topic Re: Unknown Caller Issue - Receiving Calls From Contacts in Tech Support

Unknown Caller Issue - Receiving Calls From Contacts

Kosmos5457 — Sun, 16 Jul 2023 07:44:29 GMT

Hello O2 Community,

I've been recently troubled by some issue where when I'm receiving phone calls from contacts listed in my iPhones contacts, instead of my iPhone stating their name, it says Unknown Caller. This is particularly unhelpful, especially if out in the car so using CarPlay, or even when taking a glance at my Apple Watch and seeing the same issue.

This has only started happening since I migrated from my old iPhone XS to iPhone 14 Pro and in the past month or so is when I upgraded. At this point, as I was moving from an old 4G SIM to a new 5G SIM, I was requiring a SIM swap.

I've not seen any other issues and have also spoken to Apple about this. I did mention that I hadn't yet followed up with network provider.

The interesting thing is that this appears to be intermittent. It doesn't happen on every call. I don't know if it is happening in certain places but not others. I don't think I've seen the issue at home at all such as when I may be on O2 WiFi Calling for example. I may have seen it in areas I think, where I have 4G reception but again, not entirely certain of that.

When I check phone call history on iPhone itself after an Unknown Caller issue, it displays also as Unknown Caller. This suggests to me that the issue is with something on the phone or the service.

I had wondered also if deleting or editing contact may help. It's just that it is intermittent, so now thinking it is more the service that is the issue with receiving calls, that not always the caller ID is being sent to me so I can identify who is calling me.

I read some more last night into this issue. There have been suggestions of switching off 4G calling but I don't see option to do that. I understand o2 may have removed this option with carrier update and toggled this setting off but it does not display on my phone so I can confirm.

I spoke with o2 support yesterday and they said no issues with service for me. It wasn't looked into or investigated further. It was just said yeah all is fine. I would appreciate having someone on the end of the phone that can escalate if necessary and do some deeper checks with network.

Re: Unknown Caller Issue - Receiving Calls From Contacts

Kosmos5457 — Sun, 16 Jul 2023 07:52:00 GMT

Just to add to what I said above, I was reading other community posts that suggest others are experiencing these issues. More recent as well.

See following threads:

https://community.o2.co.uk/t5/Apple/Incoming-calls-show-as-Unknown/td-p/1621927

https://community.o2.co.uk/t5/Tech-Support/Unknown-Caller-ID-for-Contacts/td-p/1632990

Re: Unknown Caller Issue - Receiving Calls From Contacts

Cleoriff — Sun, 16 Jul 2023 08:04:50 GMT

@Kosmos5457

A new sim has fixed this issue for some as has turning off 4G calling.

I will tag an account advisor @O2Ryan for you. He is rostered to be on duty at 8am tomorrow. There is no guarantee he will be on though as there appears to be issues with the 'rota'.

Best of luck👍

Re: Unknown Caller Issue - Receiving Calls From Contacts

Kosmos5457 — Sun, 16 Jul 2023 08:05:05 GMT

Thank you @Cleoriff. I really hope that this issue can be resolved. I have found possible solutions on here but unfortunately the one suggesting I turn off 4G calling, I don't see that as an option anywhere on my iPhone 14 Pro. I recall seeing it when I had iPhone XS but that was a while ago.

Re: Unknown Caller Issue - Receiving Calls From Contacts

pgn — Sun, 16 Jul 2023 08:45:03 GMT

You are looking for "4G Calling", @Kosmos5457 - might be labelled Volte - https://support.apple.com/en-au/guide/iphone/iph3dd5f213/ios

Re: Unknown Caller Issue - Receiving Calls From Contacts

Kosmos5457 — Sun, 16 Jul 2023 08:47:40 GMT

I've turned Wi-Fi Calling off and back on. Awaiting some time to see if that helps. Convinced this is an intermittent issue though and problem on carrier side since SIM swap. I see no option to turn off 4G calling. In Mobile Data, there is 5G Auto, 5G and 4G setting though. Set mine to 5G now and Roaming is on.

