Phone Echo

[Dale5403]

Has anyone had the issue that a person complained of an echo while your phone was connected with bluetooth? I had it happen recently and as soon as I disconnected from my Explorer it went away. I googled it and seen others have had the problem but didn't find where an body had resolved the issue.

 

[peterk9]

If they have, I haven't found it here. I did a search on All Forums and came up empty. It's possible someone could have posted it using different terminology.

Peter

 

[yury]

Has anyone had the issue that a person complained of an echo while your phone was connected with bluetooth? I had it happen recently and as soon as I disconnected from my Explorer it went away. I googled it and seen others have had the problem but didn't find where an body had resolved the issue.

have the same problem
to fix it if you have echo press private button on screen twice and it gone till next time
same problem i had on explorer 2013 and 2016 and now it still exist on 2020

 

[Jordan E.]

Has anyone had the issue that a person complained of an echo while your phone was connected with bluetooth? I had it happen recently and as soon as I disconnected from my Explorer it went away. I googled it and seen others have had the problem but didn't find where an body had resolved the issue.

Hi. Yes, we have the same issue with my wife's. I'd love to have a fix for this. We didn't have this on our 2013 explorer. We've only noticed on the 2020.

The call starts off fine, then 5 minutes in, it starts echoing. The echo isn't noticeable on the car's end. It is only the person on the other end that hears it. That means there is a lag somewhere that starts. I thought it may have something to do with cell-tower handoff, or maybe wifi calling leaving work. None of those assumptions worked.

My wife has the iPhone connected via bluetooth. She wears an Apple watch too. I checked to see if they were somehow both connecting and causing the issue. That was not the case.

Could you let me know what kind of phone you have (Apple or Android)?

 

[Dale5403]

Hi. Yes, we have the same issue with my wife's. I'd love to have a fix for this. We didn't have this on our 2013 explorer. We've only noticed on the 2020.

The call starts off fine, then 5 minutes in, it starts echoing. The echo isn't noticeable on the car's end. It is only the person on the other end that hears it. That means there is a lag somewhere that starts. I thought it may have something to do with cell-tower handoff, or maybe wifi calling leaving work. None of those assumptions worked.

My wife has the iPhone connected via bluetooth. She wears an Apple watch too. I checked to see if they were somehow both connecting and causing the issue. That was not the case.

Could you let me know what kind of phone you have (Apple or Android)?

I have an Android phone. Was at service yesterday and talked to them about it. Even called the service advisor while there and of course it worked fine then.

 

[Gary Crist]

The problem is "who's microphone is the system using"?
If both mics are hot, then the delay from the car's mic and the phone's
will cause the "echo" others on the other side hear. (Wait till you
get into satellite communications)

Can you turn off the mic from the phone or cover it up?

Just a guess.....

 

[peterk9]

The problem is "who's microphone is the system using"?
If both mics are hot, then the delay from the car's mic and the phone's
will cause the "echo" others on the other side hear. (Wait till you
get into satellite communications)

Can you turn off the mic from the phone or cover it up?

Just a guess.....

That might be why yury in post #3 mentioned pressing the 'private' button.

Peter

 

[Jordan E.]

I’ll test the theory later and report back. If the phone microphone is on during a Bluetooth call, that would be some sort of software issue. It shouldn’t happen, and is strange that it would happen after several minutes.
I’ll also run a latency test to see if there is a difference between when the call starts vs when the echo starts.

If we do see strange behavior, is there a feedback forum to report it to Ford directly? Similar to Microsoft and Apple?

 

[Dale5403]

I’ll test the theory later and report back. If the phone microphone is on during a Bluetooth call, that would be some sort of software issue. It shouldn’t happen, and is strange that it would happen after several minutes.
I’ll also run a latency test to see if there is a difference between when the call starts vs when the echo starts.

If we do see strange behavior, is there a feedback forum to report it to Ford directly? Similar to Microsoft and Apple?

Ford support might be the place to start. https://www.ford.com/help/contact/

 

[omar302]

My experience with the Echo on a Ford Edge & a 2013 Explorer is that it will start if the parking sensors beep (usually in reverse) while being on the call.

 

[ABeaty79]

I’ll test the theory later and report back. If the phone microphone is on during a Bluetooth call, that would be some sort of software issue. It shouldn’t happen, and is strange that it would happen after several minutes.
I’ll also run a latency test to see if there is a difference between when the call starts vs when the echo starts.

If we do see strange behavior, is there a feedback forum to report it to Ford directly? Similar to Microsoft and Apple?

Any updates? I'm experiencing this with my 2021 Explorer.

 

[peterk9]

I’ll test the theory later and report back. If the phone microphone is on during a Bluetooth call, that would be some sort of software issue. It shouldn’t happen, and is strange that it would happen after several minutes.
I’ll also run a latency test to see if there is a difference between when the call starts vs when the echo starts.

If we do see strange behavior, is there a feedback forum to report it to Ford directly? Similar to Microsoft and Apple?

Have you tested the theory?

