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iPhone 4S - Outgoing call no audio

Picked up a Verizon iPhone 4S - 32GB and on about 1 in 10 calls I get no outbound audio when dialing. Call shows the timer counting as if the call is progressing but absolutely no ring back and cannot hear the party on the other end when they answer.


Anyone else having this issue? I've found a few forums online stating people have had luck hitting the speaker button on and off to get it working again but it hasn't failed in the past 20 minutes for me to test that theory..


Thanks...

Posted on Oct 17, 2011 3:59 PM

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2,667 replies

Oct 26, 2011 2:21 PM in response to TheAmdMAN

I'm on ATT and am intermittently experiencing all of the symptoms outlined in this post, only when using the apple-provided headphones, however. I don't use a BT headset, andmy usage of Siri doesn't seem to make a difference. I have, however, noticed one commonality in all my failed calls.


At the beginning of those calls, I hear a tone in my apple earphones that's supposed to signify that a BT headset is connected to my phone. At this point I've reverted to my original iPhone 4 for calling, as I can't depend on the 4S to make calls.


I'm testing with BT off, but I'll see where that leads. At this point I'm ready to blame Bluetooth 4.0.

Oct 26, 2011 4:10 PM in response to TheAmdMAN

We also have the same issue.


White iPhone 4S 16Gb - Telus - BC - New as of yesterday (Oct 25/11)


Had no problems last night/this morning.


This afternoon started having the issue with no audio during outbound calls. Happening during 100% of calls now. Notice that intermittently we hear a buzz (not the 'vibrate' notification) when a call is placed.


After googling and finding this thread, we also can use the speakerphone on/off work around to enable audio during outbound calls.


I'd guess that we're looking at an issue that will be resolved with a software update (akin to the antenna short when the 4 was released) We are waiting and using the work around until we hear an official announcement from Apple.


(This serves my fiance' right for upsetting the balance of the universe by expecting that she can circumvent the trickle down economics of home technology, and acquire the 4S before her geeky husband.) HA!

Oct 26, 2011 6:07 PM in response to CDN-J

Exact same issue.Brand new factory unlocked iPhone 4s 64GB Black directly from apple, recieved it today. I also have the intermittant 'buzz' sound in the earpiece when placing a call that CDN-J is having, but it doesn't always happen. I seem to have to do the speakerphone button trick on 100% of my calls, which gets me audio every time. Sending and recieveing VoIP calls using the magicjack app do not have this issue at all, it seems to only bee with the regular phone app. I wish apple would acknowledge this issue! I also hope this is a SOFTWARE issue because I put some $30 zagg invisible shields on my phone and I'd hate to have to peel them off and ship the phone back to Apple 😟

Oct 26, 2011 6:44 PM in response to TheAmdMAN

Got my black 16gb 4s on the 14th, and have noticed this issue. I only make a handful of calls, probably only about 10 so far with the phone, and I've had the no audio problem at least on half of those calls. The phone goes through with the call just fine, and the other person on the other end can hear me, but I can't hear the phone ringing, or their voice when they answer.


Apparently there is no way to contact support via e-mail, I had to setup a time to have Apple call me...and the earliest I could get in was 4 days from now...


Everyone that has this issue needs to contact Apple, the more people that contact them, the sooner they realize there is a huge problem with this phone.

Oct 26, 2011 7:17 PM in response to DMEA

So just returned my first phone that was experiencing these problems, and they gave me a new phone right out of the box. Turned it on, set it up, made a call and immediately had the same problems. 😠 So while I was sitting there waiting for them to call Apple, etc, another girl came into the store and bought a 16gb 4s aswell. She got hers all set up, and I told her about the problems with my phones, so asked her to make an outgoing call. Her first call didn't work either. What the heck?! She left to head to another store in town and so I gave her my # so she could text me to see how it worked out. Well she texted from her new 16gb 4s from that other store and it's working perfectly. I decided to return my phone and re-activate my old 3gs. I will wait this out and see what Apple has to say about it (hopefully something soon). I'd rather wait till this is fixed rather then be stuck with a crap phone and then one day get a refurbished one from Apple. I do believe this is a hardware issue, and not a software.

Oct 26, 2011 8:01 PM in response to maxrep

You guys are lucky. To get my phone to make an outgoing call without using speakerphone and using my headphone, I have to completely reset my phone and wait for it to come back online.


