Quick Answer
When you enable Do Not Disturb on your iPhone, callers will hear a different ringtone or message depending on how you have set it up. There are a few options:
- Caller will hear regular ringing but you won’t – your phone will stay silent
- Caller will hear a busy signal
- Caller will go directly to voicemail and hear your voicemail greeting
- Caller will hear an automated message that your phone is currently unreachable
You can customize Do Not Disturb on your iPhone to choose which option you prefer for incoming calls. The default is to just silence your phone without giving the caller any indication you have DND enabled.
In-depth Explanation
When you turn on Do Not Disturb on an iPhone, it silences all alerts and calls to prevent interruptions. However, you can customize what callers hear when trying to reach you during this time. There are a few different options:
Caller hears regular rings
The default Do Not Disturb setting on iPhone will silence all incoming calls and notifications on your end, but allow regular ringing on the caller’s end. So from their perspective, it seems like there is no Do Not Disturb enabled even though your phone isn’t ringing.
This prevents disruptions for you while giving no indication to callers that you aren’t available. Your iPhone essentially just declines all incoming calls automatically when in this DND mode.
Caller hears a busy signal
In your Do Not Disturb settings on iPhone, you can enable the “Silence” option. This will make any calls received while DND is active play a busy signal for the caller.
They will hear the typical “beep beep beep” sound a landline makes when a number is busy or not accepting calls. This gives them a clear signal that you are not available to take a call at that moment.
Caller goes directly to voicemail
You can also set your Do Not Disturb settings to send all calls straight to voicemail. This will bypass any ringing and take the caller directly to your voicemail greeting after one ring.
So as soon as they dial your number, it will go to your personal or carrier voicemail message without disturbing your phone at all. They won’t hear any ringing, just your greeting asking them to leave a message.
Caller hears automated unreachable message
Some carriers like Verizon allow you to create a custom automated message for callers to hear if you are unreachable. This is triggered when Do Not Disturb is enabled.
The automated voice will say something like “The number you have dialed is currently unreachable…” before prompting them to leave a voicemail.
This clearly indicates to callers that you cannot be reached at that moment without ringing through to your phone.
How to Customize Do Not Disturb Settings on iPhone
You can customize what callers hear when you have Do Not Disturb enabled in your iPhone settings:
- Open Settings app and tap “Do Not Disturb”
- Tap “Calls” to manage call settings
- Choose option:
- Silence – callers will hear silence/regular rings
- Silence Always – callers will hear a busy signal
- Ring Once – send calls directly to voicemail after one ring
- You can also set specific contacts who can “Break Through” Do Not Disturb and ring your phone normally.
So in summary, select “Silence” to allow regular rings, “Silence Always” to send a busy signal, or “Ring Once” to go directly to voicemail when enabling Do Not Disturb. This allows you to customize the experience for callers trying to reach you when you don’t want to be interrupted.
Do Not Disturb While Driving
A special case is the iPhone’s “Do Not Disturb While Driving” mode. This auto-enables Do Not Disturb when connected to a car over Bluetooth or when the phone senses driving motion.
For Do Not Disturb While Driving, callers will hear an automated message that you’re currently unavailable while driving. You can customize the auto-reply to let callers know you’ll get back to them after your drive. This setting is meant to prevent distractions for safe driving.
Using Schedules and Allow Lists
You can further customize Do Not Disturb by setting specific schedules and allow lists:
- Schedules – Set Do Not Disturb during certain times, like at night while sleeping
- Allow Lists – VIP contacts can reach you even when DND is active
Schedules and allow lists let you be in full Do Not Disturb when you want to minimize interruptions, while still allowing priority contacts or calls during off-hours if needed. This gives you granular control over how and when to use DND.
Conclusion
In summary, callers will hear either normal rings, a busy signal, the voicemail greeting, or an unreachable message when you have Do Not Disturb enabled on iPhone. The default is standard rings, but you can customize it in Settings to set the right DND behavior for your needs and prevent unnecessary disruptions. Knowing what callers experience can help you use this feature effectively.