Hunt Group Types Explained: Collective, Sequential, Rotary

Key points

The group type controls the order people ring in, not who is in the group.
Members on do-not-disturb, on a call or logged out are skipped.
If one person gets every call, the group is probably sequential.
Out of hours, night service can send the group's calls somewhere else.

The four hunt group types

All four ring the same members. They only differ in who rings first and what happens next.

ALL AT ONCE

Collective

Every available member rings together. The first to answer takes the call.

Best for: reception and small teams where speed matters most.

FIRST → LAST

Sequential

Always starts at the top of the list and works down.

Best for: one main person, with others as backup.

ROUND IN TURN

Rotary

Starts with the person after whoever answered the last call.

Best for: sharing calls evenly.

MOST IDLE FIRST

Longest waiting

Starts with whoever has been free the longest.

Best for: busy sales or support teams.

Side by side

Type	Who rings first	Shares calls evenly?	Common surprise
Collective	Everyone available	No: fastest hands win	Phones on DND are silently skipped
Sequential	The first member	No	The first person gets almost every call
Rotary	The next after the last answerer	Yes	Feels random to staff
Longest waiting	The longest-idle member	Yes, by workload	Busy people seem to be skipped

Which type should you use?

Callers must be answered as fast as possibleCollective

One person should handle most calls, with backupSequential

Calls should be spread evenly across the teamRotary

Staff are often on long callsLongest waiting

When a hunt group misbehaves

The usual causes are a member's status, the group's mode, or the route that sends calls to it.

The right person never rings

Check they're still a member, not on do-not-disturb, and logged in to a phone if you use hot desking.

Calls go somewhere else after hours

The group may be in night service, or a time profile may switch it. Check the group's mode and fallback.

External calls reach the wrong group

The incoming call route may point at another group or use its fallback. Use the fault finder

See it happen

How the four hunt group types ring

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Hunt group types at a glance

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Questions people ask

What is a hunt group?

A hunt group is a set of phones that share incoming calls, ringing in a chosen pattern so a team can answer calls to one number.

What is a circular hunt group?

Another name for rotary: each call starts with the person after whoever took the last one, so calls spread evenly around the team.

What is a hunt group number?

The internal number that reaches the whole group. An outside number can be routed to it, and colleagues can dial it directly.

What is the difference between a call pickup group and a hunt group?

A hunt group rings members automatically. A call pickup group lets colleagues answer a phone that is already ringing nearby, usually with a key or short code.

Can one person be in more than one hunt group?

Yes. Each group rings them by its own rules, so someone in several groups gets calls from all of them.

Why does a member on do-not-disturb still get some calls?

Some calls bypass the group, such as calls dialled straight to their extension, or numbers they've set as exceptions.

What happens when nobody answers?

After the group's no-answer time, the call moves to its overflow, voicemail or fallback, depending on how the group is set up.

Will changing the type drop calls in progress?

Plan changes outside busy hours, back up the configuration first, and change one setting at a time.

Related guides

Fault finder

Calls not reaching the right people

Open ↗

Explainer

Time profiles and night service

In review

Reference

Incoming call routes