If you’re an active Facebook user, you’ll know the messenger platform can offer some great features such as voice calling. If you have a significant other, children, employees or friends, you might have noticed them using Facebook messenger a bit too much and this may lead you to wonder if they’re on a call.
If you’re in the same vicinity as that person, the obvious way to know if they’re on a call is to check to see if they’re on a call when you’re with them. But in most cases, you won’t be with that person if you’re wondering if they’re on another call in Messenger.
How Can You Tell If Someone is Video Chatting on Facebook Messenger
On Messenger, it’s pretty easy to know when someone is video chatting on Facebook because Messenger tells you.
Unlike other apps, you have to guess when someone is on a video chat with someone else, with Facebook Messenger, it’ll tell you that they’re on another call. Whether you’re on desktop, iPhone or Android, you can find out when someone is video chatting on Facebook.
Note: Using the methods below, you can also tell when someone is on another call on your native phone app whether on iPhone or Android, and even on WhatsApp.
Desktop:
To check if someone is on a video call with someone on Messenger:
1. Go to messenger.com. From here, you’ll see all of the open conversations that you have with people.
2. If the person you want to see if they’re video chatting isn’t on here, you need to search for their Facebook profile via the search button.
3. From there once you’ve found them, you need to select their name.
4. Once you’ve opened the conversation with them, then you can tap on the video chat button which is identified by a camera icon.
If the other person is video chatting with someone else, Facebook Messenger will say that they’re in another call.
Android and iPhone:
1. If you have Messenger installed on your Android, then you need to open it.
2. From here, you need to look for the person you want to check if they’re video chatting already on messenger with someone else.
3. If they’re not here and you want to check if they’re on a call with someone else, then you need to search for their name.
4. After you’ve found their profile, then you need to tap it.
5. From here, you’ll see the camera icon in the upper right corner which will signify the video call button.
6. To check if they’re on a video call with someone else, you need to tap on it.
If they are video chatting with someone else, Facebook messenger will say that they’re on another call.
This means that you won’t be able to video chat with them now since they’re video chatting with someone else. Once they come off that call, then you’ll be able to video chat with them because they’re available now and they’re not on call with someone else.
Call Them And See If They Answer
Another way to see if someone is on another video call with someone else is to call them and see if they answer.
Rather than trying to guess if they’re actually on a video call with someone and not just using Facebook, calling them and checking if they answer is one of your best indicators.
If they don’t answer and Facebook Messenger says that they’re on another call, then you know that they’re video chatting or on an audio call with someone else.
If they answer, then you know that they were just using Facebook and they weren’t video chatting with someone else.
Ask Them If They’re On A Video Call
If you don’t want to call them to check if Messenger says that they’re on another call, you don’t have to. You can simply ask them if they’re on call to someone else.
This means that you can find out if they’re on a call on Messenger without calling and it’s more polite to ask them if they’re video chatting with someone else before you call them since you saw the green active now light and you didn’t want to intrude.
If they say that they’re already on a video call, then you can ask them when they’re free to chat.
How to Know If Someone is On Another Call
There are a few ways to know if someone is on another call. Facebook does give concrete ways to know if someone is on another call however it’s quite invasive. If you don’t want to be invasive, then there are certain things that you can use to gauge if they’re on another call.
1. Facebook Says They’re On Another Call
When you try and call someone who’s on another phone or video call in Messenger, it’ll say that they’re currently in another call. This is the only concrete way to know that someone is on a call whilst they’re using Messenger.
You’d have to call them to know for sure if they are on another call – if you do call them and they aren’t on another call, the call will ring and they’ll pick up if they want to.
If the person is using their native phone app to be on that call, then the Messenger call will still go through like normal and you won’t know that they’re speaking to someone using their native phone app. You’ll only be told that they’re on another call if you try to call them using Facebook.
2. Check If They’re Active
Unfortunately, if you don’t try to call someone on Messenger to see if you’re told that they’re currently on another call, the only way to gauge if they’re possibly on a call without calling them is to check if they’re active.
- Go ahead and open your Messenger App on your device.
2. Next, find your Menu Bar and Tap the People icon.
3. After you open this section, you can tap the Active tab on your iPhone to see which of your Friends in currently Active on Facebook or Messenger. For Android, tap the People button at the bottom of the screen that looks like two heads.
A list of your friends will appear that are Currently Online and able to see your messages immediately. If your friend or relative that you are trying to contact doesn’t use the Messenger app they will not show up in your list, even if they use Facebook
- On iPhone, Active Friends will have a Blue Messenger Icon next to their profile picture.
- On Android, Active Friends will have a Green Dot next to their profile picture
If you can see that someone is online, there’s more of a chance that they could be on the phone to someone else, and the best thing to do in that situation would be to call them, however, if you don’t want to call them, then this is as close as you can get.
3. Ask Them
If you’re feeling brave, another thing that you can do is to check if they’re on another call with someone is to simply ask them if they’re on another call with someone. Doing this would consist of you messaging them on messenger and waiting for their response.
Does Calling Someone on Messenger Make Them Active?
Calling someone on Messenger doesn’t make them active. The only reason someone will be able on Messenger when you call them and they go on Messenger is that you called them.
If they weren’t active on Messenger before you called them and they didn’t go on the app because you called them, they won’t suddenly become active on the app.
If you’re now seeing the Active Now green light button after you called them, it’s because they went on Facebook or Facebook Messenger because you called them, or they just felt like going on the app, but calling them doesn’t automatically make someone active on Messenger.
