Auto attendant vs call queue vs resource account vs Shared Calling
Verdict: Every auto attendant or call queue needs a resource account to hold its number. Only auto attendants route by business hours and holidays, so front any queue with one. Shared Calling gives numberless users the resource account's caller ID.
| Criterion | Auto attendant | Call queue | Resource account | Shared Calling |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Purpose | Menu greeting and routing front door | Distributes inbound calls to a pool of agents | Disabled sign-in account holding the number and licence for an AA or call queue | Gives users with no personal number an inbound and outbound identity |
| Off-hours and holidays | Business-hours and per-holiday call flows | None; front the queue with an auto attendant | n/a | n/a |
| Caller ID | Its resource account number | Agents may pick the queue number or their own DID | Supplies the number shown | Recipient sees the auto attendant's resource account number |
| Recording | n/a | Compliance Recording for Call Queues records all agent-answered inbound calls with no per-agent policy | n/a | n/a |
| Licence | Resource account needs a Teams Phone Resource Account licence | Same, plus Queues app and Teams Premium for shared call history | Teams Phone Resource Account licence, free with Teams Phone | Teams Phone licence, voice-enabled, no personal number |
Rules
- Front every call queue with an auto attendant: queues have no off-hours or holiday routing, even when staffed 24/7.
- Inbound PSTN calls to a Shared Calling user connect to the resource account's auto attendant; outbound calls show that auto attendant's number.
- Compliance Recording for Call Queues records all agent-answered inbound queue calls without assigning a policy to each agent.
- Each resource account needs a Teams Phone Resource Account licence before it can back an auto attendant or call queue.
- Set differing call priorities on per-tier resource accounts feeding one shared queue to present premium callers first without splitting agents.
- Shared call history in a call queue requires both the Queues app and a Teams Premium licence.
Traps
- A call queue has no toll-free flag; toll-free is a property of the phone number assigned to its resource account.
- The Queues app is for agent monitoring, not compliance call recording.
- A voice applications policy alone does not let a user edit a queue; they must also be an authorised user on that queue.