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Make and receive phone calls

Your device enables you to make and receive voice calls and set up conference calls. You can make voice calls in the following ways:
  • Enter a phone number by using the keypad.
  • Select from a list of contacts saved to your device.
  • Select a phone number saved in your call history.
  • Start entering a number and then select a phone number from the list of recently dialed numbers.
These how-to instructions are for touch screen and non-touch screen phones with Windows Mobile 5. To find help and how-to for Windows Mobile 6 and later versions, go to the main Help & how-to section.

Not sure what type of phone or version of Windows Mobile you have? Identify your Windows Mobile phone.

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Answer and make calls

Make a call

There are several ways to make a call. The most direct method is to use the Phone keypad.
  • From the Phone keypad, tap the number you want to call, and press TALK.

Make a call using Speed Dial

  • Tap Phone.
  • On the Phone keypad, tap and hold the speed dial number assigned to the contact you want to call.
Tips for GSM phones
If you can't remember which speed dial number to dial, on the Phone keypad, tap Speed Dial, and tap the speed dial number next to the contact you want to call.

Tips for CDMA phones
If you can't remember which speed dial number to dial, on the Phone keypad, tap Menu > Speed Dial, and tap the speed dial number next to the contact you want to call.

To dial a two-digit speed dial number, on the Phone keypad, tap the first digit, and then tap and hold the second digit.

Answer a call

  • Tap Answer.
When you receive a phone call, you have the option to ignore it. If you ignore the call, the phone will stop ringing and the caller may be sent to your voice mail, depending on your service provider. To ignore a call, tap Ignore.

Calling options

Call Waiting

If you receive a call while in a call, tap Wait to place the call in Call Waiting.

Use other programs while in a call

You can use other programs on your device during a call. To quickly switch back to Phone, press TALK or tap Phone. Press END to end the call.

Create a contact from a call

When someone who isn't in your list of contacts calls you, you can create a contact during the call or from Call History by tapping Menu > Save to Contacts.

Make a conference call

You can create a phone session between yourself and two or more other parties.
  • From the Phone keypad, dial the first number, tap Hold, dial the second number, and tap Menu > Conference. To add another party, tap Hold, dial the number, and tap Menu > Conference.

Tip

If you want to talk to one of the parties privately during the call, tap Menu > Private. To include everyone in the call again, tap Menu > Conference.

Display Caller ID

You can provide a way for people to know your identity when you are calling them.
  • From the Phone keypad, tap Menu > Options > Services tab.
  • Tap Caller ID > Get Settings.
  • Tap Everyone.
Tip
To prevent your identity from being displayed to others, tap No one.

Block calls

Use Call Barring to block certain types of incoming and/or outgoing calls.
  • From the Phone keypad, tap Menu > Options > Services tab.
  • Tap Call Barring > Get Settings.
  • Select the type of incoming and/or outgoing calls you want to block.

Forward calls

Use Call Forwarding to forward all incoming calls to a different number.

Use Call Waiting

Call Waiting notifies you of incoming calls when you are already in a phone session.
  • From the Phone keypad, tap Menu > Options > Services tab.
  • Tap Call Waiting > Get Settings.
  • Tap Notify me.
Tip
To stop using Call Waiting, tap Do not notify me.

Mute a call

During a call, you can mute your microphone so that the person with whom you are speaking cannot hear you, but you can still hear him or her. This is useful if, for example, you do not want the other person to hear a conversation or background noise on your side of the call.
  • From the Phone keypad, tap Mute.

Turn the phone on and off (flight mode)

You can turn your phone on and off while keeping your actual device turned on. Your phone is turned off when it is in flight mode.
  • While using any program on your device, tap the On/Off button.
  • Tap Turn off flight mode to turn the phone on or Turn on flight mode to turn the phone off.

Put a call on hold

During a call, you can put the call on hold so you can call another number or answer an incoming call. If you have more than one call on the line, you can move from one call to the other.
  • To put a call on hold, tap Hold.
  • To move from one call to another, tap Swap.

