Placing a phone call

To place a call on your phone, heed these steps:

1. Open the Phone app.

   The Phone app’s launcher is found on the Home screen, on the favorites tray. The app’s icon features a Phone Handset icon, similar to the one shown in the margin.

2. If necessary, display the dialpad.

   If you don’t see the dialpad, illustrated in Figure 5-1, tap the Dialpad icon, similar to what’s shown in the margin.

3. Type a phone number.

   You may hear the traditional touch-tone sounds as you punch in the number.

   If you make a mistake, tap the Delete icon, labeled in Figure 5-1, to back up and erase.

   The phone displays matching contacts as you type. Choose a contact to instantly input that person’s number.

4. Tap the Dial icon to place the call.

   While a call is active, the screen changes to show contact information, or a contact image when one is available, similar to Figure 5-2.

5. Place the phone to your ear and wait.

6. When the person answers the phone, talk.

   What you say is up to you, though it’s good not to just blurt out unexpected news, like: “Twenty people are showing up for dinner” or “Your lawn is on fire.”

   Use the phone’s volume key to adjust the volume during the call.

7. Tap the End Call icon to end the call.

   The phone disconnects. You hear a soft beep, which is the phone’s signal that the call has ended.

You can do other things while you’re making a call: Tap the Home navigation icon to run an app, read old email, check an appointment, or do whatever. Activities such as these don’t disconnect you, although your cellular carrier may not allow you to do other things with the phone while you’re on a call.

To return to a call after doing something else, choose the Call in Progress notification icon, similar to the one shown in the margin.

• The Phone app might be titled Dialer on some devices.
• Some manufacturers may spruce up the Phone app beyond what you see in Figures 5-1 and 5-2. For example, Samsung offers video calling between two Samsung devices, and a Camera icon appears to activate this feature.
• Don’t worry about the phone’s microphone being too far away from your mouth; it picks up your voice just fine.
• For hands-free operation, use earbuds with a microphone doodle, as discussed in Chapter 1.
• You can connect or remove the earphones at any time during a call.
• Use a Bluetooth headset to go hands-free. If a Bluetooth icon doesn’t appear on the screen, tap the Speaker icon (refer to Figure 5-2) to ensure that the Bluetooth headset is active. See Chapter 18 for information on Bluetooth.
• If you’re going hands-free, press the phone’s Power/Lock key during the call to lock the phone. Locking the phone doesn’t disconnect the call, but it does prevent you from accidentally hanging up or muting the call.
• To mute a call, tap the Mute icon, shown earlier in Figure 5-2. A Mute status icon, similar to the one shown in the margin, appears atop the touchscreen.
• You can’t accidentally mute or end a call when the phone is placed against your face; the device’s proximity sensor prevents that from happening.
• Tap the Speaker icon and hold the phone at a distance to listen and talk, which helps facilitate the common cell-phone-as-a-slice-of-pizza method of communications. The speaker also allows you to let others listen and share in the conversation. You see a Speaker status icon while the speaker is active.

• Don’t hold the phone right at your ear while the speaker is active.

• If you’re wading through one of those nasty voicemail systems, tap the Dialpad icon, labeled in Figure 5-2, so that you can “Press 1 for English” when necessary.
• See the later section “Multi-Call Mania,” for information on using the Hold and Add Call icons.
• You hear an audio alert whenever the call is dropped or the other party hangs up. The disconnection can be confirmed by looking at the phone, which shows that the call has ended.

• You cannot place a phone call when the phone has no service; check the signal strength (refer to Figure 5-1). Also see the nearby sidebar, “Signal strength.”

• You cannot place a phone call when the phone is in Airplane mode. See Chapter 23.
• Also see Chapter 23 for details on international calling.

Dialing a contact

To access your phone’s address book, start the Phone app and tap the Contacts tab, which might be titled All Contacts or feature an icon such as the one shown in the margin. Browse the list for someone to call; tap their entry and then tap their phone number or Phone icon to place the call.

• You can also use the phone’s address book app directly to find and phone a contact. See Chapter 7.
• A special contact category in the phone’s address book is Favorites. To quickly access your favorites, tap the Favorites tab in the Phone app. This tab may feature the Favorites (star) icon, shown in the margin.
• Some variations on the Phone app place the favorite contacts on the main screen or on the Speed Dial screen. See the next section.

