> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.orbit.devotel.io/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Run the Attendant Console front desk

> Open the operator workspace, read its four panels, answer a waiting caller, blind-transfer to a colleague, park and retrieve from the shared lobby, pick up a colleague's ringing call, and hand off to voicemail.

# Run the Attendant Console front desk

The Attendant Console is the receptionist and switchboard workspace in
the Orbit dashboard. Where a
[voice queue](/guides/voice-queues) is an automated ACD that dispatches
callers to a pool of agents, the console puts a human operator in
charge: one screen shows every waiting inbound caller, the live presence
of every extension, the shared park lobby, and the calls ringing
unanswered on colleagues' phones — and every action is one click.

Find it under **Voice → Attendant Console**. Because the console lists
caller numbers and names, it is restricted to the workspace's owner,
admin, and developer roles.

Unlike the agent-facing [browser softphone](/guides/voice-softphone-browser-calling),
the console never originates an outbound call. Every action re-targets
an inbound call that is already in progress — answer, transfer, park,
retrieve, pick up.

## When to use the console vs. queues

Use the console when a front desk — a receptionist, office
administrator, or dispatch desk — personally decides where each inbound
call goes. Use queues when inbound callers should distribute to an
agent pool automatically, with FIFO order, skills matching, and SLA
reporting.

The split in practice: route a number's inbound traffic to a queue
(see [voice queues](/guides/voice-queues)) and let operators run their
desk from the console; whatever the queue cannot dispatch becomes
visible on the console's **Waiting calls** panel for a human to handle.

<Frame caption="The Attendant Console: waiting callers on the left, the extension lamp field in the middle, the park lobby on the right, and the pickup tray below.">
  <img src="https://mintlify.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com/zeelaltd/images/voice/attendant-console.png" alt="Attendant Console with waiting calls, extension presence, parked calls, and pickup panels" />
</Frame>

## Open the console and read the layout

Open **Voice → Attendant Console**. Four panels load, and a header
badge counts how many extensions are currently free:

* **Waiting calls** — inbound callers still ringing or queued, sorted
  longest-waiting first. Each row shows the caller's number (or a
  resolved name), a live elapsed-time counter, and the number or
  extension the caller reached.
* **Extensions** — the lamp field: a grid of every extension and its
  live presence state. This tells the operator who can take a call
  right now.
* **Parked** — the shared park lobby: callers placed into numbered
  slots, each with a running timer and a retrieve action.
* **Calls you can pick up** — calls ringing on colleagues' extensions
  that the operator can grab before they roll to voicemail.

Panels refresh automatically every few seconds; the **Refresh** button
reloads all of them on demand.

### Presence states

Each extension lamp shows one of six states:

| State              | Meaning                       | Accepts a transfer |
| ------------------ | ----------------------------- | ------------------ |
| **Idle**           | Free to take a call           | Yes                |
| **Ringing**        | A call is coming in now       | No                 |
| **On call**        | Talking on an active call     | No                 |
| **Do not disturb** | Present, not accepting calls  | No                 |
| **Away**           | Stepped away; still reachable | Yes                |
| **Disabled**       | SIP credential disabled       | No                 |

Only **Idle** and **Away** extensions are selectable transfer targets.

## Handle an inbound call

A caller lands in **Waiting calls** and rings the operator's own
answering device (browser softphone or desk phone). The operator
answers there, then uses the console to move the call.

### Transfer to a colleague — blind

1. On the caller's row, click **Transfer**. A banner opens naming the
   caller, and the **Extensions** grid enters pick-target mode.
2. Click a free extension (**Idle** or **Away**). The caller moves
   straight to that extension's ringing device and the operator's leg
   closes.
3. To back out before picking a target, click **Cancel** in the
   banner — the caller stays with the operator.

That is a blind transfer: the destination rings and, on answer, hears
the caller with no announcement. When the destination should hear who
is on the line first, use the warm-transfer control on the operator's
connected call instead — see the
[Attendant console reference](/voice/attendant-console).

<Note>
  Colleagues and their extensions appear in the lamp field the moment
  each one has an enabled SIP credential — the same credentials the
  [extensions](/voice/extensions) and [colleagues](/voice/colleagues)
  reference pages describe. A colleague with no enabled credential never
  lights up and cannot receive a console transfer.
</Note>

## Park and retrieve

Park moves a caller into a numbered slot in the shared lobby, visible
to every teammate with the console open.

