Hunt Group
A configuration that rings multiple phone lines or extensions in sequence or simultaneously until someone answers — ensuring callers always reach a person.
A hunt group (also called a ring group) distributes incoming calls across a set of extensions or agents using a defined ringing pattern. The most common patterns are: sequential (ring extension 101, then 102, then 103 if unanswered), simultaneous (ring all extensions at once and connect to whoever answers first), and round-robin (distribute calls evenly across agents in rotation).
Hunt groups are widely used by small businesses to prevent callers from reaching a single busy line and hanging up. Instead of one person being the single point of contact, a team shares call coverage — reducing missed calls and distributing workload.
The term 'hunt group' comes from traditional PBX telephony, where the system would 'hunt' through a list of lines until it found a free one. In modern cloud systems, the same functionality is called a ring group, but many businesses and IT professionals still use the legacy term. Zonitel's ring groups support all three ringing patterns, can include mobile phones and remote workers, and include fallback to voicemail or an overflow queue if no one answers.