You can set up ring groups to let people in your organization answer calls from the same Google Voice number. Members take turns answering calls using ring groups, also called hunt groups. For example, you might set up a ring group for your sales team. Calls could ring all members of the team until someone answers. Or, you could ring members one at a time, in a random order.
Before you begin
Calls to a ring group are not forwarded to mobile numbers associated with a user’s Google Voice number.
Note:
- Members that you add to the ring group must have a Voice license and number assigned.
- Each ring group needs to add its own phone number.
Step 1: Name the ring group and add members
-
Sign in to your Google Admin console.
Sign in using your administrator account (does not end in @gmail.com).
-
In the Admin console, go to Menu
Apps
Google Workspace
- Click Ring groups.
- At the top, click Create.
- Under Details, enter the display name and, optionally, add a description.
- Under Members, in the Find users field, enter the ring group members, one at a time.
You can add up to 50 members. - Click Continue.
Step 2: Set up call handling
In the Configure call handling section, set up how to handle incoming calls to the ring group.
Note: While on a call as part of a ring group, you receive incoming call notifications, but not missed call notifications.
1. Set the ring order
From the Call routing pattern menu, set the ring order for incoming calls:
- Round robin—Rings each member in random order until someone answers. You can set how long each member has before the call is redirected to the next member in the group. You can also set the maximum call duration, which is how long a call will ring before it’s redirected from the group.
- Simultaneous—Rings all members simultaneously, until someone answers. You can also set the total ring duration, which is how long the group has to answer a call before it’s redirected.
- Fixed order—Rings each member in order until someone answers. You can set how long each member has before the call is sent to the next member in the order. You can also set the maximum call duration, which is how long a call will ring before it’s redirected from the group.
2. Place outbound calls
Under Outbound callers, authorized users can place outbound calls using numbers assigned to the ring group. In addition, all ring group members can be allowed to make calls.
- If you want all members of the ring group to be able to make outbound calls, check All members of the ring group can place calls.
Later, if you add new members to the ring group, they’re allowed to make outbound calls. - If you want to add people outside of the ring group or specify only certain people to make outbound calls, under Authorized callers, click Find users and enter the users.
3. Set option for unanswered calls
- Continue ringing—Calls continue to ring users in the hunt group, based on the order you set.
- Play a message and disconnect—Callers hear a message, and then the call disconnects.
- Add an announcement—Enter an announcement for callers to hear before the call disconnects. You can have multiple messages for different languages.
- Forward the caller—Calls forward to another phone number. In the Forward type field, click the Down arrow
and select the type of transfer:
- User—Enter the email address of the person in your organization to transfer callers to. As you enter text, a list of users with a Google Voice license opens. If you select a user who doesn't have a phone number, you get an error message.
- Auto attendant—Click the Down arrow
- Ring group—Click the Down arrow
- Phone number—Enter the phone number to transfer callers to. To use a phone number that's not in the U.S., click the Down arrow
- Send to voicemail—The call forwards to voicemail.
- Voicemail greeting—Enter the announcement callers hear before the call goes to voicemail. You can have different voicemail greetings for different languages.
Click Create This Ring Group.
Step 3: Assign numbers to the ring group
After you create a ring group, assign one or more numbers for callers to reach the ring group.
Note: If you don’t want to get a new number, ring groups can reuse any number from the customer inventory. For details, go to Reassign a Voice number.
- On the left, click Assign A Number.
- In the Country/region field, click the Down arrow
In the Service address field, select the service address of the number.
The list shows your Voice locations. In the Google Voice number field, Voice shows an available number. - Choose an option:
- To keep the number, click Assign.
- To find a different number:
- Click Change.
- Next to a number in the list, click Select.
- Click Assign.
- Click Finish.
Receiving multiple calls simultaneously
Ring groups can receive multiple calls simultaneously, depending on the type of ring group.
- For a simultaneous group, any user who’s already on a call won't be called until they've declined or accepted the first call.
- For fixed and round robin groups, the ring group will skip whoever is still being called. The next person in line will answer the call.
For outbound calls, it doesn’t matter. There can be as many callers as users want.
How calls direct to a ring group
Ring group settings help you manage incoming call flows. The settings show other Google Voice services that you configured as sources for calls to the ring group. For example, you can set an auto attendant to send calls to the group.
Ring group member availability
Members of the ring group can control their availability to receive calls in the ring group through the Google Voice presence setting. For details, go to Manage call availability in Google Voice.
Ring group managers
Workspace administrators may assign ring group management capability to users in their domain. For details, go to Make a Voice user a ring group manager.
