How to Create a Hunt Group - CUCM 8/9/10

About this video

A step-by-step CUCM tutorial on creating a hunt group, presented on Call Manager 10.5 and described as applicable to versions 8, 9 and 10, with queuing features noted as new in 9 and 10. He explains why a hunt group beats a shared line for a sales team: each person keeps their own extension and a call answered on one phone does not appear on hold on all the others. A hunt group is built bottom-up from three elements in order: line group first, then hunt list, then hunt pilot. In the line group he covers the RNA reversion timeout (about 10 seconds for top-down, around 30 seconds suggested for broadcast, about 15 seconds as his usual setting), distribution algorithms (top-down, circular, longest idle time, broadcast), and no-answer/busy/not-available hunt options, which he leaves at defaults. He then creates the hunt list, enables it and resets it, then creates the hunt pilot with an alerting name, forward-to-voicemail on no answer/busy, and a maximum hunt timer he describes as typically 120 seconds. Queuing is covered in detail: default maximum of 32 callers in queue and about 15 minutes maximum wait time in his example, music on hold, and routing to voicemail when the queue is full or times out. He stresses queuing does not work with broadcast and requires the ‘automatically log out hunt member on no answer’ option, which in turn requires training users and ideally a phone button to log back in. He finishes by verifying in the route plan report and test-dialing the pilot.

Key takeaways

• Build a CUCM hunt group bottom-up in strict order: line group, then hunt list, then hunt pilot — you cannot start at the top
• Choose the line group distribution algorithm to fit the use case: top-down, circular, longest idle time, or broadcast (all phones at once)
• Set the RNA reversion timeout per phone — about 10 seconds for top-down in the demo, around 30 seconds for broadcast so the whole group gets time to answer
• Queuing (CUCM 9/10) requires a non-broadcast algorithm plus auto-logout on no answer, and users need a way to log back in or calls will strand in queue
• On the hunt pilot, set explicit no-answer/busy destinations (typically voicemail), an alerting name so staff know which hunt pilot rang, and a maximum hunt timer (typically 120 seconds)

Episode details: published October 19, 2014 · 20:06 long. Summary written by Self Growth Videos from the episode itself. Business results and any income figures mentioned are NetworkChuck’s own claims, shared for education — they are not typical or guaranteed.

Next: How to Upgrade/Activate a License on a Cisco ASA (Adaptive Security Appliance) →

All NetworkChuck videos · NetworkChuck profile · NetworkChuck on YouTube