Managing calls in Contact Center

Agents can manage calls using the call console and the call controls in the ticket. The call console is particularly useful when you navigate away from your ticket in the Agent Workspace as it has a link to the ticket as well as the call controls. You can place the call on hold, mute your microphone, transfer the call, make a conference call, and end the call.


What's my plan?







Add-on

Contact Center







Summary: ◀▼
You can manage live calls in the call console or ticket controls by putting customers on hold, muting yourself, transferring calls, adding participants, or ending calls. Use hold to let customers wait with configured audio or updates, mute to block background noise, and transfer or conference calls when you need help from other agents, queues, or external contacts. Wrap-up and ticket notes finish the call.




Agents can manage calls using the call console and the call controls in the ticket. The
call console is particularly useful when you navigate away from your ticket in the Agent
Workspace as it has a link to the ticket as well as the call controls. You can place the
call on hold, mute your microphone, transfer the call, make a conference call, and end
the call.
This article contains the following topics:

Putting calls on hold or muting yourself
Transferring calls
Making a conference call
Ending a call

Related articles:

Accepting and declining calls
Making outbound calls
Monitoring and joining calls



Putting calls on hold or muting yourself

During a call, you might want to put the customer on hold or mute your microphone so
you can consult with colleagues or search for information.
To put a call on hold


In the call console, click the Hold icon ( );


Or, in the ticket call controls, click the place on hold icon ( ).

When you put a customer on hold, they are moved into a system-controlled
flow where they cannot hear you and you cannot hear the customer. Depending on
your configuration, the customer will hear:

Custom Audio: Music or helpful tips relevant to their specific
issue.


Information Loops: Periodic updates or reminders about required
documents while they wait.




To mute yourself


In the call console, click the Mute icon ( );


Or, in the ticket call controls click the mute microphone icon ( ).

The customer hears nothing from your end, but you can still hear them.
Use this for short pauses where you need to listen for the customer to finish
a task or to prevent them from hearing background noise while you look up
info.





Transferring calls

When you need to transfer a call, this will place the call on hold while
the transfer occurs.
To transfer a call


In the call console, click the Transfer icon ( ) or, in the ticket
call controls, click the transfer call icon ( ).

The customer can still hear you.


Select the agent, queue, external contact or dial the contact using the
number pad.
The options for transferring your call are as follows:


All: A list combining all Agents, Queues, and
External numbers into one list.


Agents: A list of agents regardless of availability.


Queues: A list of the call queues available for
receiving the transfer.


External: A list of pre-configured external
telephone numbers.


If you decide not to proceed with the transfer, click the close
icon (X).



Click Transfer.
This will automatically put the customer on hold. For more information, see
Putting calls on hold or muting yourself.

(Optional) Do a warm transfer. While the customer is on hold, you can speak
with the new participant. If needed, you can also add other participants
before you leave the call, see Making a conference call.

(Optional) Click the hold icon ( ) next to the customer
participant. Before you leave the call you can also speak with the
customer.


Click Leave or the leave icon ( ) next to your name
to leave the call.
This will automatically put you in wrap-up mode and the customer will remain
on the call with the other participants.






Making a conference call

You can add participants to an ongoing call.
To add participants to a call


In the call console, click Add or in the ticket controls click the add
icon ( ).


Select the participant you want to add to the call or enter their number
using the dial pad.

Click Add participant. After you add the first participant, the
customer is automatically placed on hold.

(Optional) Repeat steps 2 and 3, as necessary.

(Optional) Speak with the new participants before resuming the call with the
customer.


Click the hold icon ( ) to take the
customer off hold and resume the call.






Ending a call

You can end a call manually by hanging up. If the customer you're talking to hangs up
first, the call ends automatically.
To end a call


In the call console, click End or, in the ticket call controls, click
the end icon ( ).




Enter data on all required ticket fields and add notes to the
ticket associated with the call.


Click Finish wrap-up to conclude the work.
If your agent settings have an after call work timeout, you can let that time
run out to conclude the work.
If configured, copilot will run and add data such as AI summarization, intent
and sentiment to the ticket.



Note: Your status doesn’t change during the call
but Zendesk will only offer you calls again after wrap-up. Depending on
your focus mode setting, you might receive other non-call contacts. For
more information, see Understanding focus
mode.


{
"@context": "https://schema.org",
"@type": "TechArticle",
"@id": "https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/10946560449050",
"url": "https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/10946560449050",
"headline": "Managing calls in Contact Center",
"description": "You manage calls in the call console or ticket controls by holding, muting, transferring, conferencing, and ending calls, with wrap-up steps after the call.",
"articleSection": "Contact Center basics",
"datePublished": "2026-06-26T16:51:08+00:00",
"dateModified": "2026-07-01T18:40:15.711623+00:00",
"inLanguage": "en",
"mainEntityOfPage": {
"@type": "WebPage",
"@id": "https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/10946560449050"
},
"author": {
"@type": "Organization",
"name": "Zendesk",
"@id": "https://www.zendesk.com"
},
"publisher": {
"@type": "Organization",
"name": "Zendesk",
"@id": "https://www.zendesk.com"
},
"isPartOf": {
"@type": "WebSite",
"name": "Zendesk Help",
"@id": "https://support.zendesk.com/hc/"
},
"about": {
"@type": "SoftwareApplication",
"name": "Zendesk",
"@id": "https://www.zendesk.com",
"softwareAddOn": {
"@type": "SoftwareApplication",
"name": "Contact Center",
"@id": "https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/sections/9248688983706"