Dialing conference call numbers with Embedded Hash (#) Bug ?

I ran into this problem today, thanks for your post. It did help but still no love. I can't do double ##. However, I found out that it works if you format the phone number like this:

(888) 555-1212,5035551212#

I'm running 4.3.3 and the following works for me

If I put the number in the body of the calendar entry as 999.999.9999,99999 where the first 10 digits are the phone number, a comma for 2 second pause and the last x digits are the extension or conference call passcode.

I have not figured out how to include a # or * in the dial string but luckily my bridgeline provider does not require it.

If you know how to add the # or * please post

Also if you know how to get it to work in the location field that would be great.

Hi, to add # or + got to the contact, hit edit and in the bottom right corner there is a button with+*#. hit that and hey presto yoiu can add a pause, wait, + and/or a #.

I add a pause where the blackberry "x" would be with no spaces and it works 🙂

Thanks for the info on adding the hash to the dial string in the contact list. This is helpful but I'm really looking to add the hash to the end of the dial string that is embedded in an email or calendar invite body.

Thanks

I gave this a try and was able to select the number and copy it to the phone keypad. This worked like a champ. What doesn't work is just tapping on the number in the email and selecting call. Tried it with a single tap and with holding it for a context popup. Neither worked.

I was very frustrated by this scenario when I first got my iPhone, so I wrote an app to make it easier to dial conference calls from a calendar entry. It is called ApptDialer (http://itapless.com/products) and is available in the AppStore. It will query your calendar and pattern match for phone numbers and conference codes, even in the location field that is often used. The *# dialing is a bug in the OS, IMO. I opened a case with Apple almost a year ago, but they haven't changed anything yet. I think they are worried about programmatic dialing for security reasons or something. As pointed out above though, it will work if you dial from Contacts [ apparently Apple has access to less restrictive API's :) ]. So I put in a workaround in ApptDialer. Once you select the number(s) you want to dial, I programmatically store it in a contact called ApptDialer. If you save that contact as a favorite in your phone app, you can flip right over and dial the whole thing # and all. It requires one extra step than should be necessary, but it was the best solution I could come up with until Apple fixes the API.

Hope that helps!

This only works if you own the invite. If someone else sends you an invite (which in the corporate world happens every day) than you cannot edit the invite. How do you copy and past a blackberry formatted number in the location field if you do not own the invite?

I hope that iOS 5 solves this horrendous user experience. Can anyone comment on whether this behavior, or lack of behavior, will be changed in iOS 5?

In Outlook after you accept the invite you can edit/save the change to this item in your caledar which will then sync.

Thanks BillinJax. I've figured that out. But what if you are on the road and someone send you an invite ,say while in the car or at the airport or at a customer site, and you cannot edit the invite in a timely fashion on your laptop?

Your suggested method works fine if:

1. You have the meeting invite ahead of time

2. You are diligent about editing all invites you recieve

Hoping that some fixes/advances comes out with iOS 5.