Call Pickup

Overview

Call Pickup lets a user answer a call that is ringing on someone else’s extension — without walking over to that desk. When a colleague steps away from their phone or is buried in another task, the ringing call can be picked up from any nearby handset and the conversation continues as if it had been answered locally.

Call Pickup matters because missed first-rings cost business: callers who hit voicemail on the second or third ring often hang up rather than leave a message. With pickup configured, any teammate within earshot — or anywhere in the building — can rescue a ringing call in two key presses.

VeloPBX supports three flavors of pickup:

• Directed Call Pickup — answer the call on a specific named extension by dialing a Feature Access Code (FAC) plus the extension number.
• BLF (Busy Lamp Field) Pickup — press a flashing BLF key on a deskphone to answer a call ringing on the monitored extension. No code to remember.
• Group Call Pickup — answer any call currently ringing inside your assigned pickup group by dialing a single FAC.

How Call Pickup Works

Directed Pickup

The dialing user picks a specific target. Anyone in the tenant can pick up any extension’s ringing call by dialing *97 + the target extension number. The call is immediately bridged to the dialing phone.

Directed pickup will fail if:

• The target call has already been answered.
• The target extension has no active ringing call.
• The target extension number is invalid or belongs to another tenant.

Note: Directed Call Pickup is enabled by default for every VeloPBX extension. No admin configuration is required to use it — only the FAC (*97) and the target extension number.

BLF Pickup

When a deskphone has a BLF (Busy Lamp Field) key programmed for another extension, that key blinks while the monitored extension is ringing. Pressing the flashing key picks up the call directly — no FAC needed. BLF keys are configured on the deskphone itself (or via auto-provisioning templates), not in the VeloPBX Web Portal.

Group Pickup

A pickup group is an admin-defined set of extensions whose ringing calls can be answered by any other member of the same group. The dialer doesn’t need to know which extension is ringing — they just dial *98 and the longest-ringing call in the group is bridged.

Group behavior:

• Any group member can answer any ringing call within the group.
• If multiple group phones ring simultaneously, the longest-ringing call is picked up first.
• Once the call is answered, the originally-ringing extension is freed for new calls.

Group rules:

• A user can belong to only one pickup group at a time.
• All group members must belong to the same tenant.
• A tenant can host multiple pickup groups.
• Pickup group names must be unique within the tenant.

Tip: Pickup groups work best when they map to a real-world cluster — a sales pod, a support bench, a reception desk pair. Avoid one tenant-wide group with everyone in it; the cross-floor noise is rarely useful.

Configuring Pickup Groups in the Web Portal

To create a Group Call Pickup group:

1. Sign in to the VeloPBX Web Portal at https://pbx.fortis-tele.com:8887 as a Tenant Administrator (or as a System Administrator with the tenant selected).
2. From the left menu, open Advanced Services → Call Pickup.
3. Click Add.
4. Enter a unique Group Name (e.g. Sales Pod, Reception, Support Bench).
5. Open the Group Members tab.
6. Add the extensions that should belong to the group. Each extension can appear in only one group.
7. Click OK to save.

To edit a group later, select it from the list, change the name or membership, and click OK again. To remove a group, select it and click Delete.

Important: Removing an extension from a pickup group takes effect immediately — the user can no longer answer the group’s ringing calls with *98, and other members can no longer pick up calls ringing at that extension. Communicate the change to affected users before saving.

Picking Up a Call from a Phone

VeloPBX ships a default set of Feature Access Codes for pickup. The codes can be customized per tenant under Advanced Services → Feature Access Codes if your dial plan reserves the defaults for something else.

Worked example: directed pickup

Alice is at extension 102. Her phone is ringing while she is away from her desk. Bob, sitting two desks away, picks up his own handset and dials:

*97102

The call is immediately bridged to Bob’s phone. Alice’s extension stops ringing; the caller is now talking to Bob.

Worked example: group pickup

The Sales pickup group contains extensions 201, 202, 203, and 204. A customer calls in and 203 starts ringing. Anyone at 201, 202, or 204 (or 203 itself, from a nearby phone) can answer by dialing:

*98

If a second sales call lands on 204 while 203 is still ringing, the longest-ringing of the two — 203 — is picked up first.

Recommendations

• Map groups to seating, not to org charts. Pickup is a physical-proximity convenience: people pick up calls they can hear ringing. A group whose members sit on different floors mostly generates noise.
• Keep groups small. Five to ten extensions per group is a comfortable upper bound. Above that, members start picking up calls they can’t actually field.
• Train users on the difference. Directed (97 + ext) is precise; group (98) is generic. Encourage group pickup as the default — it’s faster and doesn’t require knowing which extension is ringing.
• Use BLF for receptionists and team leads. Anyone who routinely covers calls for a fixed set of teammates should have those extensions on BLF keys; pressing a flashing key is faster than dialing any FAC.
• Audit groups quarterly. As people change desks or roles, pickup-group membership drifts out of date. A 5-minute review every quarter keeps the dial codes useful.

Next Step

Once Call Pickup is in place, the natural next step is configuring how groups of extensions ring together for inbound calls:

→ Ring Groups

If you need help configuring pickup groups or your tenant’s FAC dial plan, contact [email protected].

Last updated: 2026-05-01