1. Park the caller from the call controls. The caller lands on a free
   slot and appears in the **Parked** panel with the slot number and a
   running timer.
2. Any teammate clicks **Retrieve** on the row, or dials the slot's
   short code from their own device — the first retrieval wins.
3. If the caller should never have been parked, click the release
   (circle-x) action and confirm. Release clears the slot and
   disconnects the held caller — it cannot be undone.

Agree on a longest-hold window team-wide (for example two minutes);
the elapsed counter on each parked row makes it visible to everyone.
The lobby holds nine numbered slots — a tenth parking attempt fails,
so retrieve or release before parking more.

## Pick up a colleague's ringing call

When a colleague's phone rings unanswered, the call appears in the
**Calls you can pick up** panel, with the extension it is ringing on
and how long it has been ringing.

1. Choose the operator's answering device in the **Answer on…**
   selector (it lists the organization's enabled SIP credentials).
2. Click **Pick up** on the specific row, or **Pick up oldest** to
   grab the longest-ringing call without choosing a row.
3. The call connects to the selected device and disappears from every
   operator's panel.

This is directed and group call pickup from the dashboard — the same
operation a desk phone performs with directed (`*97`-style) or group
(`*8`-style) feature codes.

## Presence and voicemail handoff

The extension lamp field is the team's shared presence board: any
extension a teammate rings or parks is reflected for the whole floor in
the **Idle / Ringing / On call / Away** states. When nobody can take a
waiting caller, let the queue's overflow move the caller to voicemail
instead of holding them on the desk — overflow destinations are set
per queue (see [voice queues](/guides/voice-queues)), and voicemail
boxes are covered in
[voice voicemail boxes](/guides/voice-voicemail-boxes).

## Worked example: a front-desk transfer

Acme's receptionist covers inbound calls on the main number.

1. A caller asking for sales lands in **Waiting calls**. The
   receptionist answers on the browser softphone, speaks to the
   caller, and clicks **Transfer**.
2. The banner reads "Transferring +14155550123 — pick a free
   extension below." The lamp field shows the sales manager **Idle**,
   so the receptionist clicks that lamp. The sales manager's phone
   rings; the receptionist's leg closes.
3. During a rush, both sales extensions are **On call**. The
   receptionist parks the next caller on slot **2** and tells the
   sales manager "client parked on 2." The sales manager retrieves
   slot 2 from the **Parked** panel when free — no front-desk step
   needed.
4. Meanwhile a colleague's phone rings unanswered. The call shows in
   **Calls you can pick up**; the receptionist clicks **Pick up**,
   answers on the selected SIP device, and runs the same transfer
   flow again.

## Troubleshooting

* **Nothing appears in Waiting calls** — confirm the signed-in role is
  owner, admin, or developer; confirm the inbound number's routing
  lands callers on a queue the desk monitors; then hit **Refresh**
  once before assuming the lane is empty.
* **The Extensions grid is empty or missing people** — those colleagues
  have no enabled SIP credential. Issue or re-enable the credential
  under **Voice → SIP credentials** and the lamp appears on the next
  poll.
* **Pickup actions are greyed out** — the tenant has no enabled SIP
  credential to answer on. Add one under **Voice → SIP credentials**,
  then select it in the **Answer on…** selector.
* **Retrieve fails on a parked call** — another teammate already
  retrieved it (first retrieval wins), or the caller hung up. The row
  disappears on the next poll.
* **A transfer target stays unselectable** — the extension is ringing,
  on call, do-not-disturb, or disabled. Only **Idle** and **Away**
  extensions accept a transfer.

## See also

* [Attendant console reference](/voice/attendant-console) — the
  panel-by-panel reference for the same workspace
* [Voice queues](/guides/voice-queues) — the ACD queues that feed the
  waiting lane
* [Browser softphone](/guides/voice-softphone-browser-calling) — the
  answering device operators pick up and transfer with
* [Voice voicemail boxes](/guides/voice-voicemail-boxes) — voicemail
  destinations for overflow handoff
* [Voice API reference](/api-reference/voice) — the transfer, park,
  and pickup endpoints behind the console