How to build Phone flows in Cue

Phone workflows let you control exactly what happens when a call comes in - beyond basic routing. You can play a greeting, offer callers a menu to choose a department, branch based on business hours, and route to specific teams.

Workflows are built visually in the flow editor using drag-and-drop steps. This guide covers how to access the editor, the available steps, and how to publish your workflow.

Accessing the workflow editor

1. Open app.cuedesk.com
2. Navigate to Connectivity → Channels
3. Find your Phone channel and click the settings cog
4. Click the Advanced tab
5. Click Edit flow

The flow editor opens as a full-screen canvas. Your channel's phone number appears as the entry point on the left. Steps connect left-to-right, showing the path a caller follows.

Adding steps to your workflow

Click the + button after any step to add a new one. The "Add a phone step" panel appears with the available step types. You can also search by name.

Available steps

Play message

Plays an audio message to the caller -  a greeting, an announcement, or any spoken content.

1. Click + and select Play message
2. Choose between Generate audio (text-to-speech) or Upload audio
3. If using text-to-speech, type your message (up to 300 characters), select a phone from the dropdown, and click Preview to hear it
4. Click Save

The step appears on the canvas showing a preview of the message text.

Menu

Creates an automated phone menu where callers press a number on their keypad to choose an option. Each key maps to a label and branches to a different path in the workflow.

1. Click + and select Menu
2. Under Script, configure the audio the caller hears (e.g. "For Sales press 1, for Support press 2"). Use text-to-speech or upload audio, the same as Play message
3. Under Keys, add a key for each option. Each key has a digit (1–#) and a label (e.g. "Sales"). Click + Add key for additional options
4. Under Behaviour, set:

• Timeout - how long to wait for the caller to press a key before treating it as a no match/no input (e.g. 5 seconds)
• Retries on no match / no input - how many times to replay the script before taking the fallback path (e.g. No retries/1 retry)

1. Click Save

Each key creates a separate output on the canvas that you can connect to the next step for that path. A "No input / No match" output handles callers who do not press a key or press an invalid one.

Business hours

Branches the workflow based on whether the call is received during or outside your business hours. This step has two outputs: Open and Closed.

1. Click + and select Business hours
2. Click Choose a schedule and select an existing business hours schedule
3. Click Save

Connect the Open output to the steps callers should follow during business hours (e.g. a greeting, then route to agents). Connect the Closed output to the steps for after hours (e.g. play an out-of-office message).

Transfer to agents

Routes the call to available agents using a distribution strategy. This is typically the final step in a workflow path.

1. Click + and select Transfer to agents
2. Under Team, choose either All active agents in the workspace or a specific team
3. Under Distribution, select the routing strategy: Round-robin, Fewest calls today, or Longest idle
4. Set the Ring duration - how long to ring each agent before moving to the next (e.g. 60 seconds)
5. Under Hold music while waiting, preview the current hold music or click Change to upload a different file
6. Under Unanswered calls, set the Max unanswered wait time. This is how long a caller waits for an agent before the call moves on. Leave it as No limit to keep callers in the queue until they’re answered or hang up.
7. Choose a Playback source (Generate audio or Upload audio) and type the Message to play (up to 300 characters). If you leave it empty, Cue plays its built-in message.
8. Under Next action, choose End call.
9. Click Save

Saving and publishing

Workflows use versioning to let you make changes without affecting live callers until you are ready.

• Save - saves your changes as a draft. The workflow is not yet live. The header shows "Saved" to confirm.
  
• Publish - makes the current draft version live. Callers will immediately experience the updated workflow. The version indicator in the top-right updates to show "Live".

Example: basic business hours workflow

Here is a common workflow pattern for a Phone channel:

1. Call comes in on your phone number (entry point)
2. Business hours step checks whether you are open or closed
3. If Open: Play message ("Thank you for calling Cue’) → Menu step (“Please press 1 to speak to Sales, or 2 to speak to Customer Success") → Customer selects option 1 on keypad→ Transfer to agents (Round-robin, Sales team)
4. If Closed: Play message ("Our office is currently closed. Please call back during business hours.")

Frequently asked questions

What happens if I save but do not publish?

Your changes are saved as a draft but callers continue to experience the previous live version. Nothing changes for callers until you publish.

Can I revert to a previous version?

You can view previous versions using the version dropdown. To revert, open the previous version and publish it again.

What happens at the end of a workflow if there is no next step?

If a caller reaches the end of a path with no further steps, the call will end. Make sure every path in your workflow ends with either a Transfer to agents step or a Play message that sets the caller's expectation.

Can I have different routing strategies for different teams in the same workflow?

Yes. Use a Menu step to let callers choose a department, then connect each key to a different Transfer to agents step with its own team and distribution strategy.

What happens if not one answers the call?

By default, callers stay in the queue until an agent answers or they hang up. To limit this, set a Max unanswered wait time in the Transfer to agents step, along with a message and a next action.