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Fax machine squelch sound at beginning of calls

trishe
Great Citizen / Super Citoyen

Anyone else experiencing this? When I dial a number sometimes between when it rings and when the call is answered I hear a large loud constant irritating non stop squelching sound similar to that of an old fax machine. 

 

Sometimes it is after they say hello and they hear it too:-(

 

I have to dial again and hope the call goes through.

 

This is with my good phone. 

49 REPLIES 49


@trishe wrote:

Thank you again..it is a work around.  I will contact Samsung directly cause it is the only phone it happens on and we should not have to work around to use their products effectively.


Well... keep in mind that the Galaxy S4 is a phone from 2013, so I don't expect Samsung is going to put a lot of priority on supporting an 8 year old phone.  I just attributed it to quirks of continuing to use such an old phone in this day and age. It seems every month or so there's another app on it that refuses to update because it no longer support Android 6..

trishe
Great Citizen / Super Citoyen

@Nezgar 

 

Thank you again..it is a work around.  I will contact Samsung directly cause it is the only phone it happens on and we should not have to work around to use their products effectively

 

 

trishe
Great Citizen / Super Citoyen
  • Yes it only happens when dialling out when the call first connects. Never in the middle or connecting with incoming calls.  I tried the switching from speaker to non speaker and back and problem solved...somewhat...thank you

One last anecdote to this behaviour is I think it has something to do with switching to/from "HD Voice" - watching carefully on other phones I can see the "HD" icon appear briefly when making a call, then disappearing after a second or so after the call connects, and theres also a brief audio dropout. I think this transition between HD and standard codecs is what might cause the audio glitch in the S4. When the S4 came out HD voice was uncommon, but is now a regular thing when calling at least between Telus Mobility/Koodo/Public Mobile customers...

@Nezgar 

Thanks for testing. That confirms what was being reported in the samsung forum that engaging or disengaging speakerphone briefly will clear up the issue. 

@trishe 

Did a dozen or so test calls and got a hit... I had it on speakerphone so the squals were nice and loud... Without hanging up the call I switched it back to handset, and the audio was fixed... back to speakerphone, also OK.... So I guess there's a workaround for you.

 

I've only ever experienced it when a call first connects.. not some time after a call has connected.

.... And just yesterday I found my "missing" Samsung Galaxy S4 phone previously mentioned... buried in the depths of my wifes car... now I vaguely remember bringing it with me one day in it hehehe... So I'll make some test calls and see if I can find a pattern to reproduce the problem... maybe not, but if it happens I'll try to remember this thread.

trishe
Great Citizen / Super Citoyen

I have not yet switched the SIM into another phone.  If it's a problem with Samsung then I don't need to contact moderator team for this problem.  Thanks everyone

trishe
Great Citizen / Super Citoyen

@Nezgar LOL! I can test it in the new Nokia but I so strongly dislike the factory defect of that phone not answering and bloating to run too slow...I can also switch it to the moto that has no factory defects other than a poor antenna that might have one bar where other phones have 4...Ah Ha! I do not feel so alone in this since you shared your S4 experience(s)....I had my HTC fall behind the stove for over 3 months! Lol.  I never reported it stolen since I knew it had to be here....somewhere.  it's a small space between the counter and stove.  If not for a heavy duty clean it would still be lost lol

Ah yeah @darlicious  that reminds me that the S4 had some audio settings for "Bass boost / reduction"- maybe disabling such settings would help. Further testing would be needed to see if it is another theory - if it is to other Telus/Koodo/PM subscribers where it can use the "HD Voice CODEC" (AMR-WB) instead of the usual 8Khz CODEC (AMR)....

 

- problem is my S4 is currently lost somewhere in my house and haven't found it for a couple weeks so I can't confirm that .... hope I find it soon, it has a spare active SIM in it LOL.

@Nezgar 

Ok that makes sense from what I read....so it could also be the combinatiion of factors.

 

  1. Turn off noise cancellation.
  2. Tape over the upper microphone because its too sensitive.
  3. When the call connects with poor quality briefly turn speaker phone on/off.
  4. Uninstall any third party apps unless absolutely necessary.

@trishe 

This should be a manageble troubleshooting list to implement on your phone. Hopefully it helps.


