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I've got a long distance calling plan where I call a number and get a busy signal. The service then immediately calls me back, and when I answer, I'm presented with a dial-tone at which point I can call any number I want, with really cheap rates, while only getting dinged for local incoming minutes on my iPhone.

The problem with this is that I can't find a way to access and "dial" numbers from my Contacts when I'm presented with the dial-tone. I essentially have to have the number memorized or written down beforehand.

When given the dial tone, I can access all my contacts, but there doesn't seem to be a way to generate the keypress tones from them.

Is this possible on the iPhone? Maybe some other app that I can launch after answering the call which will access numbers in Contacts and generate keypress tones?

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  • very intriguing, and valid, question!
    – cregox
    Mar 25, 2011 at 14:29
  • Don't you have free long distance on your phone? Or is that a US-centric assumption?
    – Cajunluke
    Mar 25, 2011 at 19:16
  • I'm in Canada. No free long distance on the plan that I've got.
    – Jay P.
    Mar 26, 2011 at 15:36
  • @wheat any reason for adding "iPhone" in front of the title. Isn't it what tags are for?
    – Loïc Wolff
    Sep 27, 2011 at 13:02
  • @WheatWilliams Loic is correct, adding words to tag the question in the title is discouraged. However, feel free to add the word where appropriate within the title itself - i.e. "Dialing numbers from Contacts on iPhone when using a calling card..."
    – Kyle Cronin
    Sep 28, 2011 at 21:50

2 Answers 2

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Could you try accepting the incoming call, then starting a conference call where you dial the 3rd party? The dialing might make noises that the calling card service can hear, then you disconnect from the 3rd party before it connects and bills you.

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  • That shouldn't be the case, when you tap hold, the other line is muted entirely in both directions.
    – Jason Salaz
    Apr 29, 2011 at 17:01
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The only solution I could find for this is using the speakers and some program like the 1 buck MagicDial, that can translate the phonebook into DTMF dial tones and is actually made to do it so to another phones'es speakers.

Lastly, an idea would be changing service. There are calling cards that you call a local number - then you could use pause to dial the number in sequence. Or using VOIP directly from the phone, which is conceptually cheaper than calling cards since it doesn't require your side to have a call center.

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  • Are you sure MagicDial would work? I'm not trying to use my iPhone to dial a different phone, I'm trying to insert keypresses while on a call with my iPhone. I could only imagine this working if I put my iPhone into Speaker mode, and the keypresses were loud enough for the iPhone's microphone to pick up
    – Jay P.
    Mar 26, 2011 at 15:37
  • @jay you're right. I'm not sure what I was thinking! it still may work even if you turn the speaker off and reduce the volume as it may be possible to send sound out to a caller. but i'm not sure it will.
    – cregox
    Mar 26, 2011 at 15:56

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