How to insert pause into a phone number?

Hi everyone

On the P910i, how do you insert a pause into a phone number in your address
book? I want to use a calling card in my address book which dials a local
number, pauses, then dials a PIN code, pauses, and then dials another
number.

On my old P800, I could insert the 'p' character into the telephone number
field and it would do this, but on my P910i it doesn't work. Does anyone
know if this functionality has been dropped or changed somehow? Any
suggestions or tips greatly appreciated...

TIA,
Ben

---

› See More: How to insert pause into a phone number?

In message <[email protected]>, Ben C <[email protected]>
writes
>Hi everyone
>
>On the P910i, how do you insert a pause into a phone number in your address
>book? I want to use a calling card in my address book which dials a local
>number, pauses, then dials a PIN code, pauses, and then dials another
>number.
>
>On my old P800, I could insert the 'p' character into the telephone number
>field and it would do this, but on my P910i it doesn't work. Does anyone
>know if this functionality has been dropped or changed somehow? Any
>suggestions or tips greatly appreciated...
>
Press and hold the * key. It changes to a p.
--
Pete Devlin
[{//////news03//////at\\\\\secondrow/////co\\\\\uk}]
Give me a woman who loves beer and I will conquer the world.
Kaiser Wilhelm

"pete devlin" <[email protected]> wrote:

> Press and hold the * key. It changes to a p.

Perhaps you misunderstood. What I am saying is that on the P910i, 'p' no
longer pauses. Any other ideas anyone?

"Ben C" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
| "pete devlin" <[email protected]> wrote:
|
| > Press and hold the * key. It changes to a p.
|
| Perhaps you misunderstood. What I am saying is that on the P910i, 'p' no
| longer pauses. Any other ideas anyone?
|
|


RTFM

"streetwise" <.> wrote:
>
> RTFM
>

That's clever. No really, I am dazzled by your so-called 'streetwise'
insight. Pretending this is trivial just highlights the fact that you have
no clue.

The 200 page manual only refers to this issue obliquely on page 48, and it
illustrates that 'p' should pause a sequence of tones. The only problem is
that it doesn't work. Everything before the 'p' dials fine. Everything
beyond the 'p' doesn't get sent.

So, once again, does anyone have any other ideas? Can anybody with a P910i
actually get this to work without having to copy and paste or dial multiple
but separate strings of numbers? I would really appreciate any positive
suggestions (no need to embarass yourself again 'streetwise'. I'm not a
newbie at this...)

SOLUTION BELOW:
"Ben C" <[email protected]> wrote:
> On the P910, how do you insert a pause into a phone number in your
> address book? I want to use a calling card in my address book which dials
> a local number, pauses, then dials a PIN code, pauses, and then dials
> another number. On my old P800, I could insert the 'p' character into the
> telephone number field and it would do this, but on my P910i it doesn't
> work. Does anyone know if this functionality has been dropped or changed
> somehow? Any suggestions or tips greatly appreciated...

For anyone else struggling with this, here is the solution. SE has changed
the way that Pause works on the P910i and the explanation in the manual is
now wrong. I doubt they intended to break the functionality with this
change - it looks like a straight bug. Until it is fixed, here is the
workaround:

The manual says (p50) that: 'Each digit sequence to be sent as tones must
begin with p. A space will end the tone sequence and you can add a comment
after the space.' Unfortunately, the presence of any space characters
anywhere after the 'p' (even at the end of a sequence of numbers) makes the
pause function fail completely. In this case, any tones after the pause
will not be sent at all. Space characters before the first pause in a
sequence of tones are fine however and will not interfere with the numbers
being sent. If you are having trouble, you should ensure that there are no
spaces ANYWHERE after the first 'p' in your sequence of tones.

In message <[email protected]>, Ben C <[email protected]>
writes
>The manual says (p50) that: 'Each digit sequence to be sent as tones
>must begin with p. A space will end the tone sequence and you can add
>a comment after the space.' Unfortunately, the presence of any space
>characters anywhere after the 'p' (even at the end of a sequence of
>numbers) makes the pause function fail completely. In this case, any
>tones after the pause will not be sent at all. Space characters before
>the first pause in a sequence of tones are fine however and will not
>interfere with the numbers being sent. If you are having trouble, you
>should ensure that there are no spaces ANYWHERE after the first 'p' in
>your sequence of tones.

