Google adds more options for admins to manage Voice ring groups

The new controls are gradually rolling out to both Rapid Release and Scheduled Release domains and will be available to all Google Workspace and G Suite customers with Google Voice standard and premier licenses and not to Google Workspace and G Suite customers with Google Voice starter licenses.

Google has added new controls for Google Voice admins to manage their rings groups, aka hunt groups. Available with the Voice Standard and Premier subscriptions only, ring groups allow people in an organization to answer calls from the same Google Voice number.

"We've heard from you that you'd like more options to customize the ringing behavior for your ring groups," Google wrote in a blog post.

The new customization options include:

• Configure a Fixed order pattern where incoming ring group calls will ring members in a predetermined order. You can define exactly what order to ring your members when the ring group receives a call, skipping members who are already in a call or have Do not disturb enabled.
• Change the maximum duration that a call should ring before it goes unanswered. You can customize the maximum ringing duration for fixed as well as round-robin patterns that allow you to limit how long an incoming call should ring. Previously this was fixed at 30 seconds.

For those unaware, there are three types of call routing pattern for Google Voice ring groups. These include:

• Round robin - Rings each member in random order until someone answers
• Simultaneous - Rings all members at the same time, until someone answers
• Fixed order - Rings each member in a pre-defined order until someone answers

With each pattern, admins have the ability to set how long each member or group has before the call is redirected to the next member - randomly or in order - or before it’s redirected from the group.

The new controls are gradually rolling out to both Rapid Release and Scheduled Release domains and will be available to all Google Workspace and G Suite customers with Google Voice standard and premier licenses and not to Google Workspace and G Suite customers with Google Voice starter licenses.