My state has a zero-tolerance cell phone use while driving law, and the cops enforce it - will pull you over if they even suspect you have a phone in your hand. My HFL has worked with various phones just fine for many years, but now something has changed - when I make calls, especially to other cell phones, using the phonebook, the HFL will dial the number but I don't hear the phone ringing anymore, so I never know whether someone has answered my call or not - I have to grab the phone (usually stored in a pouch that's not instantly accessible) and see if someone is on the line or not. Which of course sets me up for a ticket and big fine. I first noticed this when a deli I sometimes get takeout from changed from a regular landline to an automated answering system - you have choices 1,2,3,4 etc., but no sound comes thru the speakers - I thought it was just a problem with the automated voice system they use, but yesterday on Xmas eve I called my brother's cell to meet me somewhere to pick up the food I was bringing up for dinner while I went elsewhere to meet some friends until dinnertime - he picked up the first call but I heard nothing - no ringing while calling and no voice when he answered. I called again with the phone in my hand (dialed via HFL), and again nothing, so I put the phone to my ear and heard him. I know I can say "transfer" during a call initiated from the phone, but if I don't know some has picked up how do I know when to say transfer? Anyone else ever have this problem and figure out how to resolve it? Is it a cell to cell issue or an HFL issue? In case anyone is wondering, when someone calls me while I'm driving the HFL always answers, so calls in that direction work fine - it's just outgoing calls that are the problem.

 

If you have an android device go to Bluetooth settings and make sure it is connected to the car. When connected, your car should have access to "Phone", "Audio"(2009 and later) and "contacts". In my samsung i can toggle any three on or off in phone Bluetooth settings. Sometimes one of them doesn't connect automatically so i have to go into phone Bluetooth settings to connect. To remedy this i turn my phone's Bluetooth ON before i start the car. Unfortunately i don't know if iPhone operates the same way.

 

You might be on to something - my old Nokia phone wouldn't automatically connect to the HFL if it wasn't turned on when I started the car, had to manually connect to the HFL from BT settings in the phone. New phone (AT&T Cingular Flip IV, proprietary KaiOS based on Android) was definitely turned on before I started the car this time and tried to make the call - it had to be connected, else when I hit the talk button on the steering wheel to make a call the HFL wouldn't have seen my phone - it did - showed me battery life and it did make the call, just didn't automatically transfer it from the phone to the HFL when my brother answered. Come to think of it my old phone would sometimes do the same thing, especially when I called cell phones of friends from the car using HFL - don't recall it happening when I called landlines.