Omnichannel Queue Collections: Report on Groups of Zendesk Queues
Name the groups of Zendesk omnichannel queues you already think in — "EMEA Tier 1", "All Voice", "Priority Tiers" — and then point a metric or a filter at the whole group instead of at twelve queues.
Why This Exists
Until now, every omnichannel queue metric in Qvasa took exactly one queue, and every queue filter took a hand-picked list of queue ids. If you wanted a single number across a set of queues, your only option was to build a widget and then filter it down to the queues you cared about — re-ticking the same eight queues every time, on every widget, on every report.
A queue collection turns that group into a first-class object. Once a collection exists:
The group is queryable at the metric level. "Outstanding Tickets in EMEA Tier 1" is one number, computed directly across every member queue — not a filtered-down version of something else.
Filtering by many queues becomes one click. Pick the collection in the filters lightbox and it fans out to all of its member queues automatically.
It is faster to build and faster to change. Add a queue to the collection once, and every widget and filter built on it picks the new queue up. No hunting through dashboards to re-tick a list.
The practical takeaway: invest a few minutes in building out your collections on the settings page. Everything downstream — widgets, filters, wallboards — gets simpler once they exist.
What a Queue Collection Is
A queue collection is a Qvasa concept, not a Zendesk one. Qvasa does not download collections from Zendesk — you create them. What lives inside a collection are your real Zendesk omnichannel routing queues, which Qvasa does sync from Zendesk.
Each collection has:
A name — used verbatim wherever the collection appears, so "EMEA Tier 1" stays "EMEA Tier 1".
A description — optional, and it becomes the tooltip wherever the collection is offered, so whoever builds a widget six months from now knows which group this is.
Its member queues — any number of your Zendesk omnichannel queues. A queue can belong to as many collections as you like.
Before You Start
You need to be an account admin to create or change collections. Everyone else on the account can use collections in widgets and filters — they just can't edit them.
Your account needs Zendesk omnichannel routing queues enabled and syncing into Qvasa. If you don't see the settings card below, that's why — reach out to us and we'll turn it on.
Step 1: Open the Queue Collections Page
Go to Settings in the left-hand navigation and open the Omnichannel Queue Collections card. (You can also go straight to qvasa.com/omnichannel_queue_collections.)
Step 2: Create a Collection
Click + Add queue collection…, give it a name, and — this is worth doing — write a one-line description of what the group covers and when to use it. You pick its queues on the next page.
The list shows every collection on the account with its member queues as chips, so you can see at a glance what each group actually contains.
Step 3: Add Queues to It
Open the collection and use the search box at the bottom of the Queues in this collection card. Search for a queue and it is added straight away; the × on a row removes it. Queues already in the collection aren't offered in the dropdown — remove one and it comes back.
The list saves as you go — there's no separate save step for queue membership. The name and description have their own Save queue collection button above.
Step 4: Use the Collection in a Widget
On any dashboard, enter edit mode, add a widget, and search the widget list for "queue collection". Pick the metric you want, then choose your collection from the Queue Collection dropdown on the right.
Six metrics are available:
Outstanding tickets by omnichannel queue collection — live count of tickets currently waiting in any member queue. Supports ticket drill-in.
Outstanding tickets live avg wait time by omnichannel queue collection — how long, on average, the tickets waiting right now have been waiting.
Outstanding tickets longest wait time by omnichannel queue collection — the breach alarm for the group: the single longest current wait.
Avg wait time in omnichannel queue collection — historical average wait across the dashboard's date window.
Average queue height in omnichannel queue collection over time — a chart of how deep the group's backlog was, minute by minute, bucketed over time.
Avg wait time in omnichannel queue collection over time — the historical wait average, charted over time.
Note: collection widgets only appear in the widget library once you have at least one collection. If you can't find them, create a collection first.
Step 5: Use the Collection as a Filter
Open the filters lightbox and search for "queue collection". You'll find four filters under Omnichannel Queue Collections:
Tickets Currently In Queue Collections — tickets sitting in any member queue right now.
Exclude Tickets Currently In Queue Collections — the inverse.
Tickets Ever In Queue Collections — tickets that passed through any member queue at any point in the dashboard's date window.
Exclude Tickets Ever In Queue Collections — the inverse.
One pick covers every queue in the group. These work alongside the existing single-queue filters — you can set both, and both apply.
Two Definitions Worth Knowing
A collection can contain queues that a single ticket passes through more than once, so it's worth being explicit about what gets counted. Both of these are also stated on the widgets themselves.
The live outstanding-tickets count is distinct by ticket. A ticket that briefly holds an open row in two member queues counts once. This matches how Qvasa's existing "all queues" metrics behave.
The wait averages and the queue-height chart count queue stays, not tickets. A ticket sitting in two member queues at once contributes two stays. The payoff is that a collection's queue height is exactly the sum of its member queues' heights.
Consequence: the count widget and the queue-height chart can differ by the number of duplicates. That is expected — they measure different things.
Archived Queues Stay In
If a queue disappears from Zendesk, Qvasa archives it rather than deleting it, and it stays in whatever collections hold it and keeps counting. The queue is gone, but the queue history it accumulated is still part of what the collection measured.
If you'd rather it stopped counting, remove it from the collection on the collection's page.
Tips
Build out your collections up front. Name every grouping your team already talks about — by region, by channel, by tier, by product line. It takes a few minutes and it's the whole payoff of the feature.
Overlapping collections are fine. A queue can be in "All Voice" and "EMEA Tier 1" at the same time.
Write the description. It's the only place a collection's meaning surfaces when someone is choosing one in a widget dropdown months later.
Adding a queue updates everything at once. Every widget and filter built on the collection picks it up — no dashboard edits needed.
FAQ
Do collections come from Zendesk? No. Collections are a Qvasa concept that you create and manage. Only the queues inside them come from Zendesk.
What happens if I delete a collection? Any dashboard widget built on it stops working — each one has to be edited to point somewhere else, or deleted — and saved filters using it stop matching. The queues themselves are untouched. Deleting a collection cannot be undone.
Can non-admins use collections? Yes. Anyone can select a collection in a widget or a filter. Only admins can create, rename, delete, or change the queues in one.
Why can't I see the collection widgets? They hide themselves on an account with no collections. Create one and they appear.
Is there a limit? Up to 100 collections per account, and up to 200 queues in a collection — well above what any account needs in practice.