If you call someone on Messenger and they answer, then this will automatically make them active on Messenger because they’re using the app to speak to you. Even if they don’t visit the messenger app directly, it’ll automatically open once they answer the call which will make them active.
If they don’t answer your call and they don’t visit the messenger app when you call them, then they won’t become active on the app.
If you want to test this, you can look for Facebook accounts that were last active on messenger days ago. From here, you want to call them. You’ll notice that most of them won’t become active because they’re probably not an active person on Messenger in general.
If you called someone that was active on Messenger a few minutes or hours ago, you’ll notice that most of them become active on Messenger simply because they so your call and decided to go on the app to either check things out or to message you.
What Happens When You Are on a Phone Call and Someone Else Calls on Facebook Messenger?
Facebook Messenger will tell someone that you’re on another call if they try and call you. The call won’t go through as you’re already on another call so you won’t be able to see it.
You’ll only be notified on the chat with them that they tried to call you but while they were calling you, you won’t see it. Unlike other phone apps, the call doesn’t come up on your screen to let you know that someone was trying to call you.
Instead, you’ll just be notified via a message. For the other person, they’ll also be notified that you’re busy and aren’t able to answer their call right now.
How to Remove in Another Call in Messenger
If you don’t want people to know when you’re video chatting on messenger or if you’re on a video call with someone else on your phone app, then you can remove the Another call feature in messenger.
The Another Call feature in messenger lets people who try to call you when you’re on another call know that you’re on another call. This can feel like a privacy violation as people can easily find out if you’re on another call without your permission.
The downside of this is that there’s no setting that you can toggle on or off to stop people from being able to find out if you’re on another call.
To remove the Another Call feature in Messenger, you’ll need to delete the messenger app. Since there’s no direct setting to turn this off, the only way to get rid of it is to get rid of the app.
Of course, if people are being notified that you’re on another call whilst you’re video or audio chatting with someone else on Messenger, then it’s clear that you use Messenger to speak to people and you can’t just delete it.
If this is the case, then there’s nothing you can do apart from blocking this person. If you block someone, they won’t be able to find out when you’re on another call when they try to call you on messenger.
Of course, blocking someone is harsh but that’s the only way to stop them from calling you and finding out that you’re on another call with someone else.
Another way to remove the Another call feature in Messenger is to turn off video calls entirely on Facebook. So instead of uninstalling Messenger, you’ll still be able to use it, but it means that no one can call you on the app. The downside of this is that people can’t call you, but it means that no one will be able to find out if you’re on another call.
Turning Off Calls
1. Go to Facebook in your web browser.
2. In the bottom-right corner, select the Settings Cog.
3. Select Turn Off Video/Voice calls.
4. Select how long you want it turned off for.
5. Select Disable.
In Another Call Bug Messenger
There are a lot of people saying that Facebook Messenger says that they’re on another call even though they’re not. Sometimes, Facebook Messenger can notify someone that tries to call you and say that you’re on another call even though you’re not.
If this has happened to you, then there’s a bug or glitch that occurs within the Messenger app that tells people that you’re on another call even though you’re not and there’s not much you can do about this glitch.
If it’s happening to you, where you call someone and it doesn’t go through but it says they’re busy on another call but when you ask them or you’re with them they weren’t, then you’ll need to do a few things to get rid of the bug.
Delete and Re-Install Messenger
The first step you need to take to stop Messenger from saying that someone’s on another call when they’re not is to reinstall Messenger. If there’s a bug or glitch that’s causing it to say that someone’s on another call when they’re not is going to fix the issue.
When you get rid of the app, this clears the cache and wipes all the information the apps store on your phone. This means that any bug on Messenger that was causing it says someone was busy when they’re not is now going to be removed.
Wait For Them To Come Out With A Fix
If Messenger is still saying someone’s busy on another call when they’re not, then you’ll need to wait for Messenger to come out with a fix. Since this bug has been going on for quite a while now as documented on Quora, you might be waiting for this bug fix for a very long time.
Can You Call Someone on Messenger If They Are Not Active
You can call someone on Messenger if they’re currently not active on the app. If you can’t see the green dot in the upper right corner on the camera icon, this means that they’re currently not on Facebook or Facebook Messenger, but it doesn’t mean that they don’t have the app on your phone.
This means that if you were to call them, even though they’re not actively using Facebook or Messenger, they can still answer. The only situation where you could call someone on Messenger and they didn’t answer is if they have deleted the app.
If they’re not active because they’ve deleted the app, then of course they won’t be able to answer because they can’t see it. But if they’re not using the app actively, you can still call them and chances are they’ll pick up if you’re close with them.
If You Call Someone on Messenger Can They See Your Number
When there’s a call between one user and another or multiple Messenger users, there needs to be some form of identification on the call. When calling someone on Facebook Messenger, the way each caller is identified via their username.
The username is the email id that you’ve used to log into Messenger with or if you’ve changed it in Facebook settings, then it’s simply the username that you changed it to. Your phones number isn’t used anywhere in Messenger calls.
If someone calls you on Messenger, they can’t see your number because Facebook messenger doesn’t use your number or reveal your number when someone calls you on Messenger.
In terms of internet calls, the internet plays the prime role in the transmission of audio signals for VOIP calls such as calls on Messenger. With VOIP calls, your number isn’t used, only your profile identification, and the internet is used to transmit the audio signals.
Calls on Facebook Messenger are more encrypted and safer which means that your phone number is kept private.
This is the same situation for WhatsApp but rather than the user id being the email or username you used to log into Messenger, WhatsApp uses your number so people will be able to find out or see your number if they call you. But with Messenger and Facebook calls, your number isn’t used as the identification so people won’t be able to see your number.