iPhone Calling

Have people asked you why you're blocking your phone number? The iPhone can automatically turn off your caller ID when dialing out. Chances are, if your iPhone number is blocked on other people's phones this setting is engaged. To show others your phone number follow these steps:

1. Navigate to Settings -> Phone -> Show My Caller ID
2. Select ON

Now when you call, devices capable of reading the caller ID will display your number instead of a "Blocked" message.

Remember people with Nextel phones, beeping everywhere and chatting just like they were using a portable two-way radio? Now you can simulate this fun with your iPhone thanks to a variety of apps.

Push-to-talk (PTT) capabilities are possible using many apps, including the following software available on the App Store for free:

1. HeyTell
2. iPTT push-to-talk

Now you can protect the privacy of your phone number with the iPhone app Burner. Not only can you create a temporary alias phone number that will appear as your caller ID with outgoing calls, the number will kick incoming calls to your line and/or an anonymous voicemail automatically. The numbers work with text messaging as well.

When you're finished using the number it can be deleted forever. The developer Ad Hoc Labs explains that Burner numbers are great for "dating, job searches, short-term projects, craigslist transactions, Twitter, Tumblr, and other social media" or for any other time you don't want to distribute your real phone number.

Dialing an international number on the iPhone requires the "+" symbol ahead of the phone number. The Contacts app can store these numbers so they can be dialed automatically.

Create a contact or navigate to an existing contact and select the phone number field. To add "+" when storing an international phone number, touch the button in the lower left hand corner of the keypad marked "+*#". This will switch the number keypad over to symbols and the "+" sign will appear where the 0 (zero) button was.

Tap the "+" button and follow with the country code and phone number you wish to store.

Manually dialing an international number on the iPhone requires the "+" symbol before the country code, which is the first digit entered.

To add "+" when using the Phone Keypad to dial manually, press and hold the 0 (zero) button until the "+" appears. Now you can enter the country code and phone number.

Some iPhone 4S users are experiencing a strange, involuntary mute when dialing out using their mobile devices. The problem is that the person dialing out can't hear anything on the other end of the line, not even a ringing phone. People receiving the calls can hear the iPhone 4S owner just fine. An Apple discussion page titled Outgoing call no audio started almost immediately after the iPhone 4S was released and has leap over to additional discussions.

Although Apple was quick to respond to complaints about iPhone 4S battery life being shorter than expected, there's no official word on whether or not a fix is in the works for the audio issue. Some iPhone owners who experienced the problem were able to correct the issue with a full restore. Others who have not had luck fixing the problem have begun to call the issue Audiogate.

Need to block a specific phone number from calling or texting your iPhone? It could be telemarketers, spam text messages, or that crank that won't stop calling and messaging. Apple's iOS does not have a built-in feature to block a phone number, but there are other solutions.

The iPhone will store and dial extensions to phone numbers in a couple of different ways, depending on how you decide to interact with the answering system on the other end. Entering the extension into your Contacts is simple. When you finish entering the last digit of the main phone number, tap the +*# button in the lower left corner of the dial pad. Two options are given: pause and wait.

You can set the iPhone to wait longer or shorter than the default 20 seconds before it goes to voicemail when receiving an incoming call. This will result in a different number of rings before the voice messaging system picks up the line and plays your outgoing message. To change the amount of time the iPhone will ring follow these steps:

1. Open the phone app and dial *#61# on the Keypad. Press the Call button.

Apple has released detailed support information explaining the differences between iPhone calling features on the AT&T and Verizon networks. Because AT&T Mobility uses GSM technology and Verizon Wireless has a CDMA network, each iPhone 4 has different calling capabilities. Recently it was revealed that Verizon's network suffers from conference calling limitations, but there are other differences as well. The table below was released by Apple to illustrate the details.