How to use Hold Assist and Hold for Me on Office Calls

iPhone Hold Assist

To use iPhone's Hold Assist, your iPhone must be on iOS 26 or higher. While you may not like the UI changes, I think it's worth it to get the phone and messages features that include better call screening, hold assist, and better spam message filtering.

First, go to Settings > Apps > Phone and enable "Hold Assist Detection" for automatic monitoring.

While on a call on iPhone

Receive a notification when you’re no longer on hold

When you’re placed on hold during a call, you can use Hold Assist to notify you when a live agent is available so you don’t have to stay on the line.

Note: Available on iPhone 12, iPhone SE (3rd generation), or later. Hold Assist is available in Australia but isn’t available in all countries or regions. See the iOS and iPadOS Feature Availability website.

1. Go to the Phone app on your iPhone.

2. When you’re in a call and put on hold, tap , then tap Hold Assist.

   Important: Check your ring settings before you step away from the call. If your iPhone is on silent or Do Not Disturb, you won’t hear the incoming call when an agent is available. See Silence iPhone.

3. Hold Assist will notify you when an agent is available and transcribe the part of the call you missed. Tap to rejoin the call.
   The human agent will hear "This call is being transcribed. One moment while I connect the caller." (Note: There is a risk that some human agents might disconnect, thinking it is a spam call.)

Note: The Phone app can also automatically detect hold music and prompt you to start Hold Assist. Go to Settings > Apps > Phone, then turn on Hold Assist Detection.

Use Live Translation

If Apple Intelligence* is turned on, you can use it to get spoken translations during phone calls. See Translate messages, calls, and conversations.

Google Pixel Hold for Me

Whereas Hold For Me has been a feature available since late 2020, it currently works in Australia on Google Pixel 3 and above.

Use Hold for Me

When you call a business and you’re put on hold, you can choose to let your Call Assist wait on hold for you and notify you when the support representative is ready to speak with you. After your call, you can share your audio and transcript to help improve Hold for Me. Learn how Hold for Me keeps your audio data secure.

Check what you need

Hold for Me works on the Pixel 3 and newer models in Australia, Canada, Japan, the UK, and the US. To use Hold for Me, you need the latest version of the Phone app. Hold for Me is only available in Japanese in Japan and in English in Australia, Canada, the UK, and the US.

Important: Hold for Me may not detect every on-hold scenario.

Turn the setting on or off

Important: Once the setting is on, you also have to turn on Hold for Me with each call to let the Call Assist wait on hold for you. Learn how to turn on Hold for Me during a call.

1. Open the Phone app .
2. Tap More Settings.
3. Tap Hold for Me.
4. Turn Hold for Me on or off.

Turn on Hold for Me when you’re on a call

Important:

• Hold for Me may not detect when the representative returns to the call in every situation.
• You can’t play music or other audio when Hold For Me is active.

1. Take your phone off silent or vibrate only.
2. Open the Phone app .
3. Place a call to a business.
4. When you’re placed on hold, tap Hold for me Start.
5. While you’re on hold, you’ll find a card on the screen that says “Don’t hang up”.
6. When the support representative is ready to speak with you, a prompt will display “Someone’s waiting to talk to you.”
7. Tap Return to call.

Using Hold Assist or Hold For Me with Business VoIP Services

We want to include how to do the call handling for different popular VoIP providers where the call is transferred to the cellular provider. So you can use the "Hold Assist" or "Hold for Me" because the phone call is in the normal phone app.

Microsoft Teams

Move a call from Teams to your mobile phone

If you need to make or receive calls in areas with low data or internet connectivity, you can easily move calls from Teams to your iOS or Android device with no interruption. Teams uses the Audio Conferencing Subscription service to connect with your cell phone dialler.

Notes:

• When you use "Call my phone" from the registered Teams Mobile app, all billing and rating go through Audio Conferencing billing. Learn more about Audio Conferencing.
  Teams Audio Conferencing is billed by Microsoft at 4.1c per minute in Australia.
• Teams Audio Conferencing allows meeting attendees to dial in to Teams meetings from virtually any device. Meeting organizers can also dial out to attendees to connect them to the audio portion of the meeting. Consolidate conferencing solutions, simplify operations, and reduce complexity and support costs for IT while enabling your employees to work from virtually anywhere.
• This feature applies to Teams Phone Mobile one-on-one calls only, and is available only on Teams Mobile Apps (iOS/Android).

