Has your company ever spent hours searching through voicemails due to customers having trouble getting through to your business? Hunt groups are here to change the game for customers and tech services. They are designed to meet the needs and satisfaction of your customers efficiently

What is Hunt Group?

Hunt groups are phone extensions that connect to a list of company employees through a VoIP phone system, which uses multi-line. The client calls one number and will be directly forwarded to the first available employee to be assisted with their needs and questions. 

Types of hunt group distributions

Simultaneous

• As a customer calls, all employees are alerted and the first to answer will take the call. This allows for the call to be answered by a free agent rather than a busy employee placing their client on hold

Regular

• The customer's call will go to the first number on the list of linear succession. The call will be distributed down the list until an employee answers the call.
• The order the list is created in will dictate who would primarily be answering the phone. If all of the primary agents are preoccupied with other customers, the secondary employees, who don't answer the phone as often, can take over and assist the client.

Uniform

• This call will be sent to the employee who hasn't answered the phone the longest. If this phone is busy it will be sent to the next extension who has been idle.

Circular

• The hunting group phone system remembers the last call it has made therefore transferring the upcoming call to the next employee on the list. This prevents primary workers from being overloaded with calls and allows for a distribution of calls being taken.
• If the employee has logged out of hunt group extensions, the call will go to voicemail.

How to set up Hunt Grouping?

First you will need a VoIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol) phone system in service and an assigned extension number. The hunt grouping will be conducted through a host system.

An extension of all lines will be added to create a list of numbers the calls can be directed to. Employees can later log in and out of hunt groups accordingly. A majority of VoIP phone systems have hunt grouping features that can be easily installed for your small business. The benefit of working with a hosted VoIP system rather than an on-premise one is the extra support and delivery that hosted systems provide.

How using a Hunt Group can benefit your business

Smaller businesses will greatly benefit from using hunt grouping in the following ways:

Time zones/after hours:

• Crucial for businesses in the hospitality and health services due to the 24/7 demand, requiring a human being to be on the other end of the line at all times.

No talking to automation

• Many customers may get frustrated with speaking to an automated machine.

Avoid missing calls

• Great for smaller businesses who aim to retain the maximum number of clients.

Increased customer satisfaction

• Taking the majority of calls the company receives will increase customer satisfaction and show the client the quality of service.
• The higher the customer satisfaction, he more potential leads the organisation will have.

Larger volume of calls

• This will allow the company to reach a larger audience and generate more service for the customer.

Great for small businesses with fewer employees

• Companies that have fewer workers will greatly benefit from Hunt grouping as all employees can easily be set up as a group boosting the number of calls answered.

Final thoughts

Incorporating hunt groups into businesses of any size provides great value to expanding and reaching your audience. Organisations that do not use hunt grouping will eventually lose customers at the hands of the voicemail box. Ultimately hunt groups will transform potential leads into existing clients, who will be thankful for the company's quick and informed attention.