@trishe wrote:

Older S 4 and motorolla x play have Sim cards in. Less than one year old Nokia for testing ...feel like giving out that info is too much info


Ah hah... I have experienced this same thing with a Galaxy S4 that I use as a spare/testing phone.... Some calls go crazy with squealing, and once the call connects it sounds like junk too.... this I believe is a hardware issue with the phone itself, as I experienced it even with a SaskTel SIM....  Like you - hanging up and redialing would resolve the issue.

 

I'm guessing here - but it's possible some other software on the phone might be interfering with the audio configuration to some incompatible mode....

trishe
Great Citizen / Super Citoyen

@LurganIeUk no I have not yet Google my phone type to see if others have same issues....yet.  I have a life and things to do other than this.  I might in the cool of the evening. Thank you for the suggestion.

trishe
Great Citizen / Super Citoyen

@LurganIeUk 

I have 2 cell numbers in case one goes wrong with the first I have the second.  This has never happened with any other phone from the same locations (s).  With public mobIle I can afford to run 2 phones for less than what it costs to run one from another provider on a tab.  I like that.  If I misplace a phone and it has enough battery life and is in call range I can just phone it to find it to be independent of having to rely on other people. Thank you. Your comment made me giggle during an otherwise brain strain problem.  I avoid using it now and am glad to have a second phone

@trishe 

So heres a revised troubleshooting list to go thru after having the moderators do an account reset and reprovision the sim card(s). I have a feeling the one sim card should just be swapped out. Perform #1 thru #4 and test. If it still occurs then use safe mode to determine if its any possible third party app. Finally try wiping the app cache partition but back up info first .

 

  1. Turn off noise cancellation in your phone settings>>general>>accessibility>>noise cancellation
  2. Make sure the voLTE setting is toggled off.
  3. Turn off the microphone app permission in all apps that is not necessary.
  4. Turn off any notifications for apps that you can do without.
  5. Enable safe mode to determine if a third party app is causing the problem.

 

 

Wipe the cache partition of the phone

There are cases when the temporary data of the phone software can get corrupted which can result to issues occurring on the device. The best thing to do in this scenario is to wipe the cache partition of the phone from the recovery mode.

  • Turn off the phone.
  • Press and hold the Volume Up and Home keys.
  • Press and hold the Power key until the device vibrates, then release it. Keep pressing the Volume Up and Home keys the entire time.
  • When you see the Android Recovery screen, release the Volume Up and Home keys.
  • Use the Volume keys to scroll down to Wipe cache partition, then use the Power key to select it.
  • Use the Volume keys to scroll down to Yes, then use the Power key to select it.
  • Use the Volume keys to scroll down to Reboot system now, then use the Power key to select it.

Check if the issue still occurs.

pkara01
Good Citizen / Bon Citoyen

Is this call mentioned in OP is regular call or call through an app like whatsapp etc. 

 

Regular call - try what @darlicious suggested.

App call - try uninstalling, clear data and re-installing the app. 

 

🙂

Would you be able to have someone call the number in the same spot  you are in...do they have the same problem?

Take a look at this!!

 

https://www.toolbox.com/collaboration/telephony/blogs/listen-up-17-signs-that-you-are-being-wiretapp...

 

Are you being wire tapped?

Change your phone number?

 

Does your phone have a virus?

 

Far fetched I know!!!

@trishe 

 

May be mentioned already. 

 

Can you put your SIM in another unlocked phone and see what happens?

 

So you have kind of confirmed that the cause is not coming from your contacts list. Good!

 

Have you goggled your phone make and model to see if there are others with same issue and perhaps a remedy?

 

 

trishe
Great Citizen / Super Citoyen

@LurganIeUk 

It happens when I phone friends who's numbers are programmed into my phones by name and also when I phone businesses some that are programmed into my phone and some that are not.

 

It is similar to a fax machine sound but not as high of pitch and different.  I have accidentally made that mistake but this is when phoning different people not machines 

so this fax noise issue on both SIM cards or just one? you put the one with the fax noise issue on another phone and same problem.?

 

I agree with @darlicious  that maybe have mod to try reset the account and hope this could resolve  the issue..

