In-call controls — hold, mute, and the dial pad

Three controls cover most of what you'll do during a call: putting the caller on hold, muting yourself, and entering digits on the dial pad to navigate phone menus. They're all on the in-call screen.

Putting a call on hold

Hold pauses the call. The caller hears hold music; you can step away or check something without anyone listening.

Steps

1. While you're on the call, click the Hold button on the in-call screen.
2. The button turns on to show the call is on hold. The caller hears hold music.
3. Click Hold again to take the call off hold and resume the conversation.

What the caller hears

Hold music. They don't hear you, and you don't hear them.

Common confusion

Hold isn't the same as mute. Hold pauses the whole call for both sides; mute silences only your microphone. If you want to speak to a teammate quietly without the caller hearing, use Cold transfer — that puts the caller on hold and rings the teammate.

Muting and unmuting

Mute switches off your microphone. The caller can still talk, and you can still hear them — they just can't hear you.

Steps

1. While you're on the call, click the Mute button.
2. The button turns on to show your microphone is muted.
3. Click Mute again to unmute when you're ready to speak.

What the caller hears

Silence from your end. The call keeps running — nothing is paused.

A few good habits

• Mute when you cough, sneeze, or chat to a colleague in the room.
• Unmute before you start talking — there's a brief delay between clicking the button and the audio coming through.
• If you've muted and the other person says "I can't hear you," check the Mute button first.

Using the dial pad during a call (DTMF)

The dial pad lets you enter digits while a call is going — for example, to navigate a phone menu ("Press 1 for sales, 2 for support") or to enter a PIN.

Steps

There are two ways to send digits during a call:

• Just type on your keyboard. Any digit you press is sent down the call, whether or not the on-screen keypad is open. Quickest path for IVRs and PINs.
• Open the on-screen keypad and click. Click the Dial pad button on the in-call screen, then click the digits. Useful if your hands are off the keyboard or you want to see what you're pressing.

Each digit is sent down the call as you press or click it. You'll hear the usual phone-key tones, and so will the other side. Your microphone stays open the whole time — the digits play on top of the call.

What the caller hears

The same dial-pad tones you hear, in real time.

Related

• Transferring calls — overview
• Receiving calls on the desktop app
• Making calls with the desktop app
• Conference calls