Issue Placing Calls Hands Free iPhone

Skeeter McSkeet · December 3, 2019

Anyone had this issue? I'm in a 2015.5 Sierra. I always long hold the steering wheel button, then say "call" and the contact name on iphone. This is the way I've used the hands free with an iphone since 2014. The last 2-3 weeks when I try to place a call it goes through a sequence along these lines:

Initial command to place the call, wait a few seconds and siri will first say to hang on; wait a few more seconds then I get siri saying "just another moment"; I continue to wait, then I get "this is taking longer than expected"; wait a little while longer, then something like "I'm having problems placing the call" and it fails.

It's acting like it would if I'm trying to make a call out in the middle of the woods with little to no service, yet I'm trying to place these calls in the middle of town or at my house with full service.

Had the issue prior to checking for and installing the latest iOS update, problem still exists after updating iphone to latest iOS. I've not had any changes to the truck or the phone I use beyond updating the software as mentioned. I've tried changing the language settings mentioned in another thread with no luck. I've tried while driving and while parked and at several locations. I've removed phone and re-synced it to the truck. I've tried while plugged in to usb and wireless. Phone works fine making calls with siri when not connected to the truck.

Any other suggestions?

Ravenkeeper · December 4, 2019

8 hours ago, Skeeter McSkeet said:

Anyone had this issue? I'm in a 2015.5 Sierra. I always long hold the steering wheel button, then say "call" and the contact name on iphone. This is the way I've used the hands free with an iphone since 2014. The last 2-3 weeks when I try to place a call it goes through a sequence along these lines:

Initial command to place the call, wait a few seconds and siri will first say to hang on; wait a few more seconds then I get siri saying "just another moment"; I continue to wait, then I get "this is taking longer than expected"; wait a little while longer, then something like "I'm having problems placing the call" and it fails.

It's acting like it would if I'm trying to make a call out in the middle of the woods with little to no service, yet I'm trying to place these calls in the middle of town or at my house with full service.

Had the issue prior to checking for and installing the latest iOS update, problem still exists after updating iphone to latest iOS. I've not had any changes to the truck or the phone I use beyond updating the software as mentioned. I've tried changing the language settings mentioned in another thread with no luck. I've tried while driving and while parked and at several locations. I've removed phone and re-synced it to the truck. I've tried while plugged in to usb and wireless. Phone works fine making calls with siri when not connected to the truck.

Any other suggestions?

I occasionally have the same issue when I use the "Hey Siri" feature on my iPhone, both in my '15 () and in my '18. For the most part, it was poor to no cell service. The only times that I use the buttons on the steering wheel (for phone related tasks) is to accept/deny calls.

2016 Sierra Owner · December 5, 2019

I have had the issue where Siri says wait a minute or I'm working on it. The only time that happens to me though is when I'm traveling through a no or very little cell reception zone.

x219c · December 5, 2019

As others have said, this sounds like an issue with your phone. Short press on the talk button gets you to the built in voice commands, long press goes to your phone for Siri to handle.

Some things you can try if you haven’t already:

Turn on airplane mode, then turn it off.
Check the security settings and make sure Siri is allowed while the screen is locked.
Try using Siri by using the button on your phone, outside of your truck.

A hard reboot probably couldn’t hurt if nothing else sheds any light on the problem.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Skeeter McSkeet · December 13, 2019

So I did a full factory reset and restore on my iPhone X, re-paired the truck to Bluetooth, and enabled all of the access features in Bluetooth for the truck.

Now when I do my long press to make a call, it kicks on like it normally would to wait for me to say a command, then immediately cuts back off like it didn’t hear me say anything. I’m talking like maybe a second or so. I tried to blurt out a command as fast as I could haha couldn’t even finish talking before it cuts back off.

My wife has both a work and a personal phone, I’m going to try and pair both of those this weekend to narrow down if it’s the truck or my phone.

Siri works flawless on the phone whether locked or unlocked, anywhere but when connected in the truck.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

x219c · December 13, 2019

If Siri is working directly on your phone, it could be something with the trucks microphone. Or something else on your truck. It doesn’t sound like a phone issue any longer.

I don’t use Siri for calling in my truck, I use the Chevy assistant or whatever it is. Anyway, a little while ago, it would act like it couldn’t hear me. Kinda similar. I actually brought it into the dealer, and they restarted the radio. That seemed to fix the problem. (They actually unplugged my dash can and my blamed it on that, but continued working when I plugged it back in.)

All of this to say, try and restart your hmi unit in the truck. I’m not sure of the exact procedure, but it doesn’t fully shut down when you turn off your truck from my understanding. Unhooking the battery or pulling a fuse jump to mind, but maybe there’s a more elegant way?

Skeeter McSkeet · February 2, 2020

I forgot about this thread. I’m still not back in business fully lol.

It seems like it tends to work if tethered and the screen is not locked. If untethered and screen is unlocked, I have had some success, but I have to just say my command like a tongue twister and repeat as many times as fast as I can before it quits waiting for response.

I thought I saw a setting at some point about Siri and something regarding the lock screen or working with the phone screen locked, but have not been able to find that.

I actually have just started saying hey Siri to my phone or watch, and it seems to be more effective than using the wheel button.

cmt · February 4, 2020

On 2/2/2020 at 6:27 AM, Skeeter McSkeet said:

I forgot about this thread. I’m still not back in business fully lol.

It seems like it tends to work if tethered and the screen is not locked. If untethered and screen is unlocked, I have had some success, but I have to just say my command like a tongue twister and repeat as many times as fast as I can before it quits waiting for response.

I thought I saw a setting at some point about Siri and something regarding the lock screen or working with the phone screen locked, but have not been able to find that.

I actually have just started saying hey Siri to my phone or watch, and it seems to be more effective than using the wheel button.

I've had something similar happen when I hold in the talk button to prompt Siri, sometimes I'll hear the noise stating she is ready to listen, but then it will either chime again or it will go back to the radio. I've found that restarting my iPhone XR usually fixes the issue.