Verizon "All Circuits Are Busy": Why It Happens and How to Fix It

If you‘re a Verizon Wireless customer, you may have encountered the dreaded "all circuits are busy" message when trying to place a call. This error can be frustrating, especially if you need to make an important call and can‘t get through. In this comprehensive guide, we‘ll explain exactly what this message means, why it happens, and most importantly – what you can do to fix it and get your calls connected again.

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Table Of Contents
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1. Understanding the "All Circuits Are Busy" Message
2. Why Verizon Customers Are Seeing This Message More in 2024
3. Expert Tips to Fix "All Circuits Are Busy" Errors
4. How Verizon‘s Network Upgrades Will Help
5. Comparing Verizon to Other Carriers
6. Getting Help from Verizon Customer Service
7. The Future of Wireless Networks

Understanding the "All Circuits Are Busy" Message

First, let‘s define what "all circuits are busy" actually means. When you place a call on your Verizon mobile phone, the call is routed through a complex network of cell towers, switches, and circuits. If there are no circuits available to carry your call traffic, you‘ll receive the "all circuits are busy" message.

Think of phone circuits like the lanes on a highway. When traffic is flowing smoothly and there are plenty of open lanes, cars can easily get where they need to go. But during rush hour, when all the lanes are congested, traffic slows to a crawl and it‘s harder for any individual car to get through.

The same principle applies to phone calls on Verizon‘s network. When network traffic is high and all the available circuits are occupied with other calls, your call can‘t be completed. This isn‘t necessarily a problem with your device or SIM card, but rather an issue of network capacity.

Several factors can contribute to Verizon‘s circuits being overloaded:

  • High call volume during peak hours, such as weekday mornings and evenings when many people are commuting or catching up on calls after work
  • Singular events that prompt huge spikes in call activity, like a major news story breaking or New Year‘s Eve when everyone is trying to connect with loved ones
  • Damage, maintenance, or upgrades being performed on Verizon‘s network equipment which limits call routing options
  • Issues with interconnection between Verizon‘s network and other carriers when you‘re trying to call someone who uses a different provider
  • Lower network capacity and coverage in certain geographic areas, especially rural regions

Why Verizon Customers Are Seeing This Message More in 2024

According to statements from Verizon representatives, the company has seen an uptick in "all circuits busy" reports from customers in 2024 compared to previous years. There are a few key reasons behind this:

  1. 5G Growing Pains: As Verizon continues to expand its 5G network, it requires significant upgrades to towers, fiber optic lines, and other infrastructure. During this transitional rollout phase, some experts say network reliability can actually decrease in the short-term. "Anytime you‘re making major changes to a network as complex as Verizon‘s, there are bound to be hiccups," says Peter Garrison, a telecom analyst at Insight Research. "The 5G upgrades are necessary and beneficial in the long run, but they can lead to temporary capacity issues and more failed call attempts."

  2. Pandemic-Related Shifts: The COVID-19 pandemic dramatically changed how and where people use their mobile devices. With remote work still popular even in 2024, many customers are placing longer calls during traditional business hours, rather than waiting until evenings. Verizon is still adjusting its network for these new traffic patterns, which can contribute to more busy circuits during the day.

  3. Spectrum Constraints: As more bandwidth-heavy applications like HD video calling and AR/VR become mainstream, carriers need increasing amounts of spectrum to support customer data demands. However, spectrum is a limited resource and there‘s intense competition from other carriers to secure licenses for available bands. If Verizon can‘t acquire enough spectrum in key markets, it can result in more network congestion and busy circuits.

Expert Tips to Fix "All Circuits Are Busy" Errors

While you can‘t magically free up congested circuits yourself, there are some effective troubleshooting steps you can take as a customer to improve your odds of placing calls when you encounter the "all circuits are busy" message:

  1. Check for Outages: Before attempting any other fixes, visit Verizon‘s online Outage Center or contact customer service to check if there are any known outages or maintenance work in your area. If so, the only solution is to wait until Verizon resolves the underlying issue.

  2. Restart Your Device: As simple as it sounds, power cycling your device can sometimes reset your connection to the cell tower and allow a call to go through if a circuit frees up. Turn your phone fully off, wait 30 seconds, and power it back on before redialing.

  3. Toggle Airplane Mode: If you‘re in an area with weak Verizon coverage, toggling your phone‘s Airplane Mode on and off can force it to reestablish a connection to the nearest tower and potentially route a call through. Go to your phone settings, turn Airplane Mode on for 20 seconds, then turn it back off.

  4. Change Your Location: Moving even a short distance can switch your device to a new cell tower that may have circuits available. If you‘re indoors, try stepping outside, or walk/drive a few blocks away to shift to a different tower‘s coverage area.

  5. Update Carrier Settings: Occasionally, Verizon will push out updates to carrier settings which can optimize your device‘s network connection. Make sure you‘re running the latest carrier settings by going to Settings > General > About and looking for a "Carrier" option. Tap this to check for any available updates.

