Ring Groups and Hunt Groups: How to Route Business Calls the Right Way
When a customer calls your main business number, what happens? If the answer is “it rings one phone and goes to voicemail if that person is busy,” you are losing calls — and customers. Ring groups and hunt groups are the mechanism that ensures incoming calls always reach a live person, regardless of who is available.
What Is a Ring Group?
A ring group is a collection of extensions that all ring simultaneously when a specific number is dialed. If you have five people on your sales team and a customer calls the sales line, all five phones ring at once — the first person to pick up takes the call. This “all ring simultaneously” approach minimizes wait time and maximizes the chance of a live answer.
What Is a Hunt Group?
A hunt group routes calls sequentially through a list of extensions until someone answers. The first call goes to extension 101; if no answer after a set number of rings, it moves to extension 102; then 103; and so on. This approach distributes call load more evenly and can be configured to skip extensions that are already on a call. Hunt groups are ideal for support teams where balanced workload distribution matters.
Ring Group vs. Hunt Group: Which to Use?
Use a ring group when speed of answer is the priority — sales teams, front desk lines, and any situation where the first available person should take the call. Use a hunt group when balanced distribution is the priority — customer support teams, call centers, and any situation where you want to avoid overloading specific team members while others sit idle.
Advanced Call Routing Strategies
Round-robin routing distributes calls evenly across a team by always starting the hunt sequence from where the last call left off — so each team member receives a similar volume of calls. Skills-based routing directs calls to the team member with the most relevant expertise for the caller’s need, using auto-attendant menus to gather the call purpose before routing. Time-of-day routing changes ring groups automatically based on business hours — routing to the full team during business hours, to an on-call mobile during evenings, and to voicemail or an AI receptionist overnight.
Setting Up Ring Groups with Vivant
Vivant’s cloud phone system allows unlimited ring groups and hunt groups configured from a web-based portal — no technician required. Changes take effect immediately. Our team works with you during setup to design the optimal call flow for your business based on team structure, call volume, and service level goals. Contact Vivant to design a call routing strategy that ensures every customer reaches the right person, every time.
