Our iPhones can do so many wonderful things that it’s sometimes easy to forget they are also telephones. And while making phone calls may seem old school, there are many times when speaking to someone is the best way to communicate. With that in mind, here are a few tips to make using the phone easier.
Quick Access
If you have an iPhone 7 or later, you can firm press on the Phone app’s icon to get quick access to your favorites, view your last call, and more.
To add people to your favorites list, open the Phone app, tap Favorites on the bottom, and then the + button in the upper left and choose a contact. If the contact has more than one phone number listed, you’ll be asked to choose the one to use in your Favorites list.
Redial
To quickly redial the last number you manually entered into the phone dialer, bring up the keypad and then tap the dial button. This will place that number in the display. To then call the number, just tap the dial button again:
Silence
A quick way to silence the phone’s ringer is to simply press the power button. This is nice because you don’t have to look at the phone to do it. You can reach into your pocket or bag and press the button.
You can also silence the phone and immediately send the call to voice mail by pressing the power button twice.
Call Back Reminder
If you can’t take a call but want to remember to call the person back, just tap the Remind Me me button on the call screen and then choose when you’d like to be reminded. The call will go to voicemail and your phone will remind you to call back along with a button to easily dial the phone number:
When it’s time to call back, the reminder will pop up. Tap on the reminder and then tap the Call button to place the call:
Decline with Message
If you can’t take a call but want to quickly let the caller know you’ve seen that they’ve called, you can send a quick message. Just tap Message and choose from the list:
The call will go to voicemail and send the text message to the caller.
If you’d like to customize the messages in the list, go to Settings, tap Phone, then tap Respond with Text, and then type in the text you’d like to have in the list:
Add Other People
Did you know that you can easily create a conference call? To do so, dial the first person and after they answer, tap the Add Call button and choose the next person to add to the call.
After the second person answers, tap Merge Calls to combine the calls into a conference call.
To add others, follow the same procedure again. The number of people you can add to a call depends on your phone carrier.
Return To Call
Have you ever wanted to stay on a call but also look something up or otherwise use an app on your phone? It’s easy!
To start, make your call and then tap Speaker to turn on the speakerphone.
Now, depending on the phone, press the Home Button or swipe up from the bottom and then launch any app and use it as normal. Since your phone is set to speaker, you can continue to talk to the other party.
When you’re ready to switch back to the Phone app so you can end the call or turn off the speaker, just tap the green bar at the top of the screen:
Use Siri
Siri makes it easy to place phone calls. Just say “Hey Siri” and say who you want to call. You can even ask Siri to use the speakerphone. Here are some examples:
- “Hey Siri, call Joe”
- “Hey Siri, call Pam’s mobile”
- “Hey Siri, call Jim on speakerphone”
- “Hey Siri, call Ned at work”
Phone Calls Still Matter!
While most of what we read about smart phones these days has little to do with telephone calls, voice calls are still an important part of communicating. I hope this article helps you make better use of your telephone.
Rob’s Tech Talk 
Thanks Rob. So much at our fingertips that we just don’t know.
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