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iPhone Dial Assist Problems

fraser4
Just joined

Since I updated to iOS 11.4.1 my iPhone X attempts to use dial assist for mobile numbers which start 07.  The calls then fail with unknown number.  Any number in my contacts that's stored with +44 works fine.  If I switch dial assist off then the 07 numbers work.

I did the firmware update while in Ireland so I'm wondering if the phone thinks it's in Ireland.  I've checked and the region is set to UK.

Does anyone have any ideas?

144 REPLIES 144

It would be nice if VM could just acknowledge this thread and reassure us they are working on a fix. It is a Virgin issue, not Apple! 

R101
On our wavelength

I've found a way to replicate this issue at will and am currently experimenting with a fix.

The potential fix I'm experimenting with is to do the following.

Go to:

Settings -> mobile data -> SIM Applications (near bottom) -> tap "Roaming"  -> tap "Select Mode"

I found "automatic" was selected by default.

Tap manual -> then choose National.

Now make sure your numbers are set to the correct format. If not change region to anything other than UK (Settings -> General -> Language and Region -> Region) and then change back to UK region.

My hope is that setting this to manual will stop any type of region check and instead simply honour whichever region is currently selected.

------

Incase anyones interested you can force/replicate the problem by doing the following:

Settings -> mobile data -> SIM Applications (near bottom) -> tap "Roaming"  -> tap "Select Mode"

Tap manual -> then choose International.

Wait a few seconds for your phone to lose signal and the Virgin logo to disappear. Now perform the exact same steps as above but choose "National" at the end. You should find that your numbers are now in belgium format. This seems to show that belgium is the default national region?

 

I'll update here with my findings.

Ruffchicken
On our wavelength

I’m a little bit excited about this! I tried it last night at about 7ish, and still as of this morning my contacts are all in the right format...

 

I'm not letting myself get too giddy yet, as I’ve definitely had the odd day where it hasn’t done it, but usually it’s just constant. 

R101 - you could be the saviour! Massive thanks, I genuinely can’t tell you how much this has bugged me for so long! 🙏👍

I'm keeping my fingers crossed too as my neighbour is now suffering from this and its driving her daft.
I've got three sim cards, BT, Three and EE and I can confirm that the "Sim Applications" menu item does not surface when any of these sims are in an iPhone so this is clearly something the provider configures. If the above fix works that's more evidence that Virgin are causing the issuel. I wonder if they are even invesigating, do they care?

Also no “sim application “ menu on O2. Phone still working correctly since swapping to O2 on Wednesday. 

R101
On our wavelength

The problem seems to occur most often for me at work where I regularly lose signal or have 1 bar.. So I won't know whether this has helped until next week when I'm back. I appreciate others trying this out and feeding back 👍

enlli
Very Insightful Person
Very Insightful Person

This is because Virgin SIM cards are unique. 

When they moved from EE based cards they had to find a new base roaming partner  This is Proximus of Belgium who also program the SIM card. When abroad the APN changes from Virgin to Proximus.

The fact that iPhones kept changing to Belgian prefixes means that somehow iPhones firmware is seeing them as Belgian not UK

The fix above seems to cure that.

I'm a Very Insightful Person, I'm here to share knowledge, I don't work for Virgin Media. Learn more

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I’ve applied R101 fix to both our iPhones.  Now it’s just wait to see how effective it is.  It certainly looks good.

Also wait for VM to respond positively.  I’m ready to swap network provider but have 10 months left on both contracts so it is likely to cost me.

Thanks R101

R101
On our wavelength

Thank you for the explanation enlli.

"The fix above seems to cure that."

Well this remains to be seen. If all the setting does is prevent automatic switching between national and international roaming then I assume the issue could still reoccur if the phone checks what the default "national" region should be and decides on Belgium?
If it prevents automatic roaming/region check in general then maybe it does the job 🤞. I'm not sure how this will effect people travelling abroad though?

I guess time will tell.

In the interest of honesty there was a further setting I changed before the above. in Settings -> Mobile Data -> Network Selection I unticked automatic and manually chose the Virgin network.
I don't know that this makes any difference at all but thought I should mention it in case I see different results to others.

rasb0
On our wavelength

Here goes, just made the changes as you suggest R101. 

Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

Fingers crossed. 

Cheers R101!