How to change the number of rings before iPhone goes to Voicemail

Changing the number of rings before your iPhone goes to voicemail is a carrier setting, not an iPhone setting. Here are the steps for a few of the top providers.

Change Number of Rings before Voicemail (AT&T)

1. Go to Account overview > My digital phone > Check or manage voicemail & features.
2. On the Voicemail Settings tab, scroll to General Preferences and select Set Number Of Rings Before Voicemail. 
3. Choose a setting ranging from 1 ring (6 seconds) to 6 rings (36 seconds).
4. Select Save.

Change Number of Rings before Voicemail (Verizon)

• You must call Verizon Customer Care to do this

Change Number of Rings before Voicemail (TMobile)

(According to their customer support forum)

• Change call forwarding delay time. Choose a 5, 10, 15, up to a 30-second delay. For example, dialing **61*18056377243**10# would be a 10-second delay.

marilynfromaiken wrote:

Change the number of rings on incoming calls

You will need to contact your carrier. Some will change the length of time between when the ringing starts and when it goes to voice mail. Some will not.

You can’t. Your carrier determines the length before a call is routed to voicemail. You could try using different ringtones if the length is bothersome to you when you hear the ringtone but that doesn’t really change the actual length of time the call attempt lasts before it is routed to voicemail. You can also contact your carrier to see if they offer any options.

Please check with your carrier on this. Most of them have a user website that allows you to do some "customizing" on things.

For example, with ATT.....last time I checked......users can select anywhere from 1 ring to 6 rings before things go to voicemail

shegabs wrote:

Can I change the number of rings on my phone before answering machine picks up

No one has yet replied to you.

You need to contact your carrier and ask them to extend/decrease the amount of time before the call goes to voicemail.

Korina27 wrote:

I can’t see any replies either, only the same question repeated. Please, if you guys see the answer copy paste it. Anything else isn’t useful thanks

From my post of July 1 in this thread:

You need to contact your carrier and ask them to extend/decrease the amount of time before the call goes to voicemail.

rose_50ca wrote:

How to extend the rings on my iPhone 12 before it goes to answering machine?

You need to contact your carrier and ask them to extend/decrease the amount of time before the call goes to voicemail.

Where are you looking? This question has been answered multiple times. The answer is the same on all of them......

Your carrier likely has a user site that you can log on to with some options regarding your service. AT&T for example allows a user to set the number of rings from 1 to 8 before the call goes to voicemail.

Other carriers may offer an option based on time.....5 seconds, 10 seconds, etc.

Moomoomoo wrote:

The solution does not fix it. Contacted Optus they blame apple. Contacted apple told to report to Optus. When I told them I already had they said report again. Optus said it a fault with apple. Lots of owners still having problems despite following advice. Unfortunately it must be a bug in apple software. Phone rings twice then straight to voicemail.

Optus is either incompetent, lazy or both. Apple has ABSOLUTELY NO CONTROL over how long your phone rings. There is NO setting on iPhone to change it. ONLY Optus can do this for you. If they are that lazy or refuse to do for you, the customer who pays them monthly for service what you need them to do, maybe it's time to move to a carrier who will do their job? DON'T accept Optus pushing you back to Apple.

Anyone90 wrote:

How do I change the number of rings on my iPhone before it gets to voicemail

There are three pages of replies telling you the only way to do this is to contact your carrier who controls this. Did you not read any of the replies?

Moomoomoo wrote:

Problem is. The phone settings need to be changed as Optus has set their end at maximum rings bit iPhone only rings twice then straight to voicemail.

There are no settings on the iPhone to change the number of rings before the call goes to voicemail. I think Optus is giving you bad information.

There is a limit to how long a phone can ring before going to voicemail. I'm in the US, with AT&T. My phone rings for 30 seconds, the maximum time which it can be set to. iOS 18 didn't do anything to upset or change how long my phone can ring. If Optus isn't capable of the same, I again suggest looking for a different carrier if they don't meet your needs. But looking to Apple to change something for you on this is a wasted effort. Apple has NOTHING to do with how long your phone rings.

Moomoomoo wrote:

Optus has set it at the maximum number of rings. They have rechecked it for me at least 3 times . They then logged a fault and checked. I’m not the only one who has had this problem after an update 15 or 16. The recent apple updates have not rectified it as both apple and Optus has hoped.

Apple didn't "hope" for anything as they have no control. Optus, though, is hoping to get you to stop calling them and costing them money (customer service calls are expensive for the carriers) by blaming it on Apple. This is standard carrier behavior.

Carriers also don't set a "maximum number of rings." They set, as lobsterghost1 explained, the amount of time. So, if they're telling you they're setting a number of rings, it sounds like you're talking to someone who is, shall we say, poorly trained.

Read the thread, it's not long. Contact your carrier.

The solution does not fix it. Contacted Optus they blame apple. Contacted apple told to report to Optus. When I told them I already had they said report again. Optus said it a fault with apple. Lots of owners still having problems despite following advice. Unfortunately it must be a bug in apple software. Phone rings twice then straight to voicemail.