Get through switchboards fast on iPhone

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One of the more annoying things about calling people while they are at the office is that many use an automated switchboard to field calls.

While this does cut-down on the number of incoming phone calls, it can be time consuming to put in a number, wait, put in another, wait some more and then finally get an answer. If you have and iPhone, you can get around all that waiting with ease, especially if you know the extension of the number you want to call.

Here’s how you can add number extensions to your iPhone contacts:

    1. Open Contacts and either press the ‘+’ for a new contact, or select the contact’s number you would like to add the extension to and press Edit.
    1. Enter the new contact’s normal number without the extension under the Mobile, Work or Home field. If you are editing a contact’s number, press on the number you would like to edit and tap on the end of the number.
    1. Press the ‘+*#‘ button located at the bottom-left of the dial pad.
    1. Select Wait. You’ll notice a ‘;’ at the end of the number.
    1. Add the contact’s extension. It should look something like this: 123-123-4567;321 (if the contact has a three digit extension).
  1. Press Done and the contact’s number will be saved or updated.

If the number was entered correctly, you should see a secondary button under the contact information when you call that person. It will say something like Dial-321. Pressing this after the line has engaged will dial the extension and connect you to that person. This is useful if you don’t know how long you will have to wait to be able to dial the extension, but you will have to hit the Dial button on your phone to enter the extension.

You can automate this further by replacing the semicolon (;) with a comma (,). The comma tells the switchboard to pause, and then enter the number after the comma. This will often connect you directly to the person without having to press an extra button. The number should look something like this: 123-123-4567,321

If you use an iPhone for your business communication and call clients who are behind switchboards this is a nifty time-saving feature. For more information on how the iPhone can help power your business, please contact us today.

Published with permission from TechAdvisory.org.