Smart phone silent call issue

[omni550]

I was at Game Night last night. Three friends were complaining about an issue they are having with their smartphones with calling each other. All 3 are on Verizon.

The friend with an Android phone makes a call to her iPhone friend. iPhone rings, iPhone friend answers and hears nothing on the line. This can happen multiple times a day. This happens with the same Android person calling another friend with an iPhone. (When I inquired...they are fairly certain that these call are coming form their friend, not a spoofed number.)

Other calls seemingly are not affected, as far as I know, as these are ladies who are forever calling/texting each other as well as friends and family around the country.

I did ask if they reboot their phones frequently, and they all said 'yes'.

Any ideas as to what might be the issue? (The lady with the Android phone took it to the Verizon store and got ZERO assistance.)

omni

 

[braumeister]

Sometimes there can be a delay of several seconds before the connection is solid enough to converse. Are they waiting long enough (5 seconds should be enough) or are they just saying "Hello, hello?" and hanging up?

 

[COcheesehead]

We get calls like that all day at my business. They are from an auto dialer that randomly calls numbers. The first to pick up gets the "pitch" whatever it may be while the others get silence. I bet the numbers are spoofed. Just my 2 cents from experience.

 

[splitwdw]

When the calls don't go through is the person with the Android system in the same location each time it happens? I can make and receive calls (Verizon-Android system) everywhere but home. We have very spotty reception here. Calls don't always go through or drop off. It's one reason I still have a landline.

 

[MRG]

We get calls like that all day at my business. They are from an auto dialer that randomly calls numbers. The first to pick up gets the "pitch" whatever it may be while the others get silence. I bet the numbers are spoofed. Just my 2 cents from experience.

Every day I get a spoofed number calling, sometimes 50/50 I get a computer telling me that it loves my business and I'm eligible for...(I've never listened past this point).

 

[RunningBum]

The friend with an Android phone makes a call to her iPhone friend. iPhone rings, iPhone friend answers and hears nothing on the line. This can happen multiple times a day. This happens with the same Android person calling another friend with an iPhone. (When I inquired...they are fairly certain that these call are coming form their friend, not a spoofed number.)

I'd do a little more than inquire, since they are only fairly certain. Has any one of those friends actually made a call to another friend and heard silence or something else funny on the line? Or is it only the one who answers who gets the silence? Wouldn't the latter be odd?

A further check. Compare call logs. Should be able to match outgoing and incoming calls.

If all this doesn't match up, then it's the spoofing that's happening. If they do match up, it'd be helpful to know what the caller is experiencing when this happens. Maybe they are making accidental calls to each other. Do "butt dials" still happen?

 

[braumeister]

Do "butt dials" still happen?

Amazingly, yes they do.

I get 2 or 3 butt dials from friends every year, with both of us on iPhones.

 

[audreyh1]

Yes - got one recently.

 

[omni550]

Thanks for the replies.

The 2 recipients (L & S) who both have the same issue with calls from J were there last night.

They did a "demo" call for me when we were all together.
J, using her Android, called, L's iPhone, which rang and was answered...and we all heard the dead silence on the line. I will suggest that L & S wait a few more seconds whenever they get a call from J, in case it takes longer for J's calls to go through.

With regard to spoofing, when J calls L, J's avatar and phone number show up on L's phone as it is ringing. Would a spoofed call have this feature?

These ladies all live in the same condo complex, and typically stay within mostly a 5-10 mile radius (as this area is in the midst of shopping, entertainment, restaurants, etc.), which is where the calls would be originating from. If we don't get a resolution with waiting longer for the calls to connect, I'll see if we can pull their phone logs and compare.

I've gotten a few butt dials myself, but I typically hear environmental noise (TV, store, radio, etc.) when the calls go through, not dead silence.

omni