Can't be heard on 0345 calls

[gsmith45]

I've had lots of issues porting-in to O2 from Giffgaff.  It took about 25 days for my old number to work on my shiny new phone, and even then only folks on the O2 mobile network could call or text me.  Took another week or so to fix that issue.

I still have some weird residual issues - one of them is on 0345 numbers.  I can call out, I can hear hold music, I can hear the other person answering, and then either they can't hear me, or the call just drops.  Annoying because my bank uses 0345 and they use my Caller ID as one part of their security!

I can call them on Skype, or from other phones, and I can successfully call other folks from my phone - all except for 0345 numbers.  It's currently escalated to the "Faults" team.   Anybody else had this and had it fixed?  

[gsmith45]

OK thanks, so here is more pertinent information that may be relevant if we think this is an iPhone issue and not a network issue:

The iPhone in question is a 16 pro, new in December and ported to O2 in Dec/January.  The new iphone16 was restored from a backup of an iphone14 (on Giffgaff) that worked fine as far as I know.  I say "as far as I know" because it's been my experience of a split port-in over the last 5 weeks that's made me paranoid about what's working and not working on my phone, so I've been testing many things that possibly didn't stick out as issues previously.  With both Giffgaff and O2 I've used a physical SIM.  I previously used a travel eSIM from Airlo in November for a month when I was travelling, but this was deleted before I transferred phones.

During the port-in, I have rebooted my phone and reset my network settings dozens of times.  I am currently on O2 61.1, ios18.2, have no SIM restrictions.  

So - since my port-in / new iphone I have 3 residual problems that I didn't have before:

1.  0345 calling:  If I call my bank - 03456 100 100 -  then the call rings, I get some messages and then someone answers, but they are not able to hear me. Generally the call then cuts off exactly as I start speaking or thereabouts.  (It's not like they are hanging up).  I discovered yesterday (see above) that I could actually make contact with this 0345 number if I put my new O2 SIM into an old iPhone12 - so the issue doesn't appear to be network or SIM related.

2.  SMS messages to an O2/ Pixel phone:  Sometime during the protracted port-in process I lost the ability to receive text messages from outside then O2 network.  iMessage and data worked fine.  My buddy with an android phone was helping me test what was working and not.  I am currently unable to send him (and maybe others) SMS messages - I just get a green bar at the top of the screen when I try and send and then a "Message Failed to Send" notification.  However - he can SMS me, and I can SMS several other users with android phones on various networks.   Yesterday I swapped my SIM to an old iPhone12 and was able to SMS him and get replies immediately on the iPhone12.  But when I swapped back to my iPhone16, I could receive texts from him but not send.  I've checked my "Blocked Contacts" etc, I've tried deleting his contact details and previous conversations completely from my phone and just manually typing in his number - but to no avail.  Note that other people are able to SMS him.

3.  RCS not authorised.  I think this is a separate issue and I've raised with O2 and have followed advice about toggling things off and on and rebooting phone to no avail.  Am mentioning it here in case it's relevant to the other 2 issues.   

Would welcome any expert insight anyone can provide!

[gsmith45]

OK thanks. Some interesting developments.  Per the thread above, yesterday about 5pm I couldn't call 0345 numbers and have them hear me.  I swapped my SIM into an older iPhone and my 0345 issue worked just fine there.  I annoyed my bank by calling them a few times to check.   I put the SIM back into my new iPhone, and suddenly it's connecting to 0345 numbers AND they can can hear me.  Small victory, but I wonder what caused it and what straightened out the number.

Unfortunately I still have issues sending SMS to one particular android/O2 user, even though I could text him from my old phone last night, and even though I can receive SMS texts from him.  I can also see that RCS is still awaiting authorisation (and have been through the steps elsewhere on the community board about this) .  The former sounds like a phone issue..  is the latter a network thing?  (I'm on O2 61.1 / ios18.2 / iphone16 pro. )

[Nicola28]

I am also unable to be heard when I ring out from my o2 phone to 03456 number. I can hear them but they can’t hear me. I rang of another phone also o2 and they could hear me. I am also using an iPhone 16 pro so I’m also wondering if this is a setting

[Oxonian]

I am not an iPhone user @Nicola28 but hopefully someone else might be able to help you. 👍   

[ChrisT49]

I have the same issue - having just moved onto a new iPhone 16 Plus from an iPhone 12. Both phones on O2. New phone does not have a physical SIM card. I'm trying to call my bank on an 0345 number - it rings, I hear the IVR, an agent picks up and within a few seconds the call fails. Has anyone had any success?

[Enlli]

@ChrisT49  I've tagged@Nicola28 and @gsmith45 to see if they are still around and can help

[gsmith45 · Accepted solution]

Hi guys.  Thanks for tagging me.  I can give you an update some months on.  Good news is that my 0345 calling issue seems to be fixed.  I say "seems to be" because it was on and off for a bit. I called my bank just now for you with some trepidation but it was working today.

Bad news for anyone with this issue is that it may be wider spread than 0345.  I had to call an ambulance for someone, and after waiting 20 mins to get through to a dispatcher I had exactly the same experience that when they finally answered, they weren't able to hear me at all.  

I mention this because the fixes I used were painful, but probably worth the pain if there's a chance you may be in the same emergency situation.

So - an update on my pertinent symptoms.  My new phone was an iPhone16 Pro with a physical SIM.  I transferred my profiles/data from my iPhone14 Pro using Apple's standard helper.  O2 screwed up my port-in to the network, and it took 10 weeks to get everything fully working, although there are still some database issues about recognising me as a customer sometimes.

Some steps to try and understand your problem:  First, call the 0345 number from another iPhone/SIM, also on O2 and check the number works OK.  Then confirm that your new phone/SIM is still not working.    If so, try switching SIMs between the phones and then call the 0345 number from your new phone/other SIM combination and your new SIM/other phone.  What I found - surprisingly - was that my SIM card worked just fine in the other phone, but my new phone/other SIM combination still didn't work.

So this pointed the problem at the phone, not the O2 network,  I spent 2 hours on the phone with an Apple specialist who was very engaged and tried a whole bunch of things and flexed many settings that I didn't even know existed. Eventually he said that he suspected something in the transfer process from my old iPhone14 to the iPhone16.

If you haven't already tried it, you can try Settings>General>Transfer or Reset Iphone>Reset>Reset Network settings.    This didn't work for me, and be aware that this will delete your various wifi networks. 

What DID work for me was Settings>General>Transfer or Reset Iphone>Reset>Reset All settings

Note that this is a painful-ish step, because you may have to reset a lot of passwords or tokens and basic phone settings - it took me a couple of hours after this step to add all my passwords and set my phone up.  However, the good news is that I could suddenly make 0345 calls!

If this doesn't work for you, then your next step would be to back your phone up, and then restore it to factory settings.  Do a basic set up and then try calling the 0345 number.  If it works then you will know that it's something to do with the apps/data/settings you have in your data and then at this point you'll probably have to try rebuilding your phone stack by adding your apps back in one by one. 

Hope this helps someone, please do post if you find other ways of fixing.

[ChrisT49]

Thanks @Enlli and @gsmith45 .

My wife has an iphone on O2 and I tried calling the 0345 number (my bank) and it works just fine.

On my new iPhone16 Plus - I tried the Settings>General>Transfer or Reset Iphone>Reset>Reset Network Settings and I can now access my voicemail - but still no 0345.

I'll try the "Reset All Settings" step this week and report back.