When a call enters a split queue, the caller hears the ringing tone until Communication Manager connects the call to an agent or an announcement. The caller hears an announcement, music, or silence.

An announcement is a recorded message that provides information such as the destination the call has reached or the business hours of a company.

Communication Manager supports internal and external announcement devices. You can assign announcements and delay time to splits through the communication server administration.

Delay time is the amount of time a call waits in queue before receiving an announcement. If a call connects to an agent before the delay time expires, the caller does not hear the announcement. If a call connects to an agent while an announcement is playing, the announcement stops. After the first announcement, the caller hears music or silence until the second announcement or the call connects to an agent.

The announcement delay time can be from 0 to 99 seconds. A 0-second delay time causes a forced announcement, which means that callers always hear the entire first announcement, whether an agent is available, that is, idle or not. You can administer a second announcement for each time the first announcement delay time expires.