# Call Pickup Overview

Call Pickup lets a user answer a call that is ringing on someone else's phone without leaving their own desk. Cloud Voice offers two ways to do this, answering a specific extension, or answering any ringing call within a shared group, and each can be triggered with a feature code.

## Extension call pickup

Extension call pickup (sometimes called directed call pickup) answers a call ringing on one named extension.

Say an executive's phone is ringing while they are in a meeting and cannot take the call. Their assistant, who knows they're unavailable, can pick up that call directly from their own phone and handle it.

## Group call pickup

Group call pickup lets members of an [extension group](/pbx/administrator-guide/extension-group-overview/) cover each other's incoming calls. When several people work on the same tasks, and one of them is away or busy when a call comes in, any other member of the group can answer it from their own phone.

:::note
- When more than one call is ringing in the group at the same time, picking up answers the call that started ringing first.
- This does not apply to the built-in group that holds every extension on the PBX (Private Branch Exchange, the phone system itself), group call pickup works only with the extension groups you define.
:::

## Pickup feature code

Users answer these calls by dialing a feature code. The defaults are:

- **Group call pickup:** `*4`
- **Extension pickup:** `*04`

:::tip
You can change either code, or turn it on or off, from the PBX web portal under **Call Features > Feature Code > Call Pickup**.
:::