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System guide

Queues

All queue configuration is available from Routing Rules → Queues, including adding agents to a queue.

A queue is a buffer for agents handling user conversations, operating on a first-in, first-out basis. Agents must be associated with a queue to receive messages from users. When a user messages a number, routing rules decide which queue the conversation enters, and the queue decides which agent handles it. This page covers how to create a queue and its basic settings: adding members, allocation strategies, and capacity and timeout limits.

Queue list

The following table explains each field in the queue list:

ColumnWhat it shows
NameThe queue name, with its description shown underneath
StrategyThe allocation strategy used to pick an agent
MembersHow many agents are in the queue
RulesHow many routing rules currently point at this queue
StatusActive or Disabled

Creating a queue

Click New Queue at the top right of the list. You only need to fill in two fields:

  • Name (required) — up to 64 characters, for example Sales Queue. The Create Queue button stays disabled until you enter a name.
  • Description (optional) — a short note about what the queue is used for.

Click Create Queue. On success you see a Queue created confirmation, the dialog closes, and the list refreshes. A new queue starts empty — its next step is adding members and reviewing its settings, both covered below.

Name it for its purpose
Queue names appear in the routing-rule editor, so a clear name such as Sales or Billing support makes it obvious which conversations should land where when you build rules later.

Queue detailed configuration

Click View Details on any queue or click the queue row to open its detail page. The top of the page shows the queue name, its strategy, and its status. If you have set waiting controls, you also see badges for Max waiting and Wait timeout. Two buttons sit at the top right:

  • Queue Settings — edit the name, status, strategy, and waiting controls.
  • Manage Members — choose which agents belong to the queue.

Below that is the Memberslist, showing each agent's name, username, and current status (such as ONLINE, OFFLINE, or BUSY). AI agents are marked with an AI badge next to their name. A new queue shows No members yet. until you add some.

Adding members

On the detail page, click Manage Members. In the dialog, tick the agents to add to this queue and untick those that should not be included.

Click Save. On success you see Members updated, the dialog closes, and the member list refreshes. A queue can hold up to 500 agents.

AI agents must have user session handling enabled to join a queue
An AI agent that has not enabled the corresponding toggle on its configuration page appears in the list greyed out with its checkbox disabled. It cannot be added to a queue, because it does not handle customer conversations.

Allocation strategies

When a routing rule sends a conversation to a queue, the queue's strategy decides which member takes it. You set this in Queue Settings.

StrategyHow it picks an agent
Least ActiveSends the conversation to the member currently handling the fewest active conversations, balancing load
Round RobinHands conversations to members in turn, cycling through the queue

Changing the strategy affects how new conversations are assigned from that point on; it does not move conversations that are already with an agent.

Capacity and timeout

In Queue Settings, two optional limits can be configured to control how conversations wait when no agent picks them up immediately. Each one has a toggle — leave it off and there is no limit.

Max waiting sessions

This caps the number of unassigned (pending) conversations parked in the queue. When the cap is reached, routing rules treat this queue as unavailable and fall through to the next rule, so a busy queue does not keep piling up waiting customers with nowhere to go. Accepts a whole number from 0 to 10,000. Leaving the limit off means no cap — the queue the queue will not reject new conversations based on the length of the waiting queue.

A cap of 0 refuses every new session
Setting the limit to 0 means the queue accepts no new conversations at all. The settings dialog shows an amber warning when you enter 0. Use a positive number unless you really intend the queue to reject everything.

Max wait seconds

This sets how long a conversation may wait in the queue before it is automatically closed. Accepts a whole number of seconds from 0 to 86,400 (24 hours); the dialog shows the equivalent in readable form, such as ≈ 10m or ≈ 1h 30m, as you type. If the routing group has a fallback reply enabled, that reply is sent to the customer before the conversation closes. Leaving the limit off means conversations never time out for waiting too long.

Pair the two limits
Capacity stops a queue from growing past a healthy length; the wait timeout ensures users are not left waiting indefinitely. In most cases, consider setting both — a capacity that matches your staffing and a timeout that matches the longest wait you consider acceptable.

AI auto-tag classifier

Queue Settings also lets you choose an AI auto-tag classifier. When a conversation in this queue closes, the chosen AI agent reads the transcript and applies contact tags automatically, so closed conversations are categorised without manual effort. Pick an AI agent from the dropdown, or leave it on None — disable auto-tag to turn the feature off. The

Editing and deleting queues

Open Queue Settings from the row menu or the detail page to edit the name, description, status, strategy, and the controls above. The Active switch turns the queue on or off — a disabled queue is skipped by routing rules, which is a quick way to take a queue out of service without deleting it. On success you see Queue settings updated.

To remove a queue, choose Delete Queue from the row menu and confirm. This cannot be undone.

A queue must be free before you delete it
A queue can only be deleted when no routing rule references it and no active conversation is assigned to it. If deletion fails, repoint or remove the rules that use the queue and wait for its in-progress conversations to finish, then try again. To take a queue out of use without deleting it, switch it to disabled instead.