Calling

Your iPhone “rings” and you see that it’s a call you don’t want to answer. Press the Wake/Sleep button once and it will stop ringing; press it twice and the call will be immediately forwarded to your voice mail.



Persistence is an admirable quality in some circumstances, and very annoying in others. For example, a broker keeps calling you about an investment opportunity involving sub-prime mortgage-based derivatives. “Thanks, but no thanks” may be tolerable once, but having to repeat yourself can get old quickly.


A person posting in the iPhone section at YahooGroups.com had a creative solution for this. Create a single contact and call it “BLOCKED” or “DON’T ANSWER” or something like that. Then, when you have identified a phone number as one you don’t want to answer, enter it in this contact.

This tip is based on an excellent article at Macworld.com. You can check the balance on your AT&T bill or the remaining number of voice minutes you have directly from your iPhone. From the Home screen, go to Settings >Phone >AT&T Services. Select the button labeled “Check Bill Balance” or “View My Minutes.” AT&T will promptly send you a free SMS with the info.

 Some business phone systems require that you pause between numbers. For example, there may need to be a pause between the main number and the extension to give the phone system time to “pick up.” To insert a pause while entering or editing a phone number in Contacts, place the cursor where you want to insert the pause, tap on the lower left button (+ * #), and hit the pause button that appears next to it. Repeat the process to insert another pause. The pauses appear as commas in the displayed number.

The ability to forward a phone call can come in handy if you’re in a meeting or on vacation and want an associate to handle your calls. It could also come in handy if you’re traveling to an area with no cellular coverage, and want your calls forwarded to your hotel. Here’s how you do it on the iPhone:

1. From the Home screen, go to Settings >Phone >Call Forwarding.
2. Then, turn on Call Forwarding and tap on Forwarding To.
3. Finally, enter the number you want your calls forwarded to.

WARNING: To set up call forwarding, your iPhone must be in range of your cellular network. So if you’re going to an area without cellular coverage, set it up beforehand.