From the call screen, select More > Call my phone.

You’ll see a popup message asking if you’d like to move the call to your cellular phone. Select Move call to proceed or Cancel to continue the call using Teams.

If you’re on a call and see a message that says, “Poor network connection. Move this call to your cellular phone?", choose Move call to switch your device. Select Cancel to continue the call using Teams.

Note: If the call fails to reach the mobile dialler, the call will remain on the Teams app.

Requirements

• "Call my phone" requires that your Mobility policy be set to Cellular phone dialler.
• Check with your IT admin to ensure that your company has Audio Conferencing with Teams Phone set up and configured for this use.
• Make sure that you have a valid phone number associated with your Teams Phone Mobile account.
• You must have an Audio Conferencing plan with a phone number enabled to use "Call my phone". Make sure that you have enough dial-out minutes available in your Audio Conferencing plan to make the call.

Related topics

Manage call settings in Microsoft Teams Phone Mobile

Manage call settings in Microsoft Teams

Zoom Phone

Switching a call to your phone carrier

If you're experiencing poor or limited Wi-Fi connectivity, you can switch the current Zoom Phone call to your phone carrier.

Note:

• When a call is switched to your carrier, the call is charged at a metered rate.
• See our general Wi-Fi troubleshooting suggestions to improve your Wi-Fi connection.
• If you want all inbound Zoom Phone calls to forward to your phone carrier, you can add your phone's direct number to your call handling settings in the Zoom web portal.

Requirements for switching a call to your phone carrier

• Zoom mobile app, 5.4.7 or higher
• Zoom Phone license
• Zoom Phone calling package that supports forwarding to your phone's direct number
• Mobile device with an active carrier and direct phone number
• Mobile device has a good connection to your carrier
• Mobile Switch to Carrier policy setting enabled by your admin

How to switch a call to your phone carrier

1. Sign in to the Zoom mobile app.
2. Make or receive a call.
3. Tap More using the in-call controls.
   
4. Tap Switch to Carrier.
5. Enter your phone's direct number in the following format. For example, enter +19051231234 to switch to +1 (905) 123-1234.
   • Plus sign (+)
   • Country code
   • Area code
   • Phone number
6. Tap Switch.
   Zoom Phone will call the phone number you entered.
7. Answer the incoming phone call using your phone's carrier.
   Zoom Phone will automatically end the Zoom Phone call.

Dialpad

Relay Phone Numbers

If you've placed a call through our mobile app and noticed a different number coming up than the one you called, don't worry—it's supposed to do that.

We call that a relay or shadow number and its purpose is to route calls through Dialpad to display your Dialpad caller ID over your mobile phone. We'll assign a relay number to each of your contacts and use the same one every time you place a call.

Here are just a few benefits to using relay numbers:

1. Calls made from your forwarding device use your Dialpad caller ID rather than your device's personal number.
2. Even when you don't have data coverage, your calls will display your Dialpad number.
3. For international calls, because the relay number is an in-country number you'll only be charged a domestic call by your mobile carrier while the international leg of the call will be charged by Dialpad at our low rates.

Tip

You'll only see relay numbers if you've opted to use your carrier to place outbound Dialpad calls.

Switch between HD and carrier

On an HD call but heading out of WiFi range? Tap on the carrier icon on your active call screen to switch to your carrier network (requires carrier service).

We'll initiate a call from your native dialler, which will automatically connect. Plus, your caller won't notice a thing (talk about seamless).

References

The information in this article was sourced from the following official documentation:

• Apple Support: Phone Hold Assist
• Apple Support: iOS and iPadOS Feature Availability
• Apple Support: Translate messages, calls, and conversations on iPhone
• Google Pixel Phone Help: Use Hold for Me
• Microsoft Support: Move a call from Teams to your mobile phone (Teams Mobile)
• Zoom Support: Switch to carrier (Zoom Phone Mobile)
• Dialpad Help: Relay Phone Numbers