# Pick up a Call

When a queued call sits ringing without an agent answering it, you can step in and take that call yourself rather than leave the caller waiting. This page walks through picking up a ringing call from the queue.

:::note
A queue is a virtual waiting line that holds incoming callers and offers them to a group of agents. The Queue Panel is the live view of that line inside the Call Center Console, showing who is waiting and which calls are currently ringing on an agent's phone.
:::

## Before you begin

You need the **Allow for picking up or hanging up agents' calls** permission before you can take another agent's incoming call. If you do not have it, ask your system administrator to grant it.

:::caution
This permission is off by default. Without it, the **Pick Up** option will not appear when you right-click a call, so confirm you have it before you rely on this during a busy shift.
:::

## Pick up a ringing call

1. Open the Cloud Voice App (Web or Desktop) and go to **Call Center Console > Queue Panel**.
2. In the **Waiting Calls** panel, find a call whose status is Ringing and rest your pointer on it.

   :::note
   Ringing means the queue has already offered the call to an agent's extension but no one has answered yet. That is the call you can take over. A call that has not been offered to anyone will show a different status, such as Waiting.
   :::

3. Right-click the call and choose **Pick Up**. The PBX (Private Branch Exchange, the phone system that routes your calls) connects the call to your extension.

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

4. Answer the call.

:::tip
Picking up a call pulls it away from the agent it was ringing on, so use it when that agent clearly cannot get to the call (away from the desk, already on another line). If they are simply slow to answer, give them a moment first.
:::