Can’t Make Calls

There are many reasons a call might not go through. Usually this comes down to the strength of Verizon’s network coverage at your location, network outages or disruptions, issues with your account status, device settings on your phone, or a problem with the receiving end of the call.

Even though Verizon’s reliable nationwide network covers over 98% of Americans, sometimes there are places where our coverage has gaps, and this can cause your calls to drop or outright fail while you’re at a specific location. These “variable coverage areas” could occur due to distance from our cell towers, heavy network traffic during the time you’re trying to use your phone at the problem location, or even as a result of federal, state, or municipal regulations. Coverage can be unreliable if you’re indoors, in a basement, or in areas with dense foliage or lots of hills that can obstruct cellular signal. In case you’re located in such an area and your calls won’t go through, we offer indoor solutions like Network Extender and Wi-Fi Calling to help fill in those coverage holes and allow you to utilize your service when you need it. You can even send messages and place HD voice and video calls using apps like Skype™ and Hangouts™ over our 4G LTE data network or your own Wi-Fi network when Verizon’s services aren’t quite so perfect. If you have weak signal everywhere or in areas where other Verizon customers don’t have the same problem, you might have a problem with your phone. If you’re making calls over Wi-Fi but your Wi-Fi signal is poor, try moving closer to your router.

Although we strive to ensure that our reliable nationwide network is available all day every day for all of our customers, there may be times when part of the network experiences an outage. This could be due to many different factors, including but not limited to failures in Verizon’s own network equipment or facilities (such as a cell tower being damaged by a storm), natural disasters like tornadoes, fires, or hurricanes, or failures in equipment managed by other companies that help us route internet traffic, such as fiber and/or copper broadband internet cables being cut, third party network facilities experiencing their own outages, etc. When we find an outage or are alerted to one by our customers, our goal is to restore service as quickly and effectively as possible. Network disruptions tend to affect a certain geographic area or a certain type of service, and tend to affect customers similarly within that same area or service, and when resolved, affected customers generally see their service restored at the same time.

Certain factors related to your Verizon account can also affect your ability to make calls. For example, if your account is behind on payments, this can result in a suspension of service until the bill is caught up. If we notice unusual or fraudulent behavior on your account, there are certain types of suspensions that can be placed on the affected line(s) for your protection. Usually these types of suspensions will result in your outgoing calls being directed to a Verizon representative so these account issues can be addressed by Verizon personnel and your service can be brought back online as quickly as possible.

In Verizon’s billing system, each of your lines has its own set of “features”, or service codes, which tell our network what capabilities your phone number is allowed to have. On rare occasions, one of these features may “fall off” your account, either due to a requested service change which is incompatible with the missing feature or an internal system change that inadvertently removed features. Whatever the cause, our representatives can help you get these missing features added back so your service can be restored, and our systems can be updated to ensure these interactions can be improved in the future.

If you’re switching to Verizon and want to transfer or “port” your phone number from your old provider (also referred to as number portability), it can take time for your number to become active in Verizon’s systems. If you’re transferring from another wireless carrier, it’s normal for this process to take up to 72 hours before your number is active on our network. If you transfer from a landline phone provider, it can take up to 10 business days. During this time, you may be assigned a temporary number. You won’t be able to make calls using your transferred number unless it’s already active, and you won’t be able to receive calls using your transferred number until all carriers have updated their call routing and know that your number now belongs to Verizon instead of your old service provider.

If your account is signed up for Verizon Smart Family, it’s possible that the owner of one of the Parent lines may have set up restrictions that are preventing your call from going through. Smart Family can restrict calls from a Child line based on several factors. A Child line can be explicitly blocked from calling or being called by specific numbers, or from using any voice or data service during certain times of the day. Child lines can also be set up to only allow a certain amount of time per month or a certain amount of data usage per month. Any of these restrictions can have an impact on a Child line’s ability to make and/or receive calls, send and/or receive text messages, or incur mobile data usage.

Sometimes we may determine that your account is set up correctly and there are no network issues causing an impact on your service, but you still can’t get your calls to work. On these occasions, the issue may actually be caused by your phone settings. For example, your phone may not show any signal at all. Check to make sure Airplane Mode isn’t enabled. You may not be able to call a specific number, but the reason for this is that the contact entry for the number you’re trying to call is blocked in your contact list. Or if you aren’t able to make calls over Wi-Fi, checking the Wi-Fi Calling setting might reveal that it was turned off, and correcting this will re-enable the service. If voice quality on your calls is choppy but your phone’s connection to the Verizon data network is stable, you may be able to turn on Advanced Calling so your calls process over the data network instead. There are a number of ways you can control call behavior through your phone settings and apps.

When you make a call to a particular number and it doesn’t go through, it’s possible the problem isn’t on your end, but rather with the receiving number. We do try to ensure that we can resolve every issue with call completion, but sometimes we reach a point where we’ve done all we can and ensured the Verizon network is doing its part in helping your calls complete successfully. However, all of the issues already described above could also be affecting the receiving party, and it’s possible that person may need to contact their provider for further assistance if we can’t solve the problem. You can also try verifying that the same number can be dialed from another phone. If no one can call the same number, it’s more likely that the problem is with the number you’re calling, or you may want to confirm that the number you’re dialing is correct.

Many basic problems can actually be solved by restarting your phone. Mobile phones are basically small computers, and many of the same issues that affect computers can also affect phones. In much the same way your IT department might ask you to reboot your computer as the first step to fixing a problem, restarting your phone can have a similar effect.

If the issue is due to a setting, try to narrow it down to a particular app or phone function. For example, if you can make calls using your phone but not over Hangouts, this would point to the Hangouts app being where you need to focus your attention. If you’re not able to call a number but you can send text messages to the same number, you can try deleting the contact entry and dialing manually. If the call goes through, then the issue was with how the contact was saved in your phone. After verifying that the call completes if you dial manually, save a new contact entry and try again.

To determine whether an app on your phone is causing issues with your service, Android devices have a built-in Safe Mode that allows you to test your phone in a state where no third-party apps or Home screen widgets are allowed to start. If you don’t have the same problem making calls if you start your phone in Safe Mode, you can be sure that some third-party app is causing the issue. If you can narrow this down to a particular app that may have access to your calling functionality or settings, you can remove the app or report the issue to the app developer so they can investigate.

Nobody likes starting over, but occasionally a phone may need to be reset to factory settings. This can happen if we’re unable to determine exactly what setting is causing the problem, or if some essential function was deleted or hidden from the phone and is unable to be restored through normal means. This does cause data on your phone to be erased, so you’ll want to make sure that anything you don’t want to lose is backed up somewhere (for example, Verizon Cloud, Google Drive, etc.) before you reset. But once the phone starts back up, it’s configured in the same way it was the first time you took it out of the box, and any settings that may have been changed in the time since will be reverted and your phone’s functionality should be restored.

If you’re hearing an error message when placing calls, this could be due to a number of reasons, depending on the message you’re hearing. You could be dialing incorrectly, so you might want to check the number and try again. If you’re a prepaid customer, you might need to add funds to your account. The person you’re trying to call could have their phone turned off, they may be outside of their carrier’s network coverage, or otherwise unreachable. Try calling a different number to see if you have the same problem, or ask around and see if anyone else you know has had a similar experience when calling the same number. There could be an ongoing network disruption. Try to see if anyone else around you is having similar problems making calls. If you try some basic troubleshooting, you may not have to contact Customer Service at all. However, if you still can’t get your call to go through, check out the troubleshooting tool above or contact us and we’ll be happy to help!