Re: Unknown Caller Issue - Receiving Calls From Contacts

pgn — Sun, 16 Jul 2023 08:58:07 GMT

The 5G Auto, 4G, 3G thing is not the same, it is the "preferred network type" - here is the pixel 6a equivalent screen, note at the bottom, as I am in a roaming area with no 5G, I have it set to 4G.

My green squiggles talk to "4G Calling".

Re: Unknown Caller Issue - Receiving Calls From Contacts

Kosmos5457 — Sun, 16 Jul 2023 11:18:30 GMT

I understand that it is a different setting, though it was the only setting I could find which may be considered remotely close to what I was looking for.

I gave o2 a call earlier, their advice was going into Settings, then General, Reset Network Settings under the Reset options. I do not know yet if that as at all helped me with this issue. I think only time will tell.

I had a look at Carrier settings version on my iPhone and also checked my wife's iPhone. I noticed we have same version of Carrier settings, we are on same iOS version which is 16.5.1( c ). This has been going on since the first 16.5.1 update in any case and that is the version I started using with my iPhone 14 Pro. I'd updated to 16.5.1 prior to switching iPhones then done a restore from backup, from the local copy on the Mac, figuring it would be much quicker to restore from local backup, than from iCloud.

It doesn't seem that this issue is exclusive to iPhones though. I hope it is something carrier side if this issue hasn't resolved by itself.

O2 switched off 4G calling a while back if not mistaken? So maybe that is why I don't see that setting now. I am sure my wife has it enabled on her iPhone, which is with O2 and she has an iPhone XS, no issues.

Re: Unknown Caller Issue - Receiving Calls From Contacts

pgn — Sun, 16 Jul 2023 12:05:39 GMT

There was a security bug in Android back in May or so, to which the advice was to disable 4G Calling/VoLTE until vendors could get an update rolled out that addressed the issue.

O2 sell 4G Calling as necessary in geographies where 3G has been turned-off - yet those in PAYG do not get it, and need to use an app, eg. WhatsApp, for calling and messaging in such places, if you are an O2 Roaming Customer.

From O2:

4G Calling (also called Voice over LTE or VoLTE) lets you make calls using our fast 4G network, for a clearer voice call. If 4G Calling is available, you can just dial the number you want to call like normal. You can check 4G Calling coverage using our coverage checker. They're two great ways to stay connected with O2.

Re: Unknown Caller Issue - Receiving Calls From Contacts

Kosmos5457 — Sun, 16 Jul 2023 12:20:31 GMT

It is unclear if this is causing me an issue or not. As I say, only option I had was disable WiFi Calling, though I want it enabled. Sometimes signal is poor in the house but not all the time. In my area, 3G and 4G coverage is good outdoors and works most places I go such as when going to work. There are not too many spots with no coverage at all and I'll see either 3G or 4G consistently in places there is coverage.

I am wondering if this issue happens specifically on 4G though. I probably need to be more aware of what coverage I have at the time I'm receiving calls.

Do you know of anything I should be asking O2 can do on their end? I'm convinced if I tried another network and SIM in my iPhone, that this wouldn't happen.

Not quite suggesting it is SIM card itself though maybe another SIM swap is an option. I'd rather try those things than go for a lets wipe phone and start over. I'd be rather annoyed if I went for the more painful options and found it is still not resolved.

I take some comfort in knowing that it isn't just me with this issue. Given how this seems to be intermittent but is happening to various people, they can't all have bad hardware when otherwise their device functions.

Re: Unknown Caller Issue - Receiving Calls From Contacts

Kosmos5457 — Sun, 16 Jul 2023 13:35:59 GMT

In addition, I've done some further testing at home. If on WiFi Calling, I don't seem to have the issue. If I'm on EDGE, or 3G at least, I have this issue. Not sure if or not it happens on 4G. Not been able to test that just yet. I have a feeling that it will do the same. I know it happened in an area which I think is covered with 4G coverage but I'm sure I've seen it working in areas when out and about.

I'm hoping it is narrowed down a little to pinpointing issue as all is fine so it seems on WiFi Calling.

Re: Unknown Caller Issue - Receiving Calls From Contacts

O2Ryan — Mon, 17 Jul 2023 07:10:11 GMT

thanks for the tag ill send a private message over now.

