i rarely make calls without my headphones so i didnt really notice this issue until yesterday when i tried to call just using the handset. the timer starts ticking but i hear nothing...no ringing and no answering by the other party but they can hear me. usually the second attempt to call the number works fine
for some reason, when using the handset only, the speaker in the ear piece gets turned on mute and you have to toggle the speaker button to get it to work....
well i did a quick search online and wow...
there is a 74 page thread on this issue here
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3404857?start=0&tstart=0
nobody seems to know if its hardware or software related. people have returned their phones and received new ones with the same problem, some have not had the problem return.
apparently the soon to be released IOS update does not fix the problem.
anyone here experience this?