervals (typically every 30 seconds). Studies show callers wait longer when they know their position; configure based on your situation.
The next caller in the queue is dequeued and routed via the hunt group's normal distribution rules — sequential, simultaneous, or round-robin to the available agent's eSIM. The caller hears a brief connecting tone, then the agent's line rings on cellular.
On Team Pro, yes. Sub-queues by skill (language, product expertise, account tier) with the routing engine matching callers to skilled agents. On Team Starter, queuing is by hunt group only — all callers in one queue.