Issue with O2 or iPhone?

[bass_junkie83]

I am having a strange issue when making some calls and can't seem to find any reference to it happening to anyone else online.

This is a problem that (as far as I know) only affects calls to either of my parents mobiles. When I try and call my mother for example, the call goes directly to her answerphone, but if I hang up can call right back it then rings and she picks up (as long as she actually has it with her, no explaining to her that it's called a mobile for a reason!)

Exactly the same happens if I try to call my dad, first call straight to answer phone and second call rings.

I'm pretty sure it is not a fault my end, this has been going on 2-3 months and I have changed phones in that time, I am with EE by the way.

However they are both with O2 and both have an iphone 6, so I assume the issue lies with either their phones or service provider.

I have not come across the same problem with anyone else,though as far as I know no one I regularly call has either an iphone or is on O2. Has anyone come across this before?

 

[stryvya]

Are the O2 Phone on the most Current Update?

 

[bass_junkie83]

I expect so, my father at least is not the sort of person to put off an update and i am sure he would sort my mothers phone at the same time, but I shall double check when I see them next.

 

[gramps]

SWMBO and I both have iPhones (6 & 7), we are on Giffgaff (o2) and have not had any reports of this happening to folks calling us.

 

[JohnM100]

Can happen if mobile signal is poor at your Mum & Dad’s and if they are on WiFi. As if it needs a 2nd ring to wake up.

 

[Dave *]

This is a problem that (as far as I know) only affects calls to either of my parents mobiles. When I try and call my mother for example, the call goes directly to her answerphone, but if I hang up can call right back it then rings and she picks up (as long as she actually has it with her, no explaining to her that it's called a mobile for a reason!)

Exactly the same happens if I try to call my dad, first call straight to answer phone and second call rings.

Have you checked they don’t have the “do not disturb” feature active with the option switched on to allow a second call from the same number within 3 minutes to ring?

Go to Settings - Do not disturb and ensure the very top slider isn’t in the on position.

 

[Harlequin565]

When you call another mobile, the call goes to a central location to determine where that phone was last seen, or whether it's been switched off. If it's off, the call goes straight to answerphone/three beeps.

Assuming the phone is on, the call then gets routed to the switch it was last registered to. That switch then reaches out to try and contact the mobile (paging).

The phone is constantly talking to the nearby cell towers to determine which has the strongest signal. Each cell tower is connected to a switch which maintains the "registration" of that mobile to that tower. Now, if the mobiles are in poor coverage areas (spotty "no signal" to 1 bar), or more likely on a border between not only two masts, but two masts on different switches, you could get a condition where the phones are constantly swapping their signal between two locations, and an incoming call gets routed to the switch that the customer has detached from. Switch returns "not here", call goes to answerphone. A retry then gets through if the phone stays connected to the switch for long enough.

The key to determining whether it's network or phone is reproduction. Is every first call a fail and every second call a success? If so, I'd say phone's the problem. If it's more random (sometimes goes through 1st time) then I'd suspect network.
Is there a pause between last digit and answer phone or is it very quick? Very quick implies the phone has told the network it's off (when it isn't) and that's another phone issue. A pause would imply the call has gone to a phone the network believes is "on", but then couldn't page.
Does the phone signal strength fluctuate from 1-3 bars constantly, or is it full strength? Full strength implies the phone has found a nice fat signal and it's not hunting, fluctuations can imply it keeps jumping to the best it can find.

As it's happening on two handsets, my gut says network, but these are really tricky to nail down. It's worth a call into O2 customer care to ask them to look at it. If they send an engineer out, he could probably tell you immediately.