Manage hunt groups with AT&T Collaborate

Hunt groups give you a way to manage and route incoming calls that can be handled by more than 1 user in your company. A hunt group connects a caller to the first available person in the group who can help. For example, you could create a hunt group for your tech support team so incoming calls can connect to an available team member. If the first team member isn’t available, the call goes to the next available member, and so on, until the call is answered. This process is called hunting.

As an administrator for the AT&T CollaborateSM service, you can create and manage hunt groups by site. You can also manage the profile and privacy settings, call handling features, and greetings for each hunt group you manage.

Privacy settings determine whether the hunt group appears in directories. If the hunt group is associated with a department, it appears in the directory as part of the department.

Note that hunt groups don’t play announcements to your callers. If you need a service that plays announcements before routing the call, use an auto attendant.

Create hunt groups
Manage hunt group members, settings, and features

Create hunt groups

On the Manage hunt groups page, you can create new hunt groups for a site.

Create a hunt group

1. On the Collaborate homepage, click Select a site or Switch sites, and then select a site for the new hunt group.
2. On the left menu, expand Call handling, and then click Hunt Group. The Manage hunt groups page appears.
3. Click Create. The Hunt Group page appears.
4. Click Advanced mode. The Manage profile page appears. Continue to Set up the hunt group profile.

Set up the hunt group profile

1. Enter a hunt group name and select an associated department, if applicable, and time zone.
2. To set the hunt group’s phone number, do 1 of these things:
   • Enter a phone number
   • Click the Search icon, and select a phone number.
     Note: If you choose a number from the list of available numbers, the extension is automatically updated. You can also enter the extension manually.
3. In the Privacy section, check the boxes to show or hide the hunt group’s information.
4. In the Caller ID settings section:
   • Select how information is displayed on the caller’s phone.
   • Select how information is displayed on the recipient’s phone.
5. In the Hunt group policy settings section, select the policy to use when calls hunt for an available hunt group member.
6. Under Hunt group recorded name, determine whether to use a recorded name for the hunt group.
   • To record the hunt group name, check Use hunt group recorded name file for Auto Attendant listing. To use a different audio file, click Change or Upload.
     Note: The hunt group name audio file plays when the hunt group is chosen from an auto attendant through extension or name directory searches.
7. When you’re finished, click Save.

All greetings available to a hunt group are stored in the site’s announcements. For help adding a greeting or other audio file to the site’s announcements, see Manage announcements.

Manage hunt groups

You can manage a profile and call handling policies, such as sequential or simultaneous ring, for your hunt group. You can also assign members and manage call features.

Manage profile

1. Follow steps 1 and 2 in Create a hunt group.
2. On the Manage hunt groups page, below the hunt group you want, click Edit. The manage page for that hunt group appears.
3. Click Manage profile, and then follow the steps in Set up the hunt group profile, above.

Manage members

1. On the hunt group’s manage page, click Assign users. The Assign users page appears.
2. To assign more members to the hunt group, click Assign users.
3. Search for and select the users you want, and then click Assign.
4. To remove members, click View and manage <x> members. The View and manage member list window opens.
5. Search for and select the users you want to remove from the list, and then click Save.

Rearrange call order

1. To change the order in which members in the group are contacted, on the Assign users page, click View call order. The View call order window opens.
2. To rearrange members, drag the dots next to a user’s name to a new position, or click Rearrange, and then enter a new order number.
3. Click Save.

Set call features

You can assign a feature and manage the feature’s settings for a hunt group.

1. On the hunt group’s manage page, click Set call features. The Set Call features page appears.
2. If no features are assigned, click Assign features.
3. Check the boxes for the features that you want, and then click Apply.
4. Depending on the feature, you’ll have 1 of these options:
   • Under Status, turn the feature on or off.
   • To configure a feature, click Set up.
   • To make changes to a feature, click Edit.

Manage features

For help managing each feature, click the link below.

• Alternate Numbers
• Anonymous Call Rejection
• Call Forwarding – Busy
• Call Forwarding on a Schedule
• Site Forwarding
• Selective Call Acceptance
• Selective Call Rejection

Adjust advanced settings

1. On the hunt group’s manage page, click Adjust advanced settings. The Adjust Advanced settings page appears.
2. If needed, update the following information:
   • For call waiting permissions for hunt group members, check or uncheck Allow call waiting on members.
   • Update how many times a call rings a member before moving to the next member in the list.
   • Enter a new Forward unanswered calls to phone number.
3. In the Not reachable settings section, update how to forward calls when all members of the hunt group are not reachable:
   • To forward calls when group members can’t be reached, check Turn on Call Forwarding Not Reachable, and then, in the Forward calls to field, enter a 10 digit phone number where calls will be forwarded.
4. In the Hunt group busy settings section, update whether the hunt group uses a busy signal when it’s busy:
   If you want callers to hear a busy signal when the hunt group is busy, check Turn on hunt group busy.
   Note: If call forwarding is not set up for the hunt group and Turn on hunt group busy is turned on, callers will hear a busy signal.
   If you don’t want to use a busy signal, uncheck Turn on hunt group busy.
5. To include the hunt group name on Caller ID, in the Caller ID settings section, check Include the hunt group name.
6. In the Member direct dial settings section, update the members who start the hunting process when dialed:
   • To start hunting when a member is called, check Turn on hunting when members are called directly.
   • To prevent calls from hunting when a member is called, uncheck the box.
   • To assign the members to start the hunting process, click Assign users, search for and select members, and then click Assign.
     Note: A user can be a member of multiple hunt groups but can start the hunting process for only 1 group when the user’s phone number is dialed directly.
7. When you’re finished, click Save.

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