iPhone: The Missing Manual

Call Waiting

Call Waiting has been around for years. With a call waiting feature, when you're on one phone call, you hear a beep in your ear indicating someone else is calling in. You can tap the Flash key on your phone—if you know which one it is—to answer the second call while you put the first one on hold.

Some people don't use Call Waiting because it's rude to both callers. Others don't use it because they have no idea what the Flash key is.

On the iPhone, when a second call comes in, the phone rings (and/or vibrates) as usual, and the screen displays the name or number of the caller, just as it always does. Buttons on the screen offer you three choices:

• Ignore. The incoming call goes straight to voicemail. Your first caller has no idea that anything's happened.

• Hold Call + Answer. This button gives you the traditional Call Waiting effect. You say, "Can you hold on a sec? I've got another call" to the first caller. The iPhone puts her on hold, and you connect to the second caller.

  At this point, you can jump back and forth between the two calls, or you can merge them into a conference call, just as described in Add Call (Conference Calling).

• End Call + Answer. Tapping this button hangs up on the first call and takes the second one.

If Call Waiting seems a bit disruptive all the way around, you can turn it off; Phone. When Call Waiting is turned off, incoming calls go straight to voicemail ...