Need to notify all available agents when an incoming call comes into your contact center? Simultaneous Ring alerts all available agents at the same time so the first agent to answer is connected to the caller.
Simultaneous Ring helps reduce caller wait times, improve answer rates, and promote more efficient and positive customer interactions.
Use Simultaneous Ring when you want calls to be offered to a shared group of agents concurrently instead of using sequential routing.
Let’s dive into the details.
Who can use this
Refer to our Pricing Page to see if you have access to this feature. If you have any questions about your plan, reach out to your Customer Success Manager or Dialpad Customer Care.
Before you begin
Ensure these details are set up/available before you create a simultaneous ring contact center:
- You must have permission to create Contact Centers.
- You can select Simultaneous Ring only when creating a new Contact Center. You cannot change an existing Contact Center to Simultaneous Ring later.
- A Simultaneous Ring Contact Center supports up to 25 users, including agents and supervisors.
How Simultaneous Ring works in a contact center
A contact center set up with simultaneous ring works using this order logic:
- All available agents are alerted at the same time.
- The first agent to answer is connected to the caller.
- When one agent answers, the other agents’ ringing stops.
- If another agent answers after the call has been taken, they hear that the call is no longer available.
- If an agent rejects the call, the call continues ringing for the other available agents.
- The rejecting agent remains available for future calls.
- If an agent misses the call, the call continues to the other available agents.
- Missing a Simultaneous Ring call does not place the agent in Ring No Answer (RNA) for this attempt.
- If no agent answers, the Contact Center follows its configured fallback behavior when the ring or hold time expires.
- Callers hear hold music while Dialpad attempts to connect them to available agents.
Create a Simultaneous Ring Contact Center
To create a simultaneous ring contact center, go to your Dialpad Admin Settings.
Navigate to Contact Centers
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Select the + icon
If you’re an Office Admin, you’ll also see a Create Contact Center button
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Select Voice > Ring all agents at once
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Name the contact center
Add a description (optional)
Select Create
Next, it’s time to give your contact center a phone number.
On the Contact Center page:
Select Add a number
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Choose the number type
Select Confirm
Add agents and supervisors to a Simultaneous Ring Contact Center
The maximum number of users allowed in a Simultaneous Ring Contact Center is 25 (agents and supervisors).
To add agents to a Simultaneous Ring Contact Center, go to the contact center’s settings.
Select Agents and admins
Enter the agent name(s) in the search bar
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Note
When the 25-user limit is reached, you must remove a user before adding another.
You can add or remove users after creating the Contact Center, but you cannot change the Contact Center to a different routing type.
Call routing for Simultaneous Ring Contact Centers
Simultaneous Ring is the fixed routing type for this Contact Center. You cannot change it to sequential or another agent-routing type after the Contact Center is created.
You can still configure what happens when no agent answers, such as sending callers to voicemail, another Contact Center, an external number, an automated response menu, a workflow, or an AI Agent.
To configure other routing options for a Simultaneous Ring Contact Center, go to the contact center’s settings.
Select Business hours and call routing
Select Edit Call Routing
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Select No operator
No operator offers the following choices:
Directly to voicemail |
Routes callers direction to voicemail. Agents receive notifications when voicemails are left. |
To a message (no voicemail) |
Routes callers to a default or custom message. There is no option to leave a voicemail. |
To another department, office, contact center, or geo router |
Routes callers to a different shared line. |
To a team member, room phone, or external number |
Routes callers to a specific number. To route to a non-Dialpad number, contact our Customer Care Team. |
To an automated response menu |
Routes callers to a menu. Options include dial by name directory (Office), dial by extension directory, dial by name directory (Company), forward to a Department/Contact Center/Office, forward to a person or number, leave a voicemail, recorded message, operator, and disabled. If you forward to another Department or Contact Center using an automated response menu, you can choose one that is located in another office within the entire company.
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To a workflow (voice) |
Route calls through a customized IVR system. Learn more about workflows in this Help Center article. |
To Google Conversational Agents |
Choose a Google Conversational Agent to send the call to. |
To an AI Agent |
Choose an AI Agent to send calls to. |
For more details about call routing, see this Help Center article.
Callbacks in a Simultaneous Ring Contact Center
When a contact center is configured with Simultaneous Ring, the “Call Agent First” setting for callbacks is always turned on by default—and cannot be turned off.
