Why Your Call Won't Connect

A call that won't start (or drops within seconds) is frustrating - the good news is it almost always has one of a few simple causes. Find the message you're seeing below and we'll get you calling again.

"Insufficient balance" or a top-up prompt

Starting a call needs credit for at least 3 minutes at the destination rate - see Minimum Balance to Start a Call. Owners can top up; members should ask their team owner. If the call connected but ended on its own, the balance likely ran out mid-call - auto top-up prevents that.

"Invalid phone number" and format errors

The number doesn't match the selected country's format - usually a wrong country selection or a mistyped digit. See Entering Phone Numbers and Choosing Countries for exactly how CallTuv validates numbers, or run the number through the free phone number validator.

"Select a team before placing a call"

Your session has no active team - pick one in the team switcher and dial again. See Creating and Switching Teams.

Connection and network errors

Messages like "Connection Error," "Connection timed out," or "Unable to retrieve Voice token" point to your internet connection or a blocked network:

1. Check your connection is actually online, then refresh the page (web) or reopen the app (mobile) and try again.
2. Disable a VPN if one is active.
3. Corporate or public networks sometimes block internet calling - try a different network or a mobile hotspot to confirm.

Microphone blocked (web)

If the browser can't access a microphone, the call can't start - errors like "This browser does not support microphone access" or a permission prompt you dismissed. Fix permissions per Fixing Microphone and Audio Issues.

The number rings but no one answers / it's busy

A "no answer" or "busy" result means the call did go out - it just wasn't picked up on the other end. That's the destination side, not CallTuv, and unanswered calls that never connect aren't charged.

None of these match?

Contact us with the exact number you dialed and roughly when you tried, plus whether you're on web or mobile - with those details we can trace that specific call and see exactly where it failed.