Each Front End pool where you deploy Group Call Pickup can have one or more ranges of call pickup group numbers. Like call park orbit numbers, call pickup group numbers must be virtual extensions that have no user or phone assigned to them. When you deploy Group Call Pickup, you configure the call park orbit table with separate ranges of extension numbers that are designated as call pickup group numbers. Group Call Pickup is built on the Call Park application. With Group Call Pickup, therefore, this aspect of call management can be centralized. With team call, end users manage the feature by using the Skype for Business client.

An additional difference between Group Call Pickup and team call is that Group Call Pickup is managed by an administrator, through Skype for Business Server. With team call, the call rings at all the team members' phones, and any user in the team can pick up the phone to answer the call. The primary difference between Group Call Pickup and team call is that, with Group Call Pickup, an incoming call rings only at the intended destination, but anyone can still choose to answer it by dialing a group number. In environments where users are not located in an open office layout, or where users who share a common responsibility are geographically distributed, team call presents the most suitable solution. Other users who hear the ring, however, can still pick up the call simply by dialing the group number. Incoming calls are not disruptive because they ring only at the intended destination. The Group Call Pickup feature is designed in particular for business units in open office environments. When Group Call Pickup is deployed, the number of incoming calls that are routed to voice mail can be significantly reduced, which is particularly useful for calls from customers who are external to your organization. This increases the availability of a user's line by enabling other users to answer an incoming call by dialing a call pickup group number.

Group Call Pickup enables users to answer incoming calls to their colleagues from their own phones. Planning for Group Call Pickup in Skype for Business Server Enterprise Voice, which enables users to answer calls originally intended for others.

Skype for business group video call