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December 12, 2008 6:30 AM PST
iPhone Does Not Ring, Calls Go Straight to Voicemail
Several users have experienced an issue in which the iPhone 3G does not ring and calls are, instead, routed straight to voicemail. Of course, this can occur if the iPhone is off or the signal is weak or non-existent. However, several users have reported this behavior even with a full available signal.
Among the user reports from this Apple Discussions thread:
- "Around November 15th, I started seeing some of the same problems on my iPhone 3G (calls not coming through, voicemails & texts getting delayed, unable to make calls / send texts)."
- "It seems totally random when it happens to me. On the one hand, several calls will come through as expected, no problems. Then there will simply be a "voice message" tone and the on-screen message saying that someone had left me a voice message - while the phone sits next to me, fully charged, silent."
- "Just wanted to say that I have the same problem... Phone with good signal but no ring and straight to voicemail."
Possible solutions for this issue:
- Turn off Bluetooth in Settings
- Turn off WiFi
- Turn off 3G
- Replace your SIM card (requires contacting your provider)
- Reset the iPhone: Press and hold the Sleep/Wake button and the Home button at the same time for at least ten seconds, until the Apple logo appears.
My text are delayed by a minimum of 10 minutes on most messages sent to my phone. I'll have full signal strength. I can be on 3G, Edge or Wifi and this happens.
It's very frustrating to say the least when you've got an appointment and someone says they'll call you 10 minutes before and you miss the call and then have a voice message 20 minutes after the call comes in.
If this is the case, it's probably being used by people who don't want to talk person-to-person but have to relay information out of obligations. It's also possible that there's nothing wrong with your iPhone, only ignorance of applications that make things like this possible.
slydial is a free voice messaging service that connects you directly to someone's mobile voicemail. slydial is a service of MobileSphere: http://www.slydial.com/
There are many possible reasons why incoming calls don't get through on mobile networks ranging from faults at the switching center, congestion on signaling links, overload on cell sites and poor coverage conditions.
The fact that the call goes to Voicemail simply means that the system did not get a response within a set period when the mobile was paged. In fact it is perfectly possible that your mobile recognised the incoming call but because of the radio conditions at the time, failed to be 'heard' by the network when it tried to respond. Be thankful that the VM system was there to catch the call - without that you would never know that someone had even tried to call you.
It is worth remembering that no mobile network (or fixed network) in the world runs with a 100% call set-up success rate - that is a simple fact. I live in Europe and work in the cellular industry and I see exactly the same issues from time to time both on my own mobile (incidentally not an iPhone) and on calls that I make to other mobiles.
In summary, if it happens once in a while accept it as the norm. If it happens many times in a short period or in a particular area it is most likely to be a system fault. Such faults normally get noticed by operations staff quite quickly but it does not hurt to raise a customer complaint if the issue persists.
Of course I do not rule out an issue with the phone itself, but in my experience that is likely to be pretty well down the list of possible causes.
It is possible the iPhone was defective, I had to have it replaced by Apple a month or so later since the EDGE hardware died. Just thought I'd mention this possible firmware fix if anyone is truly desperate. But note to non-3G iPhone owners: calls and voicemails can not be received while you are using the EDGE (e.g. surfing the web).
Then I came here. The 3g thing is what worked. Turned it off, and my phone finally rang. It was a job.
The 'Reset' thing worked for me!
Many other users from all over the world are also experiencing this problem. It's all over the Apple discussion site:
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1728634
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=2043243
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=2053118
Apple needs to fix this ASAP. It's not acceptable that their sophisticated gadget fails to work as a basic phone!!
also had problems with voice command dialling names from my contacts.
I am in the UK.
apple pls sort this!!
Apple, resolve this please.
apple, go eff yourself.
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by jahlove51
October 21, 2009 9:45 PM PDT
- Hey guys. I THINK I'VE FOUND A FIX FOR THE PROBLEM. I went over to AT&T and explained to them what was going on. The sales associate told me that the sim card might be failing. (failing) She also said that most of her fellow sales associates had iphones but were not experiencing any difficulties with their phones going straight to voice message. She immediately replaced the sim card and, boom! the phone rang. The call was from a friend of mine who've been trying to call me for weeks and all his calls went straight to voice message even though my phone was on. So far I've been receiving calls and the phone rings like it should instead of going straight to VM. I wasn't charged anything for the sim card. Hope this helps.
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