Why would you want to add a comment or space in the number? Surely this
would go in another field of the address book?
--
Pete Devlin
[{//////news03//////at\\\\\secondrow/////co\\\\\uk}]
Give me a woman who loves beer and I will conquer the world.
Kaiser Wilhelm

"pete devlin" <[email protected]> wrote:
> Why would you want to add a comment or space in the number? Surely this
> would go in another field of the address book?

Spaces in long numbers make them easier to read and edit. This is why
people tend to write down phone numbers with brackets, hyphens and/or spaces
in them rather than a long string of numbers where it is easier to lose your
place. Adding comments can give an extra level of detail beyond just Work
and Home.

For example, I use a calling card to make international calls through my
mobile. T-Mobile treat this as just a local call, so it is hugely cheaper
than dialling direct. To do this, I program the phone with the calling card
phone number, then the PIN, then the foreign number I want to reach,
separated with pauses. A typical entry looks like this:

'Parents: (020) 7028 7382 p 12345678901 p 007 987 654 3210'

If I need to change the PIN, I just edit the middle bunch of numbers. The
spaces let me do this more easily, as the stylus on a touch-screen phone
like the P910i can be a bit fiddly - you can easily miss a character and
accidentally delete something unintentionally. The comment up-front (some
people like it afterwards) tells me which number is which when I have five
or six numbers within one entry.

If I used another field of the address book, dialling becomes much more
complicated. I then have to dial the first number, then go back to the
address book, open the same address book entry, and then select another
number. I would much rather just pick one up-front and dial it without the
extra hassle...

You know, I remember when phones had dials on them...

:-)

In message <[email protected]>, Ben C <[email protected]>
writes
[snip]
>
>If I used another field of the address book, dialling becomes much more
>complicated. I then have to dial the first number, then go back to the
>address book, open the same address book entry, and then select another
>number. I would much rather just pick one up-front and dial it without the
>extra hassle...
>
>You know, I remember when phones had dials on them...
>
Thanks for the suck eggs lesson on calling cards and international calls
)
My point was that you store a number in a phone book to make it easy.
You press the button and off you go. You don't need to look at it every
time and be satisfied that you are content with the break up of the
number and how its constituent parts are put together. I have a few such
nos on my phone and would never dream of putting in spaces or comments.
If I really needed a comment, I would put it in the corresponding info
field. I also wouldn't dream of entering them on the phone either,
unless I could possibly help it of course. That's what synch is for!
--
Pete Devlin
[{//////news03//////at\\\\\secondrow/////co\\\\\uk}]
Give me a woman who loves beer and I will conquer the world.
Kaiser Wilhelm

"pete devlin" <[email protected]> wrote: in message
news:[email protected]...
> Thanks for the suck eggs lesson on calling cards and international calls
> )
> My point was that you store a number in a phone book to make it easy. You
> press the button and off you go. You don't need to look at it every time
> and be satisfied that you are content with the break up of the number and
> how its constituent parts are put together. I have a few such nos on my
> phone and would never dream of putting in spaces or comments. If I really
> needed a comment, I would put it in the corresponding info field. I also
> wouldn't dream of entering them on the phone either, unless I could
> possibly help it of course. That's what synch is for!

Maybe. But like I said, if the PIN needs frequent editing I find the spaces
helpful, especially on a touch-screen phone like the P910i. From your
earlier comment about holding down the * key until it becomes a 'p', I guess
you don't have a P910 - even if you could do this on a P910, you wouldn't
want to when you can just write/type what you want. Regardless, everyone
has their own preferred way and there is no 'right' way to do this. I am
sure some there are other approaches that are just as valid too...

Now, I could start another thread on how hopeless the sync functionality is.
Ah yes, I did that already on 19th Dec!