Speed Dial

Create a speed dial entry

You can create speed dials for frequently-called phone numbers so you can dial a number with a single tap. Speed dials can only be created for numbers stored in Contacts.
GSM phones:
  • Tap Phone > Speed Dial.
  • Tap Menu > New.
  • Tap a contact.
  • Tap the phone number for which you want to create a speed dial.
  • In the Location box, select an available location for the new speed dial.
CDMA phones:
  • Tap Phone > Menu > Speed Dial.
  • Tap Menu > New.
  • Tap a contact.
  • Tap the phone number for which you want to create a speed dial.
  • In the Location box, select an available location for the new speed dial.
Note
The first speed dial location is reserved for your voice mail.

Tip
To create a speed dial from Contacts, tap and hold the contact name, tap Add to Speed Dial, and then select an available location for the new speed dial.

Change phone settings

You can customize phone settings, such as the ring type and ring tone to be used for incoming calls, and the keypad tone to be used when entering phone numbers.
  • Tap Settings > Phone.
Tip for GSM phones
To change phone settings from the Phone keypad, tap Menu > Options > Phone tab.

Tip for CDMA phones
To change phone settings from the Phone keypad, tap Menu > Options.

To use voice mail or send text messages (SMS), ensure that you enter the correct voice mail phone number or text message phone number in Phone settings. Sending text messages is not included in all network service plans.

GSM phones:
  • From the Phone keypad, tap Menu > Options > Services tab.
  • Tap Voice Mail and Text Messages, and tap Get Settings.
  • Enter the voice mail or text message phone number in the appropriate box.
CDMA phones:
  • From the Phone keypad, tap Menu > Options.
  • Enter the voice mail or text message phone number in the appropriate box.

Call history

Call History provides the time and duration of all incoming, outgoing, and missed calls, and a summary of total calls. Call History also provides easy access to any notes taken during a call.
  • To view Call History, from the Phone keypad, tap Call History.
  • To change the Call History view, tap Menu > Filter and select a different view. For example, you can view only missed or incoming calls. When you filter By Caller, you see a list of all contacts on your device who have a phone number assigned to them.
  • To reset the Recent Calls counter, tap Menu > Call Timers > Reset. The All Calls counter cannot be reset.
  • To delete Call History items older than a specific amount of time, tap Menu > Call Timers, and under Delete call history items older than, select a time period.
  • To clear the entire Call History, tap Menu > Delete All Calls.
Tip
To quickly see the time, date, and duration of a call, tap the white area of the call's entry.

Adjust sounds

Change the ringer volume

As you move between loud and quiet environments throughout your day, you may want to change the ringer volume to suit your situation.
  • Tap the volume button.
  • Move the slider to the desired volume level.
Tips
Select On, Vibrate, or Off to quickly change both the ringer and system volume settings. You can also press the VOLUME control on your device to quickly change both the ringer and system volume settings.

Change the ring type

You can change the way that you are notified of incoming calls. For example, you can choose to be notified by a ring, a vibration, or a combination of both.

GSM phones:

  • From the Phone keypad, tap Menu > Options > Phone tab.
  • In the Ring type list, tap the desired option.
CDMA phones:
  • From the Phone keypad, tap Menu > Options.
  • In the Ring type list, tap the desired option.

Change the ring tone

You can select a ring tone to notify you of incoming calls.

GSM Phones:

  • From the Phone keypad, tap Menu > Options > Phone tab.
  • In the Ring tone list, tap the sound you want to use.
CDMA Phones:
  • From the Phone keypad, tap Menu > Options.
  • In the Ring tone list, tap the sound you want to use.
Tip
To use custom .wav, .mid, or .wma files as ring tones, use ActiveSync on your PC to copy the file to the /Windows/Rings folder on your device. Then, select the sound from the Ring tone list. For more information on copying files to your device, see ActiveSync Help on your PC.

Settings

Change services settings

  • Tap Settings.
  • Tap Phone > Services tab.
You can access and configure settings for the phone services you subscribed to through your wireless service provider. For example, you may want to block certain types of incoming and/or outgoing calls, forward incoming calls to a different phone number based on your situation, be notified of incoming calls when you're already in a call , or let others know your identity when making calls.
Tip
To change services settings from the Phone keypad, tap Menu > Options > Services tab, tap a service, and then tap Get Settings.

