Visual Voicemail notifications with data off?

Visual voicemail messages are downloaded via AT&T's cellular network only, which I believe is via their data or internet network. You can test this by turning data off followed by calling your cell phone number from a landline at work or if you have a landline at home.

If you are in an area with no data service, you won't have cellular service either to place or receive calls.

Hi Fermi,

First off, welcome to the forums. To answer your question, visual voicemail requires a connection to the AT&T data network in order for it to function. When you have data turned off, the network is unable to communicate with your iPhone and let it know someone has left a message. Once the iPhone reconnects to the data network, you will then receive the voicemail notifications and be able to access them. In areas with not data service, the iPhone will not notify you of new voicemails until you return to an area with data service. Keeping data turned off limits the functionality of Visual Voicemail.

Rob

I've never been anywhere with my iPhone and AT&T's network when I had cellular reception for voice only and no data access. If you have cellular reception for voice, you will have data or internet access as well unless AT&T's internet access is completely down at the time, which isn't common.

As already provided, visual voicemail messages are downloaded to the iPhone via AT&T's data or internet network only along with the notification there is a voicemail message available - the new message notification isn't provided until a new visual voicemail message has been downloaded by the iPhone. With the old hammer and chisel method with phones that don't have internet access via the cellular network - having to call to listen to voicemail messages at the server, the alert indicating a new voicemail message is available is provided via the same network as calls.

I have iphone4 with 2gig plan. My visual voicemail works great. My wife has 200mb plan. Hers does not work. I called AT&T and they said that you do not get visual voicemail with 200mb plan. Have you heard anything like that? Has yours ever worked? Thanks.

I called AT&T and they said that you do not get visual voicemail with 200mb plan.

This is a new one which I don't believe is correct.

The chosen data plan should have no effect on visual voicemail access.

Call back & talk to someone who knows what they are talking about:

http://www.att.com/Common/aboutus/files/iphone/consumer_fact_sheetip4.pdf

All individual plans for the iphone include visual voicemail.