The other thing about some of the responses here that says it's coverage related crack me up because I use the phone in my office. I have 5 bars and I have a micro-cell 6 feet away. Calls keep dropping and require a reset of my phone every time. I have also notice that there is a slight static sound or something after the call is dropped almost like the call is not really 100% disconected.


It also is not siri related for me. It happens most often when I get off an incoming call then try to make an outgoing call. It looks like the call connects, the timer starts but there is no one there. Other times, I'll be using the iphone wired headset but the phone keeps turning on the speaker phone. Unplugging and replugging the headset has no effect. I litterally have to do a hard reset to make a call.

Oct 26, 2011 8:19 PM in response to TheAmdMAN

Wanted to post a follow-up to my previous post. After some testing, I discovered that if I pair a bluetooth heatset and make an outgoing call, i get a popup that asks me which device to use for the call (iPhone, Speaker, Bluetooth). If I don't press anything, "iPhone" has a speaker icon beside it indicating that it's using the iPhone's ear speaker. I still don't hear anything from the ear speaker if this is the case. If I then try and choose ANY of the other options, nothing happens. The option breifly turns blue to indicate it recognizes that I touced it, but it doesn't change to that option! it defaults to either iPhone or Speaker every time and I don't hear anything. If I power off the BT headset during the call, the loudspeaker will come on. If i spam the options enough sometimes I hear a weird buzz interference sound, then it starts letting me choose the options! Very odd.


Another thing is that the official iPhone wired earbuds aren't being detected at all when i try to make a call. The iPhone just outputs the phone call to the loudspeaker. I also tried a 2nd pair of apple wired earbuds, same issue.


These issues were just not present at all on my iPhone 4.

Oct 26, 2011 9:32 PM in response to maxrep

I would like to point out that all these issues seem to only apply when using the built-in Phone app. No other apps seem to have this problem, leading me to believe it's not a hardware issue, otherwise the same problems would be present there too. I've done testing with apps such as Nettalk and Magicjack, which perform similarly to the built-in Phone app except they use VoiP instead of the cellular towers... I can make outgoing calls, and I hear outgoing audio perfect every time through the earpiece when using such apps. I can also use my bluetooth headset and official apple earbuds through these apps without issue, wheras ALL these things give me issues on the in-built Phone app.


Can anyone else confirm this issue NOT being present in other VoiP/Phone apps?

Oct 26, 2011 9:37 PM in response to TheAmdMAN

I have neglected to say that I have had my iPhone 4S 32GB White replaced by the Apple Store hear in Perth (last weekend) and have not yet had a reoccurence of the issue - although I haven't been using it as much as the day I had the most issues. I have also just responded to an Apple survey, from that interaction, and have provided a direct link to this thread. I'm not yet convinced it's a software issue, but have nothing to base that on, other than Imy not experiencing the issue again after half a dozen calls.


Here's a thread to an Australian tech forum where the same issue is being discussed: http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/forum-replies.cfm?t=1797709


Good luck...

Oct 26, 2011 10:07 PM in response to TheAmdMAN

Update: was directed by telephone support to go to the Apple store. Made an appointment at the Genius bar. The associate dismissed the problem as a software issue and told me to hang on to my phone until the problem is addressed during the next iOS update. As "tempting" as that offer was I decided to switch handsets. Was given a factory refurb, which I was none too pleased about and was told that it was not their policy to hand out new phones (I'm in Canada, not sure if U.S. policy is different). Nevertheless, didn't see the point in hanging on to my original faulty phone and figured 4s is new enough that I'm not getting a total dud (hopefully).


Did the following:


-Set the phone up as a new phone and made about 25 test calls - no problems.

-Turned on BT and made another batch of test calls - no problems.

-Paired the phone with stereo BT handset and disconnected phone from headset and made calls with the phone itself - no problems.

-Made calls with the paired BT headset - no problems.

-Paired the phone with iPad and made a batch of test calls - no problems.

-Sync the phone through iTunes but NOT as a back-up restore and made a final batch of test calls - no problems.



Obviously my paranoia of 100+ test calls did not prove this to be a software or hardware problem, but the new phone seems to be working ok. I will repost if anything goes wrong. Best of luck to everyone.

iPhone 4S - Outgoing call no audio

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