Unfortunately, I don't have any ideas and honestly haven't even heard of the feature until just now, but I did want to confirm from the proverbial horse's mouth that your friend's iPhone is indeed compatible with this feature:
In FaceTime on iPhone, change the audio settings.
support.apple.com
But just to be 100% sure, you are following these instructions on how to activate it, correct?
In FaceTime on iPhone, change the audio settings.
support.apple.com