@trishe 

I still have a back up flip phone that even the bf hasn't killed yet. So the squelcher is the samsung. The nokia is the good phone and the motorola is the flipper. 

 

Have you had the moderators try to reset your problem account and or reprovision the problem sim card?

@trishe 

Maybe you have too many phones in close proximity of each other that the one gets squelchy? When my bf and I first joined pm his galaxy S7 and my A3 couldn't get closer than 15 or 20 feet if we were both on a call they would interfere with one another and be exactly as you describe all squelchy.......ha I just remembered that!

 

Of course the issue resolved itself about 6 weeks later when the S7 went flying out of the bf's pocket while on his mtb and was hopelessly smashed. I did have a thread about it.....

trishe
Great Citizen / Super Citoyen

Samsung squelch  randomly has no phone apps installed

LurganIeUk
Mayor / Maire

@trishe wrote:

Anyone else experiencing this? When I dial a number sometimes between when it rings and when the call is answered I hear a large loud constant irritating non stop squelching sound similar to that of an old fax machine. 

 

Sometimes it is after they say hello and they hear it too:-(

 

I have to dial again and hope the call goes through.

 

This is with my good phone. 


Is that on any call you make? Or a specific number? You could be calling a fax machine and some one is picking up the call over the phone part of the fax machine based on caller ID. There are still fax machines out there. 

trishe
Great Citizen / Super Citoyen

Older S 4 and motorolla x play have Sim cards in. Less than one year old Nokia for testing ...feel like giving out that info is too much info

trishe
Great Citizen / Super Citoyen

@darlicious 

2 separate phones problems 2 separate numbers and 2 Sims and a third phone is factory reset  new Nokia I cans swap Sims into for testing. I have older phones too that still work I can put SIMS into for a week long battery life in flip phones instead of the partial day with touch screen data phones. For emergency back up phones during long voyages or hiking trips where data is not a priority but battery life is...he old flip phones are hard to beat.

@trishe 

It's like a big tease.....what model of phones are we talking about?

trishe
Great Citizen / Super Citoyen

@softech 

Thank you I have Uninstaller talk apps before that took over the phone but I'm fairly sure this is not the issue (s) this time as both activated SIM card phones do not include the talk app...only one does. The one with squelch does not and barely has any additional apps because I use it for data package and like having more memory free for Internet hot spot speed

@trishe 

I went back and reread both of your threads. Are both of the issues happening with the same sim card? And occuring on any one of your phones if the "problem" sim card is inserted?

 

Put any further troubleshooting aside for now and just swap out the sim card in the account by contacting the moderators. This will eliminate the sim card as the problem. ( You can get the email changed and a password reset at the same to gain access to your self serve account again.)

 

Have the moderators reset your account while they are at it. Now you are starting fresh from the pm side of things. I suspect your other thread's issue will now be solved. That will leave the squelching issue. See if it continues and if occurs on all three phones with the new sim card or just one phone or if it happens with the other sim card as well in the same phone? Hopefully it is fixed as well.

 

If it persists then there were several similar issues reported online with both Android and iPhone devices. iPhone issues were mostly with iPhone6 6/S an older. Android not so much. This is where it would be nice to know what kind of phones we are talking about.

 

  1. For iPhones one of factors causing interference in particular was the Lifeproof case. Try calls without your case on your phone.
  2. Turn off noise cancellation in your phone settings>>general>>accessibility>>noise cancellation
  3. Make sure the voLTE setting is toggled off.
  4. Turn off the microphone app permission in all apps that is not necessary.
  5. Turn off any notifications for apps that you can do without.
  6. Enable safe mode to determine if a third party app is causing the problem.

There was also a mention that the interference was being caused by non-compatiblle voLTE phones calling with phones using the 4G LTE network (?!?) and forcing your phone to use 3G only helped. Given the telus' very recent network issues centred around the Ottawa/Gatineau Capital Region infastructure replacement that has caused the loss of incoming calling for pm customers switching to 3G only has temporarily solved the calling issue.

 

Lastly it was suggested to back up data and uninstall the phone's OS and reinstall it. This would be an absolute last resort and for most best performed by a local phone tech/shop unless you are into that kind of thing.

Need Help? Let's chat.