Change dialing patterns

The following table lists supported dialing patterns.

To Enter
Dial a country code E
Dial an area code F
Dial a local number G
Make an international call when using a GSM-network mobile phone, the plus sign is used to indicate that you are about to make an international call (rather than entering the international access number for the country you are in) + (plus sign)
Insert a pause (typically 2 seconds) , (comma)
 
Wait for a credit card tone $ (dollar sign)
Wait for a second tone (typically used after $) W
Tone-dial the numbers that follow T
Pulse-dial the numbers that follow P
Transfer to another extension (0.5 sec on hook, 0.5 sec off hook)
 ! (hookflash)
Wait for a quiet answer (typically indicated by 6.5 seconds of silence followed by a ring tone) @
Use special controls on some systems (tone only) ABCD * #

Notes
Hyphens and spaces in dialing strings are ignored. Some modems may not respond to the above characters even though your device lets you add them to the dial string.

Phone networks

View available networks

You can view all wireless networks available to you.
  • From the Phone keypad, tap Menu > Options > Network tab.
  • Under Network selection, select Manual.
    The list of available networks is displayed.

Set preferred networks

You can set your preferred networks in the order you want your device to access them. For example, if your first preferred network is unavailable, your device will try to access your second preferred network.
  • From the Phone keypad, tap Menu > Options > Network tab.
  • Tap Set Networks and follow the instructions on the screen
Once you have set your preferred networks, return to the Network tab, and in the Network selection list, tap Automatic.

Manually select a network

There may be times when you want to manually select a different wireless network to use. For example, you may want to control costs by knowing when connectivity for your current, selected network is unavailable.
  • From the Phone keypad, tap Menu > Options > Network tab.
  • In the Network selection list, tap Manual, and select the network you want to use.
  • When your current network is unavailable, tap Select, and manually select a different network to use.

Enter a voice mail or text message phone number

GSM phones:
To use voice mail or send text messages (SMS), ensure that you enter the correct voice mail phone number or text message phone number in Phone settings.
  • From the Phone keypad, tap Menu > Options > Services tab.
  • Tap Voice Mail and Text Messages, and tap Get Settings.
  • Enter the voice mail or text message phone number in the appropriate box.
CDMA phones:
To use voice mail or send text messages (SMS), ensure that you enter the correct voice mail phone number or text message phone number in Phone settings. Sending text messages is not included in all network service plans.
  • From the Phone keypad, tap Menu > Options.
  • Enter the voice mail or text message phone number in the appropriate box.

Answer and make calls

Making phone calls

You can call contacts and dial numbers with voice commands.

Say

  • Call to call a contact whose phone number is stored on your device.
  • Call at/on to call a contact at a specific phone number.
  • Dial to dial a phone number.
  • Callback to return the last call received.
  • Redial to repeat the last call made.
Contact supports the following formats:
  • Nickname
  • First Last
  • First Last Suffix
  • First Middle Last
  • First Middle Last Suffix
  • Company (if shown in contacts list view)
Location represents one of these phone numbers:
  • Home, Home2, Work, Work2, Mobile, Cell, Cellular, Car, Radio, Pager, Assistant
Number Represents one of the following digit sequences:
  • nnn-nnnn
  • nnn-nnn-nnnn
  • 1-nnn-nnn-nnnn
  • n-1-1
  • international dialing with + and 0 prefixes

When confirming, say

  • Yes or Correct to call.
  • No or Incorrect to try again.

When asked which location, say

  • An offered location to call.
  • No to try again or continue on to next contact in a list.

Examples

  • Call Karen Archer
  • Call Karen Archer on mobile
  • Call City, Light and Power
  • Dial 555-0100
  • Dial 1-800-555-0100
  • Dial +46 555 1212 555
  • Dial 411
  • Redial

Notes

  • SIM contacts are not included. Copy SIM entries to Contacts application to enable with Voice Command.
  • Sometimes the name differs from the FileAs property shown in the Contacts list.
  • Contacts without a phone number cannot be called.
  • The recommended maximum number of contacts is 1000 for 32 MB and 2000 for 64 MB devices.

