Using FreePBX For Call Queuing?

So I have been throwing around an idea in my head and part of the idea is to have a call in line (queue).
I was wondering if FreePBX supports queuing up incoming calls to the same number?
Obviously I would also need someway to display the queue and answer each call off the queue.

Can FreePBX handle this?

Yes. Natively. -----

So, I doubt that it can do this, but I would like to be able to show the caller name and some brief information about the call so whoever takes the call can know the name of the caller and what the call is about.
Basically a call screener would input this information and the “agent” could see it on his screen.

How hard would it be to have something like this?

FreePBX isn’t a Windows application - it’s a management framework for Asterisk.

In spite of that, there are lots of software components that connect to the underlying Asterisk implementation that allow for all sorts of interfaces to CRM (and similar systems).

,The use case for what you are describing will decide how much of what you want done happens in the PBX. Since the system has no screens, I’m pretty sure the “see it on his screen” part isn’t going to happen.

Yea…I know what FreePBX is.

It does have a management GUI though, doesn’t it? Can calls that queued be displayed on this GUI?
And can they manually be answered?

Thanks,

Ray

OK - pedantic mode on for a minute.

FreePBX is a management GUI for managing the OPERATION of the PBX.

It is not an operator’s console. It does not include a management console for the USE of the PBX.

So, to your three questions:

Yes, it does, for the day-to-day operation and configuration of the PBX.

No, you need a different interface for that. There are several available, including one called “iSymphony” that can be installed with the base install of FreePBX. It is, however, a commercial product and is managed by a different group of people. Personally, I don’t like or use iSymphony - I’ve never had good luck getting it to work reliably and the price is just too high for anything more than the most trivial of installations.

I’m not sure how you are using the word “manually”. When a call comes into the PBX, it is routed to a specific endpoint. Note that this endpoint isn’t necessarily a phone. It can be an Auto-attendant (we call them IVRs), a ring-group (a bunch of phones), a queue (a different kind of interactive “group of phones”), or several other places. You can send your incoming calls to a phone (either inside out outside your network) and can manage differeint incoming numbers so that they are routed to different places. You can also route calls based on the caller ID of the person calling, and route your calls that way. You can route all, some, or none of your calls to an “operator” or “receptionist” station, from which the individual answering the call can route the call to a different endpoint. This operator station can be a soft-phone running on a computer or a real handset.

There are as many ways to answer and handle calls into Asterisk and FreePBX as there are people implementing the system. Whatever vision you have for the system can probably be addressed, but you will need to do more than ask vague rhetorical questions that are easily answered by perusing the Wiki.