How Hold Works on 3CX
When you place a caller on hold, the audio path between you and the caller is paused. The caller hears hold music (configured by DVGVoIP) rather than silence or dead air. The call remains active on your extension — no one else on the system can retrieve it unless you use call parking instead.
Placing a Call on Hold
Desk phone: Press the Hold hard key (usually labelled Hold or with a pause icon). The line key button will begin flashing to indicate the call is held.
3CX Web Client: Click the Hold button (pause icon) on the active call card. The call card changes state and shows a Resume button.
Mobile App: Tap Hold on the in-call screen. The call is paused and the button label changes to Resume.
Retrieving a Held Call
Desk phone: Press the flashing line key that corresponds to the held call, or press the Resume soft key if displayed on screen. On multi-line phones, held calls appear as blinking line indicators.
Web Client: Click Resume on the held call card. If you have another active call at the time, that call will be automatically placed on hold when you resume the first one — 3CX only allows one active audio path per extension at a time.
Mobile App: Tap Resume on the held call.
Managing Multiple Calls on Hold
3CX allows you to hold more than one call simultaneously. Each held call appears as a separate entry on your phone display or as a separate card in the web client. They are listed in the order they were placed on hold. To switch between them, press the flashing line key for the call you want to retrieve — the currently active call will be automatically placed back on hold.
On most desk phones, the display shows the caller ID and how long each call has been waiting. Keep an eye on hold times — a caller waiting more than two minutes is likely to hang up.
Hold Music
Hold music is configured at the system level by DVGVoIP. All callers placed on hold will hear the same audio stream. If you would like to change the hold music for your account — for example, to use a custom on-hold message or promotional audio — contact DVGVoIP and we can update the system recording.
Hold Timeout and Recall
3CX can be configured with a hold timeout, which automatically recalls a held call back to your extension after a set period. If your system has this enabled, your phone will ring again after the timeout expires, alerting you that the caller has been waiting. The timeout duration is set by your administrator — contact DVGVoIP if you are unsure what applies to your account.
Hold vs. Call Parking
Basic hold ties a call to your specific extension. Only you can retrieve it. If you need to step away from your desk, or if you want a colleague at a different extension to pick up the call, use call parking instead. Parking places the call in a shared orbit slot that anyone on the system can retrieve by dialing the orbit code.
Rule of thumb: use Hold when you will retrieve the call yourself within a short time. Use Park when someone else needs to pick it up, or when you need to move away from your desk.
Retrieving a Held Call from Another Extension
This is not possible with standard hold — held calls are tied to the extension that placed them on hold. If you need cross-extension retrieval, transfer the call to a parking orbit using ##1 through ##8, then anyone can retrieve it by dialing the matching orbit code.
Need Help?
Open a support ticket by emailing support@dvgvoip.com before calling — this helps us resolve your issue faster. Or call (807) 700-7111.