Make a call

There are several ways to make a call. The most direct method is to use the Phone keypad.
  • On the Home screen, begin entering the phone number.
  • Do one of the following:
    • If you see the number or contact name to call, select it and press TALK.
    • If you do not see the number or contact name, finish entering the number and press TALK.

Make a call using Speed Dial

  • On the Home screen, press and hold the number on the keypad that you have assigned as a speed dial for the phone number, e-mail address, or Web page. If the speed dial is two digits, press the first digit, and press and hold the second digit. The phone dials the phone number, opens a new e-mail message, or goes to the Web page.

Answer a call

  • Click Answer.
When you receive a phone call, you have the option to ignore it. If you ignore the call, the phone will stop ringing and the caller may be sent to your voice mail, depending on your service provider. To ignore a call, click Ignore.

Calling options

Call Waiting

If you receive a call while in a call, click Wait to place the call in Call Waiting.

Use other programs while in a call

You can use other programs on your device during a call. To quickly switch back to Phone, press TALK or tap Phone. Press END to end the call.

Create a contact from a call

When someone who isn't in your list of contacts calls you, you can create a contact during the call or from Call History.
  • Click Menu > Save to Contacts.
  • Click New Item.
  • In a phone number box, click Insert to insert the phone number.
  • Enter the remainder of the contact information and click Done. The new contact appears in your contact list.

Configure Caller ID

You can provide a way for people to know your identity when you are calling them.

The selected callers will be able to view your name and phone number information when you call.

  • On the Home screen, click Start > Settings > Phone > Caller ID.
  • Choose the callers, and click Done.

Block incoming or outgoing calls

Use Call Barring to block certain types of incoming and/or outgoing calls.

You will not be able to receive or make calls according to the options you choose.

  • On the Home screen, click Start > Settings > Phone > Call Barring.
  • Choose the calls you want to block and click Done.

Forward calls

Use Call Forwarding to forward all incoming calls to a different number.
  • On the Home screen, click Start > Settings > Phone > Call Forwarding.
  • Choose one of the following:
    • Unconditional to forward all calls.
    • No Reply to forward calls when your line is not answered.
    • Busy to forward calls when your line is busy.
    • Unavailable to forward calls when your phone is off or out of service range.
    • Data calls to forward all data calls.
    • Fax calls to forward all fax calls.
  • Make sure Enable call forwarding is selected.
  • Enter the phone number the calls are to be forwarded to.
  • Click Done.

Turn Call Waiting notifications on or off

Call Waiting notifies you of incoming calls when you are already in a phone session.

When you are in another call, you will be notified of an incoming call if this option is selected.

  • On the Home screen, click Start > Settings > Phone > Call Waiting.
  • Select or clear Provide Call Waiting notifications, and click Done.

Mute a call

During a call, you can mute your microphone so that the person with whom you are speaking cannot hear you, but you can still hear him or her. This is useful if, for example, you do not want the other person to hear a conversation or background noise on your side of the call.
  • From the Phone keypad, tap Mute.

Turn the phone on and off (flight mode)

You can turn your phone on and off while keeping your actual device turned on. Your phone is turned off when it is in flight mode.

Speed Dial

Create a speed dial entry

You can create speed dials for frequently-called phone numbers so you can dial a number with a single tap. Speed dials can only be created for numbers stored in Contacts.
  • On the Home screen, click Start > Contacts.
  • Click the contact for whom to create a speed dial.
  • Select the phone number, e-mail address, or Web page address for which to create a speed dial.
  • Click Menu > Add to Speed Dial.
  • In Keypad assignment, select the speed dial number to use.
  • Click Done.
Note
The first speed dial location is reserved for your voice mail.

Tip
To create a speed dial from Contacts, tap and hold the contact name, tap Add to Speed Dial, and then select an available location for the new speed dial.

Change phone settings

You can customize phone settings, such as the ring type and ring tone to be used for incoming calls, and the keypad tone to be used when entering phone numbers.
  • Click Settings > Phone.

