How to change the number of rings before voice mail picks up

pamala81 wrote:

Great, so after searching here and finding no answers that apparently work, would you be so kind as to show me all the answers? Or just one that works? Thank you ❤️

Who is your cell provider?

Incorrect information. This is NOT controlled by the carrier, if it was, all phones from the same carrier would pick up on the same number of rings. For tmoble, different phones pick up at different times, iphone picks up faster (fewer rings) than other phones. Settings for all 5 phones are IDENTICAL per tmobile customer support.

Brandylab wrote:

Incorrect information. This is NOT controlled by the carrier, if it was, all phones from the same carrier would pick up on the same number of rings. For tmoble, different phones pick up at different times, iphone picks up faster (fewer rings) than other phones. Settings for all 5 phones are IDENTICAL per tmobile customer support.

Nope! YOU are wrong. The number of rings before voicemail is controlled by the carrier. You may be surprised to know that voicemail is also a carrier service. Your phone is not actually recording the call when it comes in, it is the carrier that starts the voicemail after the set number of seconds and records the message on their servers. Your phone is just playing the voicemail from the carrier.

That is why users here in this thread have found the solution to change the seconds before voicemail with the specific codes for AT&T. Note that is is the seconds not the number of rings because each ringtone may have a different duration and the carrier has no idea what ring tone you have on your device. Since you are a TMobile user, you can see the solution for your carrier on their website:

https://community.t-mobile.com/accounts-services-4/how-to-change-number-of-rings-before-goes-to-voicemail-39504

https://community.t-mobile.com/android-9/want-to-increase-number-of-rings-before-voicemail-54639

Simply not correct. I tested this, 5 phones, all Tmobile, 3 android, 2 iphone. All same line settings. The android phones take longer to go to voicemail than the iphones do.

This is a really simple test, that anyone can do. Different phones, same carrier, different number of rings before voicemail picks up. I'm not sure why folks here all insist it has nothing todo with the phones.

For me, its a problem, because I use call forwarding, and I want the android phone to pick up the voice message, but my iphone picks it up much sooner. Both phones start ringing at the same time, the iphone goes to voice message sooner.

AND, its not set at the phone number (not the line), because I get the same result if I switch the sims.

Iphones are picking up faster than android, so it has something to do with the phones, its an easy test to confirm.

I'm not going to argue with you. The question in this thread has been how to make the time the phone rings longer, not which phones ring longer. It is completely irrelevant if an Android rings marginally longer. The answer is and ALWAYS will be if someone wants their phone to ring longer, that is controlled by the carrier and they need to contact their carrier to ask them to increase the length of time their phone rings before going to voicemail. So again, I am not wrong nor is anyone else who has correctly told users to contact their carrier if they want their phone to ring longer. And that should end this. Feel free to comment back if you're so inclined. But I won't respond back.

Brandylab wrote:

I have a google voice number. It is forwarded to several phones, a pixel, and iphone 13, and a samsung S23.

That may be the difference for you right there. As you have seen on this thread, there are several AT&T users who were able to get the time before voicemail changed through a code sent to the cell provider and I have posted the links to TMobile users who have done the same.

Nobody else here has asked about which phone gets sent to voicemail first when forwarding to multiple phones using a Google Voice number. That would seem to be a different topic altogether and saying the answers to the Op's question and others here is wrong is simply not a true statement as they have confirmed it has worked.

You start by reading the many answers that have already been given.

not true, different phones take different times before sending to voicemail, iphone 13 sends to voicemail much faster than Pixel 9, for example, same carrier, same account.

Read through the answers already posted.

Great, so after searching here and finding no answers that apparently work, would you be so kind as to show me all the answers? Or just one that works? Thank you ❤️

Try reading the very first response in this thread.

THIS TOTALLY WORKED I JUST TRIED IT!!! iPhone 16 Pro Max on AT&T