If you have the Microsoft Teams app installed on your phone, you should check the Play store for an update. You could be saving someone's life.
Wait, what?
A confluence of bugs impacting Microsoft Teams and the Android operating system as a whole has put calls from phones with OS version 10 or later at risk of being blocked. The issue was spotlighted a couple weeks ago in a Reddit post, and then examined and summed up in a subsequent Medium post penned by former XDA-Developers editor-in-chief Mishaal Rahman.
Rahman wrote that the issue can occur when the user has the Microsoft Teams app installed but not logging in. That results in an "unintended interaction" between the app and the operating system, which leads to the blocked emergency calls.
It is not the most obvious glitch to detect for those who are affected. When you call the emergency number, it seems to work. The phone says there is an active call and it rings once. The call never shows up in the call log, and the connection never happens.
There's an easy way for those who can't get their app updated to do so. If you have the Teams app installed but don't have a signed in account, first uninstall and re- install it and then sign in. It's all over. Users are advised to stay signed in until they get the Microsoft update.
The cause of the issue is rather complicated and technical, but it stems from the way the app and OS talk to each other. Rahman has a full rundown in his Medium post. The issue is partially fixed, and it will make the teams vs. android software conflict go away. The upcoming update on the phone is meant to make sure this doesn't happen with other apps that can make calls.
If you're signed in, you should update your Teams app immediately.
