Why does phone lag when talking to business

[trevorhill1959]

I have a relatively new Samsung phone on 3 network. Whenever I call a business phone number there is a lag in the phone/network responding so that the first few sounds that I make (first few letters or numbers) are not heard by the person at the other end of the call. Everything works fine when calling other mobile numbers.
I had wondered if it was a characteristic of my phone. But today I was talking with a British Gas agent and he said that the same thing happens to him, also on 3, with a different model of phone.
It is very frustrating to have to keep repeating myself because the network can't keep up.
Does anyone have an explanation and solution for this please?

[Psych13]

Thanks, Pete. I'm more than happy to keep a log, as you suggest, with the required info. but in truth, I have had the same response from Three, as @Shah955 has had. On my last call with them, they also offered me a "get out of contract" free. The people who took my calls at Three had absolutely no idea that this was a "thing"-that *many* customers have been having this issue. My experience with Three has been so very different to my experience when I phone Apple, for example, who are able to say "we've had a number of customers experiencing this issue". However, when I speak to Three on the phone, they *never* make any reference to, or put me on hold to look into, whether other customers face the same issue. They seem to lack the technical knowledge and/or access to information that you would expect a "front line" team to have.  

[Akinwall]

Thank goodness I found this thread, I changed my phone because I thought it was old, same Is happening with my new iPhone, everytime I phone a large company like Barclays or HMRC etc, there’s always that 5 second delay.. I’m with 3 as well 

[Psych13]

It's horrendous and continues to be an issue. I was on the phone with HP or Hyperoptic (I can't recall which one) two days ago and had to ask them to please phone me back (in order for me to continue speaking with the same person) because the lag just made the entire process all the more challenging. 

[Shah955]

@Psych13 

Three were absolutely useless with this. They couldn't help. In the end they agreed to terminate my contract at a heavily reduced rate. Moved over to 1p network, uses EE which is fantastic for me and roaming included. £10 a month for 50gb rolling contract. Works a treat!

[Psych13]

Thanks for contributing, Shah! I, too, had the same offer from Three on my last call with them-to cancel my contract without penalty. I'm still with them, however, as I am not entirely certain which network provider I want to move to. Also, if the issue *is* with VoIP-would this mean that the same issue will occur with other networks? I simply can't understand why this is a problem for Three customers, but not for others, or is it for others, and we just don't know? I honestly don't know-but what I do know, is that either on this forum, or the Apple forum-*many* customers were reporting similar issues and a few said it tends to be when they speak to larger organisations who have VoIP phone systems.  🤔

[Psych13]

Hi both (Steve and Pete),

To be clear-the issue that *I* thought this thread was about was this: when you make or receive a call, the words that you utter, are only heard by the receiver, 5-10 seconds later, which means that their reply to you, will also be delayed/lagging. This normally happens (for me) when I am on a call for at least 20 minutes. I have never had this experience at the very start of a call. 

[PeteG]

Hello. 

To gather some information on the issue, would you be able to also test some calls in the same way I mentioned in my comment above? 

Thanks.
Pete.

[Eurobuff]

Was there a solution for this as I have the same issue 

[Psych13]

I haven't had any replies from Three, but as I mentioned below, the Apple community seem to think this occurs when phoning a company who use VoIP. Three have never provided any useful information to me whatsoever. I am not convinced that their technical team are aware of this. 

[Psych13]

Hi Trevor,

I have been experiencing the same problem for at least one year if not more. Whenever I make calls (and it's very random and intermittent) there is a delay on the call such that the person on the other end has to wait seconds to hear what I am saying, and the same happens to me when they speak-at least a 5 second delay. Whenever I have phoned Three about this they suggest replacing the SIM (which I've done twice and which has not resolved the issue) or they suggest resetting my Network settings, which also hasn't resolved the issue. 

Only yesterday did I decide to post this issue on the Apple community (I have an iPhone 11) and two people replied with similar replies: 

"That's an artifact of the cellular network. The phone is not at fault. It is more likely to happen on calls from one carrier to another, and especially on calls from a cellular provider to a landline provider" and

"Agreed with ____. The symptoms you describe almost certainly indicate an issue with the carrier’s network". 

And when I read the replies to your post, and the suggestions that this only happens when calls are made to certain businesses, with VOIP, etc. it makes total sense to me because in hindsight, I don't think I have ever had this problem on phone calls to friends. It's only when I phone large companies who typically keep you waiting 20 mins. before they take your call-and then by the time they answer my call, the delay has already kicked in.  

And so I phoned Three this morning, and after going through the same (useless) diagnostics, they said "we can see there *is* an issue in your area. We can offer you two options: to wait 7 days and check if the problem persists, or you can cancel your contract free of charge". 

I explained to them that I am 100% confident that whatever network issue they see in my area is nothing to do with the delay on the calls-the issue they see may be something else (poor signal or what-not) but this cannot possibly explain the issue I am having with the delay on calls. 

I'm now needing to decide if I want to leave Three or not. The main reason I have stayed is for the free roaming when I travel to certain European countries, but is it worth it, and are there other carriers who offer this? 

I am beside myself.   

Any thoughts?