Another Dark Art...

[ameerat42]

How DUMB!!! - At least for a Galaxy 5S "Smart"phone.
Maybe it applies to others:confused013

If you want to change the number of rings/time that the phone rings
before it goes to voicemail, do you think you can do it using the phone
menus? - Yes, that's right. - You cannot.

Instead you have to dial in (on phone keypad) the likes of the following INCANTATION...
**61*101*30#

-- if you're on Telstra, or change the 101 to 321 if you're with Optus.
I don't know about other carriers:confused013

What's it all mean? - I'm guessing the 61 is AU international code; the 101/321/etc
is the code for the carrier's voicemail number. But I did read that the 30, or any figure
you set, is the number of seconds the phone will ring before going to voicemail.

So now I have set it, I no longer have to dive into my pocket to grab the phone as
soon as it starts ringing.

Do you have any other dark art to tell of?

[arthurking83]

I wouldn't call the system of phone dumb because of that.
I dunno nuthin about how mobile phone networks operate, but it's kind'a obvious with that info that the voicemail system is independent of the phone in use.
Therefore you can use any 'dumbphone'(ie. old style phone only type phones, or these newfangled smartphones, or whatever other device you can use to access the phone network.

Remember that all this settings stuff is either an internal bit of coding, or an external(thirdparty) app to effect the settigns changes.

So think about it this way: if the phone maker had to make a method for accessing voicemail for every service provider all around the world, then the phone's coding would be far too bloated taking up space as well as resources(on the phone).
The alternative would be that phones would be region specific, and we had that in the dark old days of DVDs when one region wouldn't work on a DVD player from a different region .. etc. etc.

I assume there would be an app available that could simply give you the 'settings' type interface, but what it'd do in reality is simply dial in that cryptic ** .. number combo .. # combo instead of you using it directly.
It should be incumbent on the network provider to provide the necessary app as it's their network .. and their cutomer.

But! and I suspect all network providers will do this .. there should be a saved contact in your contact list on your sim card to do something similar.
I'm not entirely sure what they each do, but as the sim card is provided by the newtork operator, and the phone itself is a thridparty device, it's simpler for the network provider to embed this feature in sim cards, rather than having an app that needs to work across a host of operating systems, and the sub variations of them too, and the possibility of clashing with some other badly coded app .. etc, etc.

So I understand where you're coming from. But as I don't use, and never have used, voicemail I can't sympathise! :p

But the long and short of it is that it's not a phone setup system, and is a network operation setup parameter.

I'm with Optass and can vouch for the 321 value, just had a quick peek in the sim card contact list and only found an on/off and access parameter, but no listed number to edit the ring time.
The access value(number) is listed as 321(only) and the on/off value is something like 1501.
What they mean and or do is not within my ability to comprehend.

Just had a quick peek at the Optus specific app for allowing access to all manner of (mainly cruddy bloatware) features and settings and again, I didn't see any way to edit the ring time in there either.

Haven't searched the play store to see if an app is available to edit the parameters you seek using a pretty interface.

Finally, I went into the my settings page on the my Optus webzoo doodad .. to see what options are available there too, and again nothing that relates to timing of rings before it goes to voicemail there either.

[ameerat42]

You're right in a way, AK. But it's not very publicised how to do it, and it seems there's some default
value set when setting up voicemail. OTOH, I wouldn't think voicemail systems would vary too much
around the world.

- - - Updated - - -

I also have Optus and found this:
http://cdn.optusdigital.com/opfiles/Business/PDFs/Optus_321_Voicemail_User_Guide.pdf

---and this for Telstra:
https://www.telstra.com.au/support/category/mobiles-tablets/user-guides-help/set-up-manage-or-cancel-messagebank

[blkmcs]

Here is the book of spells.

https://www.telstra.com.au/support/category/mobiles-tablets/user-guides-help/set-up-manage-or-cancel-messagebank

[Tannin]

The TLDR for Arthur's post is as follows:

Nothing whatsoever to do with your telephone. Telstra provides your voicemail, complain to Telstra.

(I can't see how they could make it much simpler and more logical than it is already, but I'm not very bright.)

Be that as it may, it is a Telstra service, and to change the settings you need to call Telstra. (Which is what that string of numbers does: it rings up Telstra's computer and asks it nicely to change the ring delay on your Telstra voicemail service for you.)

[arthurking83]

Au international code is +61.
The + is an important distinction here.

The code *#61# is a method for accessing your voicemail settings. It'll give you your physical individual voicemail number and the current settings.
The voicemail number looks like a mobile phone number, but is 9 digits instead of 10.
Try that code on your phone. Won't hurt just gives you voicemail status that looks something like this...

Call forwarding when no reply
Voice: +61123456789 after 30 seconds
Sync: +61123456789 after 30 seconds

this is where the +61 Au code comes into it, then the 9 digit number and the time info.


.... OTOH, I wouldn't think voicemail systems would vary too much
around the world.
....

Just because I'm stupidly curious .. I had a peek at how to setup voicemail at AT&T.

For AT&T, to enter voicemail setup, you press and hold the '1' key on your phone!

In my reading up on this, it seems that the AT&T ring time setup is based on number of rings, rather than a time value.
The info more commonly offered is that you vary the ring time by the number of rings(1-6) and that each ring value equals 6 seconds.

I then had a look at how to setup voicemail at Verizon, and to get into the setup you need to use the *86 combo to enter.
Where AT&T only had the one set of instructions(assuming for the entire US), Verizon have two different sets of setup/access instructions base on your location!

So, not only are the systems a teeny bit different, but they can be different depending on your region by the same carrier service!

[ameerat42]

Hmm! Dark arts, then... :cool:

[John King]

PDF file containing phone setup codes is here:

https://www.telstra.com.au/help/download/document/home-features-user-guide-c020.pdf

These codes appear to be the same for mobile phones (where applicable).

Hope this helps ...

[ameerat42]

Ta, John. Got that and the Optus ones.