In Simultaneous Ring queues, agents do not enter an RNA (Ring No Answer) state if they miss a call. This makes it difficult to accurately determine whether an agent is truly available.
Callbacks can be enabled or disabled in the queue settings. When callbacks are enabled for a Simultaneous Ring Contact Center, Call Agent First is always used.
Callbacks do not ring all agents simultaneously. Dialpad calls one available agent at a time until an agent answers or the callback attempt times out.
Missed calls and lost-race outcomes
If one agent answers a call that was offered to multiple agents, the call is counted as answered. The other agents are not counted as having missed the call; they experienced a lost-race outcome because another agent answered first.
If no agent answers and the call reaches the configured fallback destination, it is treated as a missed call at the Contact Center level.
Troubleshooting
Multiple agents did not ring
- Confirm that the Contact Center was created with Ring all agents at once selected.
- Confirm that the expected users are listed under Agents and admins.
- Confirm that the users are available and eligible to receive Contact Center calls.
- Confirm that the Contact Center and account have Simultaneous Ring enabled.
- Test with a new inbound call.
Frequently asked questions
Can I turn on Simultaneous Ring for an existing Contact Center?
No. Simultaneous Ring must be selected when you create the Contact Center. To use it with an existing group of agents, create a new Contact Center and select Ring all agents at once.
Can I change a Simultaneous Ring Contact Center to sequential routing?
No. The routing type is fixed after creation. Create a separate, regular Contact Center if you need another routing method.
Why can’t I turn on Auto Answer for this contact center?
Auto answer is not available with Simultaneous Ring contact centers.
Why can't I change the 'Allow agents to miss calls' number?
In a Simultaneous Ring contact center, the 'Allow agents to miss calls' setting is fixed to infinity and cannot be modified. This configuration prevents agents from being automatically set to an unavailable status when they miss a call.
Why do callers hear hold music instead of ringing in Simultaneous Ring contact centers?
Unlike standard contact centers, where callers hear ringing first, Simultaneous Ring starts hold music immediately. This is intentional and helps create a consistent caller experience.
What happens when an agent misses a call?
In a Simultaneous Ring Contact Center, if an agent does not answer the call, they will not be placed into an Ring No Answer State.
What happens when an agent rejects a call?
In a Simultaneous Ring Contact Center, if an agent rejects a call, the agent will remain available but is removed from the pool of available agents for that call. The remaining available agents will continue to ring for that call until it is answered or times out.
If an agent finishes a call while another is waiting, when are they offered the waiting call?
If Agent A is on a call and a new call arrives, the new call rings all other available agents.
If Agent A ends their call and becomes available before the new call is answered, then Agent A is added to the next ring group for that call, but the call is not assigned to Agent A while it's in the queue.
If the new call is currently ringing to available agents when Agent A becomes available, then Agent A remains available until that ring group times out. If no agent answers, Agent A is added to the next ring group.
If an agent rejects a simultaneous ringing call and becomes available does that prevent them from being presented other contact center calls waiting in queue?
No. The agent will be presented another contact center call if there is a call waiting in queue of another contact center they are a member.
If agents miss the first round of ringing and then go back into an available state, can they be presented with different call?
Yes, there is a possibility the agents could be presented with a different call from another contact center the agents are a member.
Can callbacks ring all agents at once?
No. Callbacks use Call Agent First and contact one available agent at a time.
Can I use prioritized call routing with Simultaneous Ring?
Yes. If Prioritize call routing to the last agent who handled that contact is turned on, calls go to the last agent who spoke with the customer first. If they don’t answer, the call returns to the queue briefly, then rings the other available agents in the Simultaneous Ring group.
How do simultaneous ring events impact missed call reporting?
This depends on several key factors.
If one agent answers the call: If a call rings to 10 agents simultaneously and one agent answers, it is counted as an answered call for that agent, and it is not counted as a missed call for the other nine agents.
If no agent answers and the round times out: If a call rings for the full duration of a ring round (e.g., 30 seconds) and no one answers, it will show as a missed call for all 10 agents.
Contact Center (CC) Level Missed Call: The call will only be marked as a missed call at the Contact Center level when it times out and moves to the fallback options.