What is ''Hard Pause'' on a cell phone and "2 Second Pause"?

Answer 1

The soft or timed pause adds a 2 second pause between strings of numbers.

The wait or hard pause stops a string of numbers until you press the Talk key again and continues dialing the next string.

For example, if you want your phone to dial your voicemail automatically, you would use a 2 second pause after your voicemail number (to wait until your greeting comes on), then program in a pound sign or an asterisk to bring up a message promting you to enter your pin, 2 second pause and then program in your PIN with the pound sign (#).

voicemail number--2 sec pause--pound--2 sec pause--PIN pound