Phone as presence sensor question

Welcome to the community! Phone presence is very hit and miss. Works very well for some not so much for others. Mine was very sporadic. You could try to change the size of the geofence to see if that helps.
Most people use a combination of things, life360, phone, etc. There is even a community app for it, [RELEASE] Combined Presence
I myself just use a Samsung presence sensor with a battery mod found on the forums. I have one in my car and my wife's and they have been working incredibly well.