A customer calls your main number. Do they get a menu? Are they put on hold? Or does a colleague just pick up? What happens in those first seconds is determined in Microsoft Teams with two building blocks: the auto attendant and the call queue.

They are often confused. That's unfortunate because understanding the difference helps you build a call structure that quickly directs customers to the right place.

The auto attendant: the digital reception

An auto attendant answers the call and forwards it. It does not answer questions itself. It only decides where the call goes.

Typical tasks of an auto attendant:

  • Playing a welcome message.
  • Offering a menu, such as "Press 1 for support, 2 for sales."
  • Handling opening hours and holidays.
  • Allowing callers to choose by an employee’s name.
  • Forwarding to voicemail or an emergency number outside office hours.

The call queue: the waiting line with a team behind it

A call queue distributes calls over a group of employees. Is everyone busy? Then the caller waits in line, with music or an announcement.

In a call queue you determine, among other things:

  • Who answers: individual employees, a Teams team, or a distribution list.
  • How calls are distributed: simultaneously to everyone, in order, in turn, or to whoever has been free the longest.
  • What happens if it takes too long or gets too busy: forwarding, voicemail, or a callback request.
  • Whether employees can log in and out themselves.

The simple distinction

Remember it this way: an auto attendant chooses the route, a call queue distributes the work. The first talks to the caller, the second organizes your team.

How to combine them

In practice, they almost always work together. A common setup:

  1. The main number comes in on an auto attendant.
  2. It checks opening hours and offers a short menu.
  3. Each choice leads to its own call queue, such as Support or Administration.
  4. The right colleagues are in the call queue, with a clear rule if no one answers.

Common mistakes

  • Too many menu layers. A caller drops off after two levels. Keep it brief.
  • No overflow plan. A queue without a maximum keeps callers hanging endlessly.
  • Forgetting holidays. Set them in advance, so no one has to adjust on the second day of Christmas.
  • Queues full of people who never call. Include only employees who have a real telephone role.

What do you need?

Each auto attendant and call queue gets a resource account in Teams. You link a phone number and a free Teams Phone Resource Account license to this. Employees who answer need a Teams Phone license themselves.

Ensure the structure fits your organization

A good call structure doesn’t start in the Teams Admin Center. It starts by asking: who calls us, for what, and who should handle it? With 365 Phone Connect, we set this up together with you, based on a proven setup that goes live quickly.

Want to know what your call structure could look like in Teams? Schedule a conversation, it takes just 15 minutes.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can an auto attendant forward directly to an employee?

Yes. A menu choice can lead to a person, a call queue, another auto attendant, voicemail, or an external number.

How many callers can a call queue handle?

You set a maximum yourself. Above that, you forward callers, for example, to voicemail or another queue.

Can callers leave a callback request?

Yes, call queues in Teams support callbacks. The caller keeps their place in line without staying on the line.