 

[peterk9]

Any updates? I'm experiencing this with my 2021 Explorer.

Welcome to the Forum.
Did you have your phone's mic ON during the call?

Peter

 

[ABeaty79]

Welcome to the Forum.
Did you have your phone's mic ON during the call?

Peter

Thanks! I've no idea if the mic was on, I just assumed with it connected through Bluetooth it would work just like all other vehicles I've utilized Bluetooth for phone. That's obviously not the case ... Like others have reported it starts a conversation just fine but then the echo and my voice comes across robotic. I'll try the private button as a temp fix in the meanwhile.

 

[Jordan E.]

Thanks! I've no idea if the mic was on, I just assumed with it connected through Bluetooth it would work just like all other vehicles I've utilized Bluetooth for phone. That's obviously not the case ... Like others have reported it starts a conversation just fine but then the echo and my voice comes across robotic. I'll try the private button as a temp fix in the meanwhile

Thanks! I've no idea if the mic was on, I just assumed with it connected through Bluetooth it would work just like all other vehicles I've utilized Bluetooth for phone. That's obviously not the case ... Like others have reported it starts a conversation just fine but then the echo and my voice comes across robotic. I'll try the private button as a temp fix in the meanwhile.

The privacy mode will just switch the microphone and speaker over to your cellphone.

I was able to do some testing. The microphone on the phone (and other devices like Apple Watch) are muted when connected to the Explorer's phone. There is not cross talk between microphones. Only the Explorer's mic is active.

****New Theory:
I believe the Speed-Compensated Audio is what is throwing off the system. The point of the feature is that when you are driving at 65 MPH on the highway, there is more road noise. The radio is slightly louder. Then, when you pull off on your exit and are going 20 MPH, there is less road noise. The radio will automatically adjust the volume down to compensate.

The same thing seems to be happening on phone calls. The car's speakerphone does a semi-mute when the caller is talking. When the driver is talking, it takes off that semi-mute and picks up their voice. That works fine for a while and no echo is heard. But it appears that the compensation starts to mess with the semi-mute. As you speed up and slow down, the semi-mute gets confused.

I'm going to turn off the speed-compensated audio feature for a while and see if the phone echo comes back. To do this, follow these steps:
1) With the car on (or in accessory mode) go to "Settings"
2) Make sure the radio is on (that way the sound setting can be accessed)
3) Hit the sound button in the settings menu
4) Hit the "speed-compensated audio" button
5) Turn the setting to "Off" (it is set to medium for factory default)

 

[ABeaty79]

The privacy mode will just switch the microphone and speaker over to your cellphone.

I was able to do some testing. The microphone on the phone (and other devices like Apple Watch) are muted when connected to the Explorer's phone. There is not cross talk between microphones. Only the Explorer's mic is active.

****New Theory:
I believe the Speed-Compensated Audio is what is throwing off the system. The point of the feature is that when you are driving at 65 MPH on the highway, there is more road noise. The radio is slightly louder. Then, when you pull off on your exit and are going 20 MPH, there is less road noise. The radio will automatically adjust the volume down to compensate.

The same thing seems to be happening on phone calls. The car's speakerphone does a semi-mute when the caller is talking. When the driver is talking, it takes off that semi-mute and picks up their voice. That works fine for a while and no echo is heard. But it appears that the compensation starts to mess with the semi-mute. As you speed up and slow down, the semi-mute gets confused.

I'm going to turn off the speed-compensated audio feature for a while and see if the phone echo comes back. To do this, follow these steps:
1) With the car on (or in accessory mode) go to "Settings"
2) Make sure the radio is on (that way the sound setting can be accessed)
3) Hit the sound button in the settings menu
4) Hit the "speed-compensated audio" button
5) Turn the setting to "Off" (it is set to medium for factory default)

Thanks for the update. The privacy button did seem to work today, but I'll try the speed compensation setting as well.

 

[Jordan E.]

Thanks for the update. The privacy button did seem to work today, but I'll try the speed compensation setting as well.

Thanks for the update. The privacy button did seem to work today, but I'll try the speed compensation setting as well.

Ok, so the speed compensation didn’t work. Other than turning privacy on and off, I’m at a loss.

 

[boosted_st]

Not sure if it's been posted here or not, but over on the ExplorerST forum someone was able to get some info from their dealer (written) stating that Ford knows about this issue and is working on a fix. It would be nice if the early July date holds true.

Info with Image

 

[UofMEngineer]

Not sure if it's been posted here or not, but over on the ExplorerST forum someone was able to get some info from their dealer (written) stating that Ford knows about this issue and is working on a fix. It would be nice if the early July date holds true.

Info with Image

Yeah, I think there is something in 21098 for echo in calls. Just noticed this thread.

 

[Dale5403]

Yeah, I think there is something in 21098 for echo in calls. Just noticed this thread.

So is there a chance that this phone echo and the Sirius issue are both related to 21020? After the update is when my issues with both started. Did not have either one prior. Also is there any talk when Ford might be ready to release 21098?