# Pick up a Call

When a queued call keeps ringing and no agent has taken it, you can grab the call yourself and route it to your own extension. This is handy for shortening the caller's wait when an agent is slow to answer or has stepped away.

A few terms used below:

- **Extension**: the internal number assigned to a phone or agent.
- **Queue**: a line that holds incoming callers until an agent is free to take them.

## Before you begin

Picking up another agent's ringing call requires a specific permission. Confirm that your system administrator has assigned you the **Allow for picking up or hanging up agents' calls** permission.

:::caution
Without that permission, the **Pick Up** option will not appear when you right-click a call. Ask your system administrator to grant it before you try to pick up calls.
:::

## Pick up a ringing call

1. Open the Cloud Voice App (Web or Desktop) and navigate to **Call Center Console > Queue Panel**.

   :::note
   The Queue Panel is a live view of your call center. The **Waiting Calls** list shows callers who are still in line, and each call's status (for example, Ringing) refreshes in real time.
   :::

2. In the **Waiting Calls** panel, move your pointer over a call whose status shows as Ringing.
3. Right-click that call and choose **Pick Up**.

   The PBX (Private Branch Exchange, the phone system that routes your calls) pulls the call away from the original extension and delivers it to yours.

   ![Queue Panel with the right-click menu open on a ringing call and the Pick Up option highlighted](/images/pbx/queue-panel-pick-up-a-call.png)

   :::tip
   Picking up a call removes it from the agent (or agents) it was ringing on. Use this when the assigned agent clearly cannot answer, so you don't disrupt the queue's normal call distribution.
   :::

4. Answer the call at your extension.