Using speed dial

To speed dial a number, long-press one of the digits on the Phone app’s dialpad. The phone number associated with that key is dialed instantly. For example, if your bookie is on speed dial 2, long-press the 2 key to instantly dial his number.

To assign a speed dial number, or just review the current settings, heed these steps when using the Phone app:

1. Display the dialpad.

2. Tap the Action Overflow icon.

   On some Samsung phones, tap the MORE button.

3. Choose Speed Dial or Speed Dial Setup.

   If you don’t see that these are similar actions, the Phone app most likely lacks a speed dial feature.

   Most carriers configure number 1 as the voicemail system’s number. The remaining numbers, 2 through 9, are available to program.

4. Tap an item on the list, or tap the Add icon.

   The item may say Add Speed Dial or Not Assigned as opposed to being blank.

5. Choose a contact or type a number.

   The number should really be a contact in your phone’s address book, so read Chapter 7 for details on adding a contact.

6. Repeat Steps 4 and 5 to assign more speed dial contacts.

When you’re done adding numbers, tap the Back navigation icon to exit the speed dial screen.

To remove a speed dial entry, long-press it and choose the Delete or Remove action. Or, in some cases, tap the Minus (remove) icon to the right of the speed dial entry.

Adding pauses when dialing a number

When you tap the Phone icon to dial a number, the number is instantly spewed into the phone system, like water out of a hose. If you need to pause the number as it’s dialed, you need to know how to insert secret pause characters. Two are available:

• The comma (,) adds a 2-second pause.
• The semicolon (;) adds a wait prompt.

To insert the pause or wait characters into a phone number, obey these directions:

1. Type the number to dial.

2. At the point that the pause or wait character is needed, tap the Action Overflow icon.

   The Action Overflow icon is illustrated in Figure 5-1. On some phones, tap the MORE button.

3. Choose the action Add 2-Sec Pause or Add Wait.
4. Continue composing the rest of the phone number.

When the number is dialed and the comma (,) is encountered, the phone pauses two seconds and then dials the rest of the number.

When the semicolon (;) is encountered, the phone prompts you to continue. Tap the YES or OK button to continue dialing the rest of the number.

• The comma (,) and semicolon (;) can also be inserted into the phone numbers you assign to contacts in the phone’s address book. See Chapter 7.

• Alas, you cannot program an interactive phone number, such as one that pauses and lets you provide input and then continues to dial. You must perform such a task manually on an Android phone.

Receiving a call

Several things can happen when you receive a phone call on your Android phone:

• The phone sounds a ringtone, signaling an incoming call.
• The phone vibrates.
• The touchscreen reveals information about the call, as shown in Figure 5-3.
• The car in front of you explodes in a loud fireball as your passenger screams something inappropriately funny.

That last item happens only in Bruce Willis movies. The other three possibilities, or a combination thereof, are signals that you have an incoming call.

To answer the call, swipe the Answer icon up or to the right, as indicated on the touchscreen. If you’re using a Bluetooth headset, tap the button or otherwise work the gizmo to use that device for listening and speaking.

When you’re done jabbering, tap the End Call icon to hang up: Move the phone away from your face to activate the touchscreen, then tap the icon. If the other party hangs up first, the call ends automatically.

• You don’t have to work a screen lock to answer a call. The phone remains locked, however, so if you want to do other things while you’re on the call, you must work the screen lock.
• Other options may appear on the incoming calls screen, including sending the call immediately to voicemail, responding with a text message, and others. Directions on the touchscreen explain your choices.
• When the phone is unlocked, incoming calls are heralded by a card that appears atop the screen. Tap the ANSWER button to receive the call; tap DECLINE to dismiss it.
• The contact’s picture appears only when you’ve assigned a picture to the contact. Otherwise, a generic contact image appears.
• The sound you hear for an incoming call is termed the ringtone. You can configure your phone’s ringtone depending on who is calling, or you can set a universal ringtone. Ringtones are covered in Chapter 21.

Rejecting a call

Several options are available when you don’t want to answer an incoming call.

Let the phone ring: Just do something else or pretend that you’re dead. To silence the ringer, press the phone’s volume key.

Dismiss the call: Swipe the Answer button in the direction of the call rejection option. Or, if available, swipe the Decline button, shown in the right in Figure 5-3.

Reply with a text message: Choose the text message rejection option, which dismisses the call and sends the caller a preset text message.

