In an organizational environment, extensions are short unique numbers assigned to different divisions for more accessible communication within the company. Many businesses use phone extensions to link various departments of an organization conveniently.
But, there are residential lines that contain phone extensions. If you regularly call extensions for work or personal calls to friends and family and struggle with dialing extensions on your iPhone, this article will help.
Dialing extension on the iPhone is pretty simple. You only need to remember which keys to long press and for how long. The dialing process is the same as calling any usual number.
Are you tired of digging through phone trees to get to the extension number you are dialing? Look no further. Read on to learn how to dial an extension on your iPhone.
What is the Dialing Extension on iPhone?
If this is your first attempt at dialing extensions on an iPhone, you may be wondering why extensions are necessary. As earlier mentioned, extensions are used to streamline communications between different departments in an organization. They are also convenient and cheaper communication options for organizations with remote offices.
With these extensions, organizations can save customers considerable time by connecting them directly to their department of choice. Remote staff can also connect to the main office and customers seamlessly.
To avoid any inconvenience the next time you’re calling a specific organization, call center, or friend, learn how to dial an extension on your iPhone with a few simple steps.
Dialing Extension on iPhone: Step by Step Guide
Follow the steps below to dial an extension on your iPhone:
- First, open the iPhone’s phone app and ensure the keypad appears on the screen.
- Then, Input the main number you wish to dial.
- After that, long-press the asterisk key (*) until you see a comma. The comma is a pause that informs your phone that you are dialing an extension.
- Now, add the extension number after the comma.
- Finally, tap on the green button to dial.
Each comma represents a two-second pause. If you wish to pause for more than two seconds, follow the instructions above to long-press the asterisk key and add as many commas as is necessary.
You may also add a “Wait-to-dial” option by long-pressing the pound sign (#) until a semicolon (;) appears. After that, click on the green button to dial.
How To Save or Add an Extension Number to iPhone Contacts?
If you anticipate frequent calls to an extension number, saving the number in your contacts might be more convenient. Here’s how to save or add an extension number to iPhone contacts.
- Open iPhone’s contacts app.
- Tap on the plus icon (+) as if adding a new contact.
- Scroll to the contact you want to add an extension and tap on it.
- After the contact displays, click on the “Edit” button at the upper-right corner of the screen.
- Tap on the main number, then go to the “Symbols” button at the bottom-left corner of the iPhone’s screen.
- Using the blinking cursor at the end of the main number, click on “Pause” to add a comma.
- Now, enter the extension after the comma.
- Finally, tap on “Done” to save the contact in the new format.
You might have seen a “Wait” button on the dial pad when following the above instructions. When dialing an extension, you can use the “Wait” option to add a few more seconds to your connection time.
To use the “Wait” option instead of “Pause,” take the following steps:
- Follow the instructions above until you get to the “Symbols” stage of the guide.
- Instead of tapping on the “Pause” option, click on the “Wait” option at the lower-left corner of the screen.
- A semicolon (;) will appear at the end of the main number instead of a comma.
- Add the extension after the semicolon.
- Click on “Done” to add the contact.
Summary
Any iPhone user needs to learn how to dial an extension on an iPhone. This knowledge may come in handy when reaching a friend or an organization. Remember that saving extensions you contact frequently are simpler than manually inputting the number every time.
Finally, use the “Wait” or “Pause” option when dialing or saving an extension, depending on which is best for your case.
Frequently Asked Questions
In most cases, using an outdated iOS version is why you can’t dial an extension on an iPhone. Go to iPhone’s “Settings” > “General” > “Software Update” to fix this issue. If an “Update Now” option appears. Tap on it to update to the latest system.
The only difference is the pause you include when dialing an extension. The rest is the same as dialing any other phone number.
