Cisco CallManager System Guide, Release 4.0(1)
Call Pickup and Group Call Pickup

Table Of Contents

Call Pickup and Group Call Pickup

Understanding Call Pickup and Group Call Pickup

Using Call Pickup Features with Partitions to Restrict Access

Call Pickup Guidelines and Tips

Dependency Records

Call Pickup Configuration Checklist

Updating Call Pickup Configurations

Where to Find More Information


Call Pickup and Group Call Pickup


Two features, call pickup and group call pickup, allow users to answer calls that come in on a directory number other than their own. The "Understanding Call Pickup and Group Call Pickup" section describes the differences between call pickup and group call pickup.

This section covers the following topics:

Understanding Call Pickup and Group Call Pickup

Call Pickup Guidelines and Tips

Dependency Records

Call Pickup Configuration Checklist

Updating Call Pickup Configurations

Where to Find More Information

Understanding Call Pickup and Group Call Pickup

Cisco IP  Phones provide two call pickup types:

Call pickup—Allows users to pick up incoming calls within their own group. Cisco CallManager automatically dials the appropriate call pickup group number when a user activates this feature from a Cisco IP Phone.

Group call pickup—Allows users to pick up incoming calls within their own group or in other groups. Users must dial the appropriate call pickup group number when they are activating this feature from a Cisco IP Phone.

The same procedures apply for configuring both of these features. Group call pickup numbers apply to lines or directory numbers.

Using Call Pickup Features with Partitions to Restrict Access

You can restrict access to call pickup groups by assigning a partition to the call pickup group number. When this configuration is used, only the phones that have a calling search space that includes the partition with the call pickup group number can participate in that call pickup group. Make sure that the combination of partition and group number is unique throughout the system.

If call pickup group numbers are assigned to a partition, only those phones that can dial numbers in that partition can use the call pickup group.

If partitions represent tenants in a multitenant configuration, make sure that the pickup groups are assigned to the appropriate partition for each tenant.

A multitenant configuration provides an example of using partitions with call pickup groups. Assign the pickup groups to the appropriate partition for each tenant, and the group number will not be visible to other tenants.

Call Pickup Guidelines and Tips

The following guidelines and tips apply to using call pickup and group call pickup features:

You do not need to reset phones to reflect changes that are related to call pickup groups.

Although different lines on a phone can be assigned to different call pickup groups, Cisco does not recommend this setup because it can be confusing to users.

Dependency Records

If you need to find out to what devices a specific call pickup number is assigned, click the Dependency Records link that is provided on the Cisco CallManager Administration Call Pickup Configuration window. The Dependency Records Summary window displays information about devices that are using the call pickup number. To find out more information about the devices, click the device, and the Dependency Records Details window displays. If the dependency records are not enabled for the system, the dependency records summary window displays a message.

For more information about Dependency Records, refer to Accessing Dependency Records in the Cisco CallManager Administration Guide.

Call Pickup Configuration Checklist

Table 30-1 provides a checklist to configure call pickup.

Table 30-1 Call Pickup Configuration Checklist 

Configuration Steps
Related procedures and topics

Step 1 

Configure partitions if you will be using them with call pickup or group call pickup numbers.

Adding a Partition, Cisco CallManager Administration Guide

Using Call Pickup Features with Partitions to Restrict Access

Step 2 

Configure a call pickup group number. Make sure that the number is a unique integer.

Adding a Call Pickup Group Number, Cisco CallManager Administration Guide

Step 3 

Assign the call pickup group number that you created in Step 2 to the directory numbers that are associated with phones on which you want to enable call pickup:

Only directory numbers that are assigned to a call pickup group can use the call pickup feature.

If partitions are used with call pickup numbers, make sure that the directory numbers that are assigned to the call pickup number have a calling search space that includes the appropriate partitions.

Assigning Call Pickup Group Numbers to Directory Numbers, Cisco CallManager Administration Guide

Step 4 

Add a call pickup or group call pickup button to the phone button templates, if needed.

You only need to do this for Cisco IP Phone model 12 SP, 12 SP+, and 30 VIP.

Modifying Phone Button Templates, Cisco CallManager Administration Guide

Step 5 

To configure the Group Pickup or Pickup softkeys for the phone, add the Standard User or Standard Feature softkey template to the phone.

Assigning Softkey Templates to IP Phones, Cisco CallManager Administration Guide

Step 6 

Notify users that the call pickup feature is available.

Refer to the phone documentation for instructions on how users access call pickup features on their Cisco IP Phone.

Updating Call Pickup Configurations

The following notes apply to updating call pickup configurations:

You cannot delete a call pickup group number when it is assigned to a line or directory number. To determine which lines are using the call pickup number, use Dependency Records. To delete a call pickup group number, reassign a new call pickup group number to each line or directory number.

When you update a call pickup group number, Cisco CallManager automatically updates all directory numbers that are assigned to that call pickup group.

Where to Find More Information

Related Topics

Phone Button Template Configuration, Cisco CallManager Administration Guide

Cisco IP Phone Configuration, Cisco CallManager Administration Guide

Partition Configuration, Cisco CallManager Administration Guide

Softkey Template Configuration, Cisco CallManager Administration Guide

Additional Cisco Documentation

Cisco IP Phone user documentation and release notes (all models)

Cisco IP Phone Administration Guide for Cisco CallManager, Cisco IP Phone Models 7960G and 7940G

Cisco IP Phone Administration Guide for Models 7902G, 7905G, and 7912G on Cisco CallManager

Cisco IP Phone 7970 Administration Guide for Cisco CallManager