All circuits are busy?

[jor123]

For the last hour or so, I've been getting a message saying that "all circuits are busy" when trying to make calls in St. John's, NL. Could be a capacity issue with everyone working from home?

[irishman4]

Hi,,, couple years Ago .....P.M. had major problems...like this couldn't make any calls..................................Downloaded Fongo...

Free for Canada....help me to make calls ... 'till  P.M. was able to fix the problem.

hope this will help you..& many Others......'cause ,,,,i'm getting that message too 

Today.........................Regards.......................Irishman4

[CannonFodder]

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@gblackma wrote:

@jor123 try adding a voip app such as TextNow and use it over WiFi to make/receive/ send  calls and texts for free in Canada and to the US. They don't seem to be having this problem.

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I've seen you, and others, mention that app many times, and although I haven't looked into it much, I have to wonder how many of those similar apps are usable by a segment of the population. What I'm getting at, is that I've looked specifically at TextNow, and IIRC, it requires Android 5+, and I'm wondering how many people out there are like me, and using a phone old enough that it doesn't have, nor can get, the minimum version of the OS to use such apps.....

[nabil114]

I have the same issue. 

[jor123]

Working from home with calls forwarded to your cell doesn't make that it as easy as that...

[mpcdesign]

@jor123, typically, this isn't a problem, but with this pandemic going on during this time period, I believe this is the main reason. Don't fret over the small stuff. Enjoy the time off from the phone, and enjoy the peace and quiet....unless you have two young children fighting all the time....sigh!

[jor123]

I feel as though opening PM to Voice over LTE (packet switched) or wifi calling would help in these situations as right now we're stuck on the 3G network for voice. It's working again now but worrying how little capacity we have for when a real emergency happens.

[gblackma]

@jor123 try adding a voip app such as TextNow and use it over WiFi to make/receive/ send  calls and texts for free in Canada and to the US. They don't seem to be having this problem.

[Triguy]

The message "all circuits are busy" on a phone means that all available connections in that phone network are being used.   A given network has a limited number of switches used to place calls, and when this number is exceeded, additional calls can only go through once others complete. Typically, all circuits are only full during emergencies when an abnormally large number of people in the same area try to make calls simultaneously. Phone companies try to maintain more circuits than registered phones to prevent circuit traffic, however sometimes they still become overloaded. When receiving this message when making a call, wait briefly, then retry the call.