No ringback tone on outgoing calls

[waytay]

I have a Samsung S23 and since switching from Telus Mobility to PM, I have now no ring-back tone when making outgoing calls plus a 1 second delay in response from called party (don't hear back the first few words of salutation). 

This is very important feature to me. 

I understand that voLTE must also be turned on in the phone.  That software switch does not appear on my phone (in the Network folder) and I suspect that reason resides with PM server not activating it for 4G. 

How can this be corrected?

[waytay]

It does ring in ok. 

But there is no ring-back tone when calling out.  And there is a delayed talk-back when called party picks up.

Yes, I have contacted CS and they just tell me to either get a new phone or find another carrier!  Donno how else I can explain such a simple issue to PM.  This seems like such a basic feature -- like dating back to POTS for gosh sake.

[hTideGnow]

hi @waytay 

the no ring issue is fixable.  Have you submitted a ticket with PM support yet?

[waytay]

Thanks.  There appear to be lots of subs now complaining about this very issue (of no ring-back and some with delayed talk-back).

But everything that I have been told about the issue is that VoLTE has something to do with no-ringback tone and delayed talk-back connection with the called party.  That is her main issue.  She/we could care less about VoLTE capability ..As long as the phone can communicate via voice and text, and maybe work with some data on occasion we are content -- no gaming or videos or anything like that.  Just simple phone service.

This VoLTE issue/solution does sound bogus if ring-back tone and delayed talk-back has been ripped out of the service  ..even without this VoLTE stuff.  And nope, not gonna upgrade to Koodo or Telus to get it back, eh.

We are getting into CRTC territory now 😏

[Phil_Adelphus]

@waytay  As I understand it, the problem with some of the earlier phones that are VoLTE capable but not PM whitelisted is that they were manufactured before PM got VoLTE and therefore need an update from the manufacturer, which isn't likely to happen.  Other carriers had VoLTE earlier than PM. As for the ringback problem I'm puzzled about that one since I don't see what that has to do with VoLTE, there are plenty of people on here with non-PM VoLTE phones and they don't all seem to be having ringback problems.

[waytay]

Tried all that on the S10.  But even though that phone is physically voLTE compatible, PM (Telus) refuses to accept it into their 'whitelist' roster.  I'd imagine there are a lot of folks with older phones that PM won't fully recognize.

All this will do is drive more subs from PM back into Koodo or some other unrelated carrier that recognizes voLTE.  The lack of ring-back should be a basic part of phoning, not a luxury feature reserved for the higher tier carriers like Telus, Rogers, etc.   I guess that's what happens when everything becomes software driven and newly devised 'options' (ie, internal switches) are set by business modeling.

[waytay]

Basic $19 plan with 1gb data.  It's all she wants ..or ever needs as she's not much of a phone user.  But she does want to know that her call is actually going through -- which currently there is no way of knowing on any of the PM networks.  With 3G there was. 

[waytay]

It is on Telus and Koodo.  But apparently, PM being an 'ultra-value carrier' of Telus, some features are omitted here. Had she known this fact, then she would have been looking for another unrelated carrier.

[Phil_Adelphus]

@waytay  Seems my wife's awesome S10 is not on their list

The S10 is not approved for VoLTE,  I'm not sure why the CS Agent said that would be a reason for the ringback not to work.  

[Phil_Adelphus]

@waytay   Does that also follow that I must have a plan that includes 'data'?

What plan did you choose?  They pretty much all have cellular data with the odd exception.

[waytay]

Seems my wife's awesome S10 is not on their list.  So it too has the no ring-back issue.  The direct response from CS is to either get a new phone or to switch back to Telus or Koodo.  Interesting response, as they are all on the same network  ..including PM!

[waytay]

Miraculously, my phone now works ok. Interestingly, I did not know that mobile data had to be turned on for LTE to work.  Does that also follow that I must have a plan that includes 'data'?

[Phil_Adelphus]

@waytay  The no ringback problem has supposedly been fixed by Public Mobile customer service when told about it individually.  So you need to contact them for that issue.  For the VoLTE toggle, that should be enabled by default on "approved" phones and there often isn't a toggle for it in settings.  My iPhone 13 has VoLTE for example, but no on and off toggle in settings.  It should just work with the S23.

Just to add, you can check that VoLTE is working by turning off wifi, turning on cellular data, and making a phone call.  Watch the LTE in the status bar to make sure it doesn't drop.  It should stay on LTE.

[TheSterlinger]

Lots of people have this issue lately.  Not sure of a fix really. You can search the various posts that people reported. 

But few things you can try 

Reset phone networks, update to latest IOS or version, try SIM in another phone to test.

You can ask PM to check by submitting a ticket through the chat.