How to automatically dial an extension on iPhone

Do you call a particular contact often, like your spouse or parent, and need to add an extension each time? They might work in an office or institution where they don’t have a direct line and you need that extension to reach them.

Here we’ll show you how to edit the number for your contact so that when you call them, you can automatically dial their extension on iPhone.

Related:

Edit your contact’s phone number with a Pause

Open the Contacts app on your iPhone and then make the following changes to add an extension to a phone number.

1. Select your contact and tap Edit.
2. Tap on the phone number you want to add the extension to, or for a new number, tap Add Phone and enter the number.
3. With your cursor at the end of the phone number, tap the + * # button on the bottom left of the keyboard.
4. Tap the Pause This will insert a comma at the end of the number.
5. Enter the extension after the comma and without a space before it.
6. Tap Done.

The Pause that you add between your contact’s phone number and extension will cause the phone to pause for a few seconds before it enters the extension.

Now give your change a try to make sure it works!

Edit your contact’s phone number with a Wait

If you run into trouble because the Pause is too short, you do have another option. You might have noticed when you followed the steps above that in addition to a Pause key there was a Wait key.

What the Wait option will do is wait for you to take an additional action before dialing the extension.

To set this up, follow the same steps as above, but pick Wait instead of Pause and you’ll see a semicolon entered instead of a comma. Add the extension right after that semicolon without a space before it. Tap Done when you finish.

Now when you call that contact, you’ll see a prompt on the screen for “Dial [extension].” So if you have a long wait before the person’s extension can be entered, give this method a try instead. You might not get the extension dialed automatically but can enter it with a single tap rather a slew of keys.

Making phone calls easier

This is one of those simple tips that can save you a few seconds of time and reduce the risk of hitting the wrong key on the dial pad for an extension.

Are you going to set up your iPhone to automatically dial an extension? Let us know if the Pause option works or if you have to use the Wait feature instead! You can comment below or visit us on Facebook or Twitter!

Sandy worked for many years in the IT industry as a project manager, department manager, and PMO Lead. She then decided to follow her dream and now writes about technology full-time. Sandy holds a Bachelors of Science in Information Technology.

She loves technology– specifically – terrific games and apps for iOS, software that makes your life easier, and productivity tools that you can use every day, in both work and home environments.

Her articles have regularly been featured at MakeUseOf, iDownloadBlog and many other leading tech publications.