Question

Why is my cell phone keyboard not working when I'm on an international call?

  • 1 February 2023
  • 2 replies
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It used to work but it doesn’t any more on an international call.  For example, when asked to press 1 for English, the keyboard does not function no matter how many times I press 1.  I’ve been having this problem ever since I switched to iPhone 13 with an eSIM.  An online service agent guided me to reset the network settings but it did not solve the problem.  Thought it’s my phone’s problem but my husband and son’s iPhones have the same problem. 


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Userlevel 7
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Hey there @JYM Sounds like you have done a fair amount of troubleshooting and testing to find out the touch tones are not working on those international calls. I reviewed some information regarding the limitations of touch tones and I see that they don’t really work on conference calls, but I don’t see any limitation on international calls. Are all three phones calling the same international number when the touch tones are not working, or it is more than one number that you call that has the issue?

Userlevel 7
Badge +15

This can happen when the number or service you are calling doesn't properly support DTMF tones.  International standards aren't always the same as what the US and Canada use.  Calling overseas can definitely be more hit than miss as well with DTMF support.  In some cases, it's just too short for the receiver to pick up so try holding the number for at least 2 seconds.  I'd you don't hear the tone when pressing the number, there usually is an option to turn that on in the dialer settings.

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