problems with iphone 5 voicemail and microcell

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problems with iphone 5 voicemail and microcell

We have the iphone 5 and recently installed an AT&T microcell in our home. Until we installed the microcell, we had one to two bars max. Now our phone reception is perfect.

PROBLEM: When someone calls, and we miss the call, it shows a missed call. On occasion (not always) it shows on our phone there is a voicemail (on the banner). However, when we go to the voicemail box there are no messages. Missed calls are logged.

As soon as we leave our home, and are no longer connected to the microcell, and get enough reception, voicemails will then show up and be accessible via our iphone voicemail box.

We did figure out a way to check for voicemails from home (while on microcell) without using the iphone voicemail box, by simply calling our own phone number, using a password and seeing if there are messages from there (like you would on a landline).

AT&T has been trying to work out this problem, and I spent an hour on an on-line chat with a technician who tried numerous things to remedy the problem. He then forwarded my case to another "higher up". I was contacted this AM, but missed the call. Luckily, I heard his message because I was able to listen to it because I wasn't at home using my microcell.

Now I sit, waiting to hear from a technician in Atlanta, who asked me to call him back and I've tried three times only to get his voicemail (wonder if he has a microcell voicemail problem--joke intended).

Is there anyone here who has experienced this problem and can help me. It's so frustrating to miss important voicemails and have to use a "guess and check" method every time I miss a call to determine if there is a voicemail on my new phone.

Thanks for your help and consideration.

Jane

iMac, Mac OS X (10.6.8)

Posted on Oct 12, 2012 11:55 AM

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Answer 1

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jesgramenz Author

Level 1

14 points

Oct 12, 2012 8:31 PM in response to jesgramenz

So I got tired of waiting for said technician to call back from Atlanta and finally got ahold of a knowledgable gal who said, "Microcell's cannot transmit visual voicemail (in other words, won't see it on my phone voicemail box) because unlike regular cell towers, microcell towers do not transmit internet/visual data.

So I can see a missed call message, and an alert there is a voicemail message (on my phone front when I look at it), I won't see the visual of the voicemail (the play button, etc.) on my iphone mailbox until I leave my microcell and pick up another signal. She told me all I have to do while on my microcell at home is see that I have a voicemail, dial "1" and access my auditory voicemail (just like a landline) and go from there.

Disappointed that microcell's cannot transmit like a regular cell tower, but I guess that is what you get in such a small package. It is still worth it for the perfect reception we get and knowing I can still get my voicemails. And knowing if I am out of my microcell range I will see the voicemail in my iphone voicemail box.

Too bad that it took so much of my time talking to technicians who then passed my problem onto other technicians (who were supposed to be even more knowledgable) only to get fed up and get lucky by having this gal answer my ring. She put an end to frustration.

It's better to have a resolution of "this is the way it is" than no solution at all (no one telling me it isn't possible, they just keep trying to "figure it out").

So hopefully someone else doesn't spend the time and energy trying to figure out why their microcell won't show a voicemail in their iphone voicemail box. Just dial "1" to hear your message!

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Answer 2

Oct 12, 2012 9:03 PM in response to jesgramenz

Do have WiFi? If the phone can connect via WiFi it should be able to use that for data (such as voicemail) and still use the microcell for voice and SMS.

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