  6. Avoid Peak Call Times: If possible, try placing calls during off-peak hours when fewer people are using Verizon‘s network. Aim for mid-morning or mid-afternoon on weekdays, or weekends when overall call volume is lower.

  7. Use WiFi Calling: If your device and plan support it, enable WiFi Calling which routes your voice calls over an available WiFi network rather than Verizon‘s cellular towers. This can circumvent any "all circuits busy" issues, although the quality of the call is dependent on the strength of your WiFi connection.

  8. Upgrade Your Plan: On some older or prepaid Verizon plans, voice calls may be deprioritized during times of network congestion. If you‘re consistently unable to place calls due to busy circuits, it may be worth upgrading to a newer unlimited plan that includes "premium network access".

How Verizon‘s Network Upgrades Will Help

Verizon is investing billions in network enhancements which should help minimize "all circuits are busy" errors in the future. The company‘s widescale 5G rollout will eventually increase network efficiency and capacity, allowing more calls to be completed during high-traffic periods.

Additionally, Verizon is deploying a range of advanced technologies like carrier aggregation, multi-access edge computing (MEC), and dynamic spectrum sharing (DSS) as part of its "Intelligent Edge Network" initiative. These upgrades will dynamically allocate network resources where they‘re needed most, adapting to shifts in customer usage patterns.

"The beauty of 5G and these other intelligent networking systems is that they can automatically identify areas of congestion and dynamically adjust capacity in real-time," explains Rajesh Mishra, a network architect at Verizon. "So in the near future, the network itself will be able to automatically free up or reassign circuits to high-demand areas, without manual intervention from engineers."

Comparing Verizon to Other Carriers

While "all circuits are busy" messages can occur on any carrier network, studies suggest that Verizon customers may encounter this error slightly more often than subscribers of AT&T or T-Mobile. According to data from YouGov, 16% of Verizon users reported receiving an "all circuits busy" message in the past 3 months, compared to 14% of AT&T customers and 12% of T-Mobile customers.

Industry analysts point to a few potential reasons for this discrepancy. Verizon‘s network historically has the highest subscriber load, so its circuits may reach capacity more frequently. Additionally, Verizon‘s 5G technology and spectrum holdings differ from other carriers, which can impact overall network performance and congestion.

However, it‘s important to note that Verizon consistently scores well in independent network testing from firms like RootMetrics and OpenSignal, often ranking first in reliability, speed, and coverage. So while "all circuits busy" errors may happen slightly more often on Verizon, the carrier‘s overall network quality still leads in many key benchmarks.

Getting Help from Verizon Customer Service

If you‘re consistently encountering "all circuits busy" issues and the troubleshooting steps above don‘t help, don‘t hesitate to contact Verizon‘s customer support for further assistance. You can reach a representative by dialing *611 from your Verizon mobile device, using the online chat portal, or visiting a Verizon store in person.

Be sure to document the dates, times, and locations where you experienced "all circuits busy" messages, as well as any error codes displayed on your device. Screenshots can also help Verizon‘s technical support team diagnose any device-specific issues.

If the issue persists, you may be eligible for a repair, replacement device, or service credit under Verizon‘s warranty and service agreements. Verizon also offers a "Network Satisfaction Guarantee" that entitles you to a refund of your latest bill if you‘re unsatisfied with your network performance and cancel service shortly after subscribing.

The Future of Wireless Networks

As we look ahead to the coming decades, innovative new technologies offer promising solutions to the age-old problem of network capacity and busy circuits. Verizon and other carriers continue to expand their 5G networks, lighting up higher frequency millimeter wave (mmWave) spectrum bands that offer exponentially more bandwidth than 4G.

Beyond 5G, groundbreaking 6G standards are already in development, with goals of supporting 1000x more capacity than 5G. 6G networks will likely incorporate cutting-edge technologies like advanced channel coding, AI-driven beam management, and terahertz frequency bands to achieve unparalleled speeds and virtually unlimited capacity.

But it‘s not just the wireless technology itself that‘s evolving – so too are the devices and applications we connect with. From 8K video streaming to self-driving cars communicating over cellular vehicle-to-vehicle (C-V2X) networks, the demands we place on carrier networks will only intensify in the future. It will be up to Verizon and its competitors to continually innovate and adapt their networks to meet these challenges.

Ultimately, busy circuits and failed calls may never disappear completely – there will always be physical limitations to any network‘s geographic coverage and call capacity. But with the exciting leaps forward in wireless technology that we can expect in the 5G and 6G eras, "all circuits are busy" errors will likely become a much rarer occurrence. By implementing advanced network intelligence, dynamic resource allocation, and previously untapped spectrum bands, carriers like Verizon will be better equipped than ever to handle our skyrocketing connectivity needs.