Re: Unknown Caller Issue - Receiving Calls From Contacts

Kosmos5457 — Mon, 17 Jul 2023 16:24:53 GMT

Ryan has reached out but no further updates. I'll share here what I shared with Ryan regarding my findings.

On WiFi Calling, all is fine, Caller ID is displaying on incoming calls. So far as I can see, it also works when receiving calls on 4G.

If my signal switches to 3G, EDGE or GPRS, then Unknown Caller is displayed instead. This explains why this issue may be intermittent.

I've done test calls from landline to mobile. My daughters phone is on Lebara, so Vodafone, while also have tested calling from a BT Landline.

I don't know what else to add at this point. Just that it is frustrating. I remember a time some years ago where when I was in an area that preferred stronger GPRS signal rather than 3G and on an iPhone 5 or 6, with a jailbreak, you could force it to use 3G instead, despite signal being weaker.

Thing is I'm in an area where signal really does vary between 3G and 4G and it hasn't caused me any problems before, except for this.

Could carrier update from o2 influence settings here? Could o2 speak with Apple on this issue? Though I'd seen it is not exclusive to iPhones, and it could well be that there are similar issues on other networks.

Re: Unknown Caller Issue - Receiving Calls From Contacts

Cleoriff — Mon, 17 Jul 2023 18:29:07 GMT

Deleted.

Re: Unknown Caller Issue - Receiving Calls From Contacts

Kosmos5457 — Tue, 18 Jul 2023 19:12:05 GMT

Not sure what you said but just read O2 reps will no longer be on the forums for assistance. It will leave me no choice but to go right to the top.

I'll reach out to CEO and see what comes of that. Usually someone will take notice and issue then be dealt with.

Re: Unknown Caller Issue - Receiving Calls From Contacts

yas1 — Wed, 11 Oct 2023 08:19:16 GMT

Hi,

I am having the same issues since I upgraded to I phone 14 with a new 5g sim. Think I have worked out that whenever my phone is on 3g , I get unknown caller even though the contact may be in my address book. I am not sure who's problem this is , is O2 or Apples?

Thanks

Re: Unknown Caller Issue - Receiving Calls From Contacts

yas1 — Wed, 11 Oct 2023 08:22:21 GMT

Hi Kosmos,

Have you managed to sort the problem and if so , how?

Thanks

Re: Unknown Caller Issue - Receiving Calls From Contacts

Kosmos5457 — Wed, 11 Oct 2023 08:34:41 GMT

I did share solution to this on another thread, showing what needs to be done.

You are right in that the issue presents itself on 3G or below. So 4G and WiFi Calling was fine.

It is certainly an O2 issue. What you need to do is call O2 and advise that they need to add what is called a CLI Presentation Facility to your bolt-ons. There is no charge for this but it is the fix.

Hopefully you get someone who understands the issue but you can tell them the solution over the phone. State that this has been well publicised on the Community Forum.

On another thread where I shared the solution, some representative there was querying how is it that we have a customer telling us how to fix this issue. It is something that should be picked up straight away, like acknowledged. I had high level network engineers do testing with me. I found as you did with the issue being when not on 4G.

Customer Service I don't think really understood the issue. Also, other people with other phones, not iPhone, have had this issue as well. Don't let them fob you off with resetting network settings, SIM swap. Be insisting you know the solution.

TLDR: Ask O2 to add CLI Presentation Facility bolt-on to your account as this will resolve issue.

Re: Unknown Caller Issue - Receiving Calls From Contacts

yas1 — Wed, 11 Oct 2023 11:41:52 GMT

Many thanks Kosmos5457. I'll call them and ask them to do that. Also just seen on another forum that this issue was also solved by asking O2 to reset the account.

Thank you

Re: Unknown Caller Issue - Receiving Calls From Contacts

Kosmos5457 — Wed, 11 Oct 2023 11:50:35 GMT

They consider resetting an account as a last resort. I had initially asked if they could disconnect and reconnect my number, even if it were going to leave me without service for a day or two. It was only after working with network team that I discovered under my bolt-ons was this CLI Presentation Facility which was never there before.

The bolt-on shows it was added at the time it was fixed. All other bolt-ons were there when renewing contract except for that one.