Inbound telephone calls received through interface 441 are distributed to call queue(s) routing module 450 for response by agents operating telephony devices. In the inbound telephone call receiving system 540 of customer management system 500 shown in FIG. 5, answering queues 550 control routing of inbound callers on hold to live agents. Answering queues module 550 includes a first call queue (hold list) 554 and a second call queue (hold list) 558. First call queue (hold list) 554 routes calls on hold for response by one of the agents in a first pool 560 of call center agents, while second call queue (hold list) 558 routes calls on hold for response by one of the agents in a second pool 570 of call center agents. In an embodiment, call center agents in agent pools 560 and 570 are groups of customer service representatives or agents deployed at workstations or agent devices communicatively coupled to customer management system 500.
