What is a Hunt Group and How Does it Work?

In business telecommunications terms, the answer to “what is a hunt group?” has nothing to do with rifles or wild animals. Rather, it has to do with solving a problem that most — if not all — organizations struggle with: making sure that calls are answered vs. going to voicemail; assuming that callers even leave a message, which as NPR points out fewer and fewer are willing to do. 

What is a Hunt Group?

Hunt groups work by establishing a sequence of phones that ring in succession (rather than all at the same time, which is characteristics of ring groups). Of course, callers do not detect any gap between rings — i.e. they have no idea that the first two rings are on phone A, the second two rings are on phone B, and so on.

What’s more, businesses have full control over the order in which phones ring within the hunt ring and how many rings each phone receives. For example, the first three things can be on a main office line, rings four and five can be on a manager or supervisor’s phone, and a sixth ring can be to call center.  

With this being said, hunt groups are sometimes not ideal solutions. This is because each unanswered ring can — and typically does — increase caller frustration, and it also increases the likelihood that callers will hang-up before their call is (hopefully and eventually) answered. Fortunately, that is where ring groups come in.

What is a Ring Group?

As introduced earlier, a ring group is a configuration where multiple pre-set phones ring at the same time, which significantly increases the likelihood that calls will be answered quickly. For example, many businesses believe that “sales is everyone’s job,” and that any incoming call on a dedicated sales line(s) should be answered — even if it is by someone who is not a sales rep, but at the very least can answer the phone in a professional and engaging manner. Or in healthcare environments like hospitals and clinics, establishing up ring groups helps ensure that important — and potentially critical calls — are answered.

Combining Ring Groups & Hunt Groups 

With conventional landline phone systems, businesses are obligated to choose one or the other — ring groups or hunt groups. However, with Votacall’s advanced hosted VoIP phone solution, businesses get the best of both worlds: hunt groups and ring groups. Furthermore, employees who are part of either configuration do not need to be in the same office or building. They can be located anywhere and receive calls on their smartphone via a simple-to-use mobile app.

Learn More

To learn more about reaping the benefits of hunt groups and ring groups in your business, contact the Votacall team today. Your consultation with us is free.

Also, be sure to check out our FREE eBook that debunks the common myths of hosted VoIP phone systems: