How to Reach Someone Over the Phone for Emergency Purposes

Let’s say you really miss someone and you desperately want to talk to the person, but he or she has put the phone to silent/DND. In that case, reaching that special person can be hard, especially if you two live in different cities or countries. But what can you do if you really want to talk to the guy, to brag about getting your driver’s license, for instance?

Even if the person you want to reach has activated the silent/DND function on their smartphone, there is still a chance to wake that person up over the phone, so don’t lose hope!

There’s an exception to every rule

You know what they say that there’s an exception to every rule out there. The same applies in our case, as you can simply set an exception in the DND function to allow others to reach you. In other words, your friend needs to add your number as an exception in the DND function for you to be able to call or send a message.

Here’s how a person can add such an exception for the DND function:

Android:

The special phone number needs to be highlighted as a favorite. Here’s how to do it:

1. Select the Phone or Contact app.
2. Search for the specific phone number in the Contact area.
3. Select Details.
4. Select the Star icon.

The next step is to set the exception itself. Here’s how:

1. Head over to the Settings menu.
2. Select “Sounds and vibration.”
3. Select “Do Not Disturb.”
4. Select “Calls, messages, and conversations.”
5. Select “Calls”. Select “Favourite contacts only.”
6. Repeat the process in case of the Messages option.

iPhones:

Selecting a number as an exception on iPhones is also pretty easy. Here’s what you need to do:

1. Head over to the Settings menu.
2. Select “Focus”.
3. Select the “Do not disturb” option.
4. Select the “People” option that appears below the “Allowed Notifications” section.
5. Press on the plus icon
6. Search the contact you want and press the “Done” option.

Use “Find My Phone”

The “Find My Phone” feature will allow you to play a sound and wake a person up when their phone is on silent or DND. This is a pretty interesting feature that all smartphones have, whether they run on Android or iOS.

Android:

First of all, you need to head over to the Google Play Store to get the feature if it’s not already preinstalled. Once you have the email and password of the other person’s phone (with their consent, of course), do the following:

1. Launch the Google Find My Device app.
2. Select the “Sign in as guest” option, which will appear at the bottom of the page.
3. Add the email address of the other person and select “Next.”
4. Enter the password and select “Next.”
5. Select “Play Sound,” an option that appears at the bottom of the screen.

iPhones:

When it comes to iPhones, you won’t have to look for the app, as it is already preinstalled. Here’s what to do to use the “Find My” app:

Once you have the login information of the iCloud of the other party, you will have to sign out from your account and log in with the iCloud login information of the other person while using your iPhone. However, you should ALWAYS back up your files to your iCloud.

Pretty easy, right? Feel free to try it out!

Tim Hill

Tim M. Hill helped bring Digital-Overload from a weekly newsletter to a full-fledged news site by creating a new website and branding. He continues to assist in keeping the site responsive and well organized for the readers. As a writer to Digital-Overload, Tim mainly covers mobile news and gadgets.