In all cases, unanswered calls are sent to voicemail. See Chapter 6 for information on voicemail. Chapter 6 also covers the call log, which shows a list of recent calls, incoming, missed, and rejected.

Rejecting a call with a text message

A thoughtful way to dismiss a call is to send an instant text message reply. Upon receiving an incoming call you are unable or unwilling to answer, follow these steps:

1. Select the text message rejection option from the incoming call screen.

   Swipe the text message rejection item up or to the center of the screen.

2. Choose a preset text message from the list.

   For example, “Can’t talk now. I’ll call you later.”

The call is dismissed and, in a few cellular seconds, the person who called receives the message.

• Not every phone offers the text message rejection feature.

• Only a cell phone receives the text message rejection. If the doctor’s office is calling, they won’t see your quick response message.

• The method for adding, removing, or editing the call rejection messages differs from phone to phone. Generally, tap the Action Overflow icon or MORE button while using the Phone app. Choose Settings. Look for a Quick Responses or Call Rejection action.
• See Chapter 8 for more information on text messaging.

Putting someone on hold

It’s easy to place a call on hold — as long as your cellular provider hasn’t disabled that feature. Tap the Hold icon, shown in the margin.

To take the call out of hold, tap the Hold icon again. The icon may change its look, for example, from a Pause symbol to a Play symbol.

Fret not if your phone’s call-in-progress screen lacks the Hold icon. Rather than hold the call, mute it: Tap the Mute icon. That way, you can sneeze, scream at the wall, or flush the toilet and the other person will never know.

Receiving a new call when you’re on the phone

You’re on the phone, chatting it up. Suddenly, someone else calls you. What happens next?

Your phone alerts you to the new call, perhaps by vibrating or making a sound. Look at the touchscreen to see who’s calling and determine what to do next. You have three options:

• Answer the call. Slide the Answer icon just as you would answer any incoming call. The current call is placed on hold.
• Send the call directly to voicemail. Dismiss the call as you would any incoming phone call.
• Do nothing. The call eventually goes into voicemail.

When you choose to answer the second call, additional options become available to manage both calls. Use special icons on the call-in-progress screen to perform special, multi-call tricks:

Swap/Switch Calls: To switch between callers, tap the Swap or Switch Calls icon on the touchscreen. You might instead see a card at the bottom of the screen; tap the card to switch to that caller. The current person is placed on hold when you switch calls.

Merge Calls: To combine all calls so that everyone is talking (three people total), tap the Merge Calls icon. This icon may not be available if the merge feature is suppressed by your cellular provider.

End Call: To end a call, tap the End Call icon, just as you normally do. You’re switched back to the other caller.

To end the final call, tap the End Call or Hang Up icon, just as you normally would.

• The Merge Calls icon might also appear as shown in the margin.
• The Swap/Switch Calls icon might be the standard Refresh icon, shown in the margin.
• The number of different calls your phone can handle depends on your carrier. For most subscribers in the United States, your phone can handle only two calls at a time. In that case, another person who calls either hears a busy signal or is sent directly to voicemail.
• If the person on hold hangs up, you may hear a sound or feel the phone vibrate when the call is dropped.
• When you end a second call on the Verizon network, both calls may appear to have been disconnected. That’s not the case: In a few moments, the call you didn’t disconnect “rings” as though the person is calling you back. No one is calling you back, though: you’re returning to that ongoing conversation.

Making a conference call

You can call two different people by using your Android phone’s merge calls feature. To start, connect with the first person and then add a second call. Soon, everyone is talking. Here are the details:

1. Phone the first person.

2. After the call connects and you complete a few pleasantries, tap the Add Call icon.

   The Add Call icon may appear as shown in the margin. If not, look for a generic Add (+) icon. After you tap that icon, the first person is placed on hold.

3. Dial the second person.

   You can use the dialpad or choose the second person from the phone’s address book or the call history.

   Say your pleasantries and inform the party that the call is about to be merged.

4. Tap the Merge or Merge Calls icon.

   The two calls are now joined: Everyone you’ve dialed can talk to and hear everyone else.

5. Tap the End Call icon to end the conference call.

   All calls are disconnected.

When several people are in a room and want to participate in a call, you can always put the phone in Speaker mode: Tap the Speaker icon on the ongoing call screen.

Your Android phone may feature the Manage icon while you’re in a conference call. Tap this icon to list the various calls, to mute one, or to select a call to disconnect.