How to set up call waiting: 4 steps + an alternative

You’re a few minutes away from closing a new client over the phone when you get a notification— someone else is trying to call. Now you have a decision to make: do you put the first caller on hold to answer, or let the second caller go to voicemail and hope they don’t call a competitor?

It’s a tough decision to make. And the more calls you get, the harder it is to keep everyone happy. 

Call waiting is one way to ensure every telephone call gets answered. But it doesn’t solve the underlying problem for teams that want to scale: you can still only talk to one person at a time.

This guide walks through the steps of setting up call waiting so you can take incoming calls while you’re already on the phone. We also introduce a better call management system that helps growing teams answer more calls without making customers wait.

What is call waiting?

Call waiting is a phone feature that lets you handle a second incoming call while you’re already speaking with someone. That way, incoming callers don’t get a busy signal or end up in voicemail, which helps reduce missed calls. 

In practice, it looks something like this: Let’s say you’re on an active call and another person calls you. With call waiting, you’ll see a notification or hear a dial tone that indicates the incoming call. You can then choose to:

• Put the first call on hold and answer the second one without hanging up
• Toggle back and forth between the two calls at any time
• Reject the new call — useful for routing callers to the next available teammate or step in your call flow

While you’re deciding what to do, the caller hears the phone ringing until someone at your business picks up and asks to put them on hold. Some callers will wait, while others may decide to hang up at this point. 

Keep in mind, call waiting works for landline, mobile, and internet calls. Even international calls can be put on hold, which is useful if you manage long-distance calls across multiple time zones.

How to set up call waiting on an iPhone

You can use the following steps to set up call waiting on the cell phone number for your iPhone:

1. Under the Settings app, tap Apps and Phone.
2. Tap Call Waiting.
3. Toggle the On switch.

How to set up call waiting on an Android

Here’s how to set up call waiting with a cell phone number on Samsung Galaxy devices and other Android devices:

1. Open the Phone app and tap the three vertical dots to the right.
2. Tap Settings and Supplementary services. 
3. Tap to enable the slider for Call Waiting.

Now, you can answer a second call while placing an ongoing call on hold.

Keep in mind, enabling Android’s call waiting feature doesn’t solve the underlying problem. You can still only talk to one caller at a time. The next caller will have to wait or hang up, often leading to missed calls and money being left on the table.

A better alternative to traditional call waiting: Shared numbers

Don’t want to send callers to voicemail or put them on hold? You can use a multi-line phone system to share responsibility for incoming calls.

A business phone system like Quo lets you set up shared numbers so teams can make and receive calls from the same phone number.

Shared numbers can also ring multiple devices at the same time — including phones, computers, or tablets — using WiFi or mobile data. You never have to worry about missing a call or leaving money on the table.

You can also set up different ring orders to customize who receives incoming calls first. Here’s how each can benefit your team:

• All at once. Rings all devices and team members at the same time. That way, anyone who’s available can pick up the phone.
• In random batches. Distribute calls evenly in groups. This is useful for call delegation, ensuring no singular rep gets overwhelmed with incoming calls.
• Custom ring groups. Set up routing in a specific order to prioritize who gets incoming calls first.

Here’s how Jonathon Barkl, co-founder and CEO of AirGarage, uses Quo’s shared phone numbers:

Let’s say you’re the only one manning the phones for the day, but a call comes in while you’re already talking to a customer. With call waiting in Quo, you can put the first caller on hold, answer the second call, and switch between them as needed.

But suppose you’re chatting with a VIP or about to close a deal. You don’t want to interrupt the call by putting them on hold — which is where Quo’s AI voice agent, Sona, helps close the gap.

Sona is a virtual assistant that can pick up the phone when your team is unavailable, 24/7. It takes messages, captures leads, and answers FAQs automatically. It can even send SMS messages during live calls. For example, you might train Sona to text links to your booking software, which lets customers set up appointments on their own.

If you do end up missing a call, you can use auto-replies to instantly respond to customers. This lets you reassure callers you’ve received their call and will get back to them as soon as possible.

Since everyone on your team will have access to the same shared inbox, it’ll be easy to keep up with customer conversations. You’ll have full insight into every customer call, text, and voicemail, even if you didn’t talk to them on the phone.

4 Reasons to use shared phone numbers instead of call waiting

Shared phone numbers help your team answer, route, and follow up on every conversation. They also help you tag-team customers without setting up conference calls or sending over shorthand notes.

Here’s why growing businesses use shared numbers instead of traditional call waiting:

1. Ring multiple teammates at the same time. Rather than forcing callers to wait on hold, shared numbers ring everyone on your team until someone picks up. Nobody needs to wait on you while you’re finishing another conversation. 
2. Route calls based on business hours. Set business hours so incoming calls only ring available teammates during the times you choose. After hours, you can automatically route calls to voicemail, an AI voice agent like Sona, or set up call forwarding to an answering service.
3. Quickly review customer conversations. With inbound call software like Quo, you can get AI-generated call transcripts and summaries for every call. That way, teammates can review conversations without listening back to entire recordings.
4. Keep every customer conversation in one place. In Quo, all calls, texts, voicemails, recordings, and Tasks are stored in a shared conversation thread. Any member of the number can answer the next call and get the full context from previous conversations before following up.

Get started more effectively handling incoming calls

Traditional call waiting can work for solopreneurs just setting up their business. But as your business grows, you’ll need a phone system that can help your team answer more calls without making customers wait.

Quo has helped over 90,000 businesses handle incoming calls more efficiently. You’ll be able to access additional call handling features like:

• Phone menus. Let callers direct themselves to the right team or department without any manual transfers.
• Warm transfers. Pass a caller to the next rep with context already attached. That way, the customer never has to repeat themselves.
• CRM integrations. Automatically log all call activity to the correct contact in your CRM, such as HubSpot, Salesforce, and Pipedrive.
• Call screening. See who’s calling and why before you answer, so you can prioritize important calls and avoid spam or unwanted calls.

Try Quo for free for seven days and start handling incoming calls in 15 minutes or less.