Call History

Call History provides the time and duration of all incoming, outgoing, and missed calls, and a summary of total calls. Call History also provides easy access to any notes taken during a call.
  • To view Call History, from the Phone keypad, click Call History.
  • To change the Call History view, click Menu > Filter and select a different view. For example, you can view only missed or incoming calls. When you filter By Caller, you see a list of all contacts on your device who have a phone number assigned to them.
  • To reset the Recent Calls counter, click Menu > View Timers > Reset Timers.
    Click Yes.
  • To delete Call History items older than a specific amount of time, on the Home screen, click Start > Call History. Click Menu > Delete.
Tip
To delete all items in Call History, click Start > Call History > Menu > Delete List.

Adjust sounds

Change the ringer volume

As you move between loud and quiet environments throughout your day, you may want to change the ringer volume to suit your situation.
  • Click the volume button.
  • Move the slider to the desired volume level.

Change the ring type

You can change the way that you are notified of incoming calls. For example, you can choose to be notified by a ring, a vibration, or a combination of both.

Change the ring tone

You can select a ring tone to notify you of incoming calls.
  • From the Phone keypad, click Menu > Options > Phone tab.
  • In the Ring tone list, tap the sound you want to use.
Tip
To use custom .wav, .mid, or .wma files as ring tones, use ActiveSync on your PC to copy the file to the /Windows/Rings folder on your device. Then, select the sound from the Ring tone list. For more information on copying files to your device, see ActiveSync Help on your PC.

Settings

Change services settings

  • Click Settings.
  • Click Phone > Services tab.
You can access and configure settings for the phone services you subscribed to through your wireless service provider. For example, you may want to block certain types of incoming and/or outgoing calls, forward incoming calls to a different phone number based on your situation, be notified of incoming calls when you're already in a call , or let others know your identity when making calls.
Tip
To change services settings from the Phone keypad, tap Menu > Options > Services tab, tap a service, and then tap Get Settings.

Change dialing patterns

The following table lists supported dialing patterns.

To Enter
Dial a country code E
Dial an area code F
Dial a local number G
Make an international call when using a GSM-network mobile phone, the plus sign is used to indicate that you are about to make an international call (rather than entering the international access number for the country you are in) + (plus sign)
Insert a pause (typically 2 seconds) , (comma)
 
Wait for a credit card tone $ (dollar sign)
Wait for a second tone (typically used after $) W
Tone-dial the numbers that follow T
Pulse-dial the numbers that follow P
Transfer to another extension (0.5 sec on hook, 0.5 sec off hook)
 ! (hookflash)
Wait for a quiet answer (typically indicated by 6.5 seconds of silence followed by a ring tone) @
Use special controls on some systems (tone only) ABCD * #

Notes
Hyphens and spaces in dialing strings are ignored. Some modems may not respond to the above characters even though your device lets you add them to the dial string.

Phone networks

View available networks

You can view all wireless networks available to you.
  • From the Phone keypad, click Menu > Options > Network tab.
  • Under Network selection, select Manual.
    The list of available networks is displayed.

Set preferred networks

You can set your preferred networks in the order you want your device to access them. For example, if your first preferred network is unavailable, your device will try to access your second preferred network.
  • On the Home screen, click Networks > Menu > Preferred Networks.
  • Click Set Networks and follow the instructions on the screen.
Once you have set your preferred networks, return to the Network tab, and in the Network selection list, tap Automatic.

Manually select a network

There may be times when you want to manually select a different wireless network to use. For example, you may want to control costs by knowing when connectivity for your current, selected network is unavailable.
  • From the Phone keypad, click Start > Settings > Phone.
  • Click Networks > Menu > Preferred Networks.
  • Click Set Networks and follow the instructions on the screen.
  • In the Network selection list, click Manual, and select the network you want to use.
  • When your current network is unavailable, click Select, and manually select a different network to use.

Enter a voice mail or text message phone number

To use voice mail or send text messages (SMS), ensure that you enter the correct voice mail phone number or text message phone number in Phone settings.
  • On the Home screen, click Start > Settings > Phone > Call Options.
  • In Voice mail number, enter your voice mail number, and click Done. The phone dials this number when you press Speed Dial.
  • In Text message service center, enter the phone number, and click Done.
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