Monitoring Guide for Authorized Users of Queues App

Overview

Microsoft Teams Phone now supports advanced call queue monitoring features for authorized users (supervisors or leads) through the Queues app. These features—Monitor, Whisper, Barge, and Takeover—enable real-time oversight and coaching of call queue agents to improve service quality and responsiveness.

This guide outlines how to use these features, key configuration requirements, and important behaviors to be aware of.

Key Features

Prerequisites & Setup

To use monitoring features, the following settings must be in place:

Authorized User Access

• The Queues app must be enabled for the authorized users of call queues.
• Only users assigned as authorized users can monitor calls.
• Authorized users cannot monitor other authorized users, only agents.

Agent Status

• Agents must be opted-in to the queue to be monitored.

Presence-Based Routing

• Must be enabled in the call queue settings.  Only the Telecommunications team can update this setting.  Without it, monitoring features may be hidden or non-functional.

Using the Queues App to Monitor Calls

1. Open the Queues app in the Teams desktop client.
2. Select the call queue you wish to access (if you have more than one).
3. Navigate to the Call Queues section displaying all your listed agents.
4. Select an agent to monitor (they must be opted-in).  If they are currently on a call, you will only be able to monitor the next call they take. This is to ensure the supervisor monitors the call from the very beginning.
5. Choose the desired monitoring action.  "Monitor" is the first option initially available. Then you gain access to each subsequent action in the order shown below:
   • Monitor: Listen silently.
   • Whisper: Coach the agent.
   • Barge: Join the call.
   • Takeover: Take control of the call.
6. You can access these monitoring actions in reverse order. For example, if you have barged on a call, you can revert to whisper.

Note: These features are only available on the Teams desktop or Mac — not on the Teams web client or mobile app.

Good to Know

No Notification to Agents or Callers: Only Teams agents being monitored are notified on screen when monitoring begins.  Callers are not notified when monitoring begins.

Call History Limitations: Monitored calls may not appear in the Queues app call history for supervisors. Only the agent and caller see the call in their history.

Legal Requirements for Call Monitoring

Federal Law (U.S.)

One-party consent: Under federal law, only one party on the call needs to consent to monitoring or recording.

This means a business can legally monitor or record a call if one participant (e.g., the agent) is aware and consents.

California Law

All-party consent: Under the California Invasion of Privacy Act (CIPA), all parties on the call must be informed and must consent to monitoring or recording.

This applies even if the business is located outside California but is communicating with someone in California.

Violations can result in civil and criminal penalties

Best Practice

Because you may not always know where a caller is located, the safest and most compliant approach is to always obtain all-party consent by notifying all participants at the start of the call.

Sample Call Queue Greeting Message

Here’s a compliant statement that can be amended to the greeting message of a call queue that will be monitored:

“Thank you for calling [University/Department Name]. This call may be monitored or recorded for quality assurance, training, and service improvement purposes. By continuing, you consent to this monitoring.”