How to Get Rid of Voice Mail

In that location'south a hazard yous know people with a phone who seldom, maybe never, make a phone call. The smartphone handset—fifty-fifty dumb feature phones—support SMS texting or other options for quick advice, similar iMessage, Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, and plenty more than. Why telephone call? There are, in fact, those who non only eschew calls, only especially hate/loathe the characteristic that once fabricated united states of america always contactable even earlier email: phonation mail.

Telephone letters are a characteristic that appointment back decades to the home answering machine, which used to be the size of a current game panel. But all they could do was play 30 seconds of greeting and capture messages for playback on a cassette record (or two, if you were lucky).

Today, voice mail is ane of the well-nigh basic services offered by mobile carriers, who shop your messages for yous to access remotely, at practically no charge. But it'due south merely ridiculous in most scenarios. Why would anyone leave a voice message when shooting off 160 characters tin can get the job washed 99 pct of the fourth dimension? Worse is the inevitable game of telephone tag that comes when neither party can connect in real-time. The only worthwhile phone greetings are created past super-spies like Sterling Archer:

At that place's already testify that the millennial gear up is fugitive voice mail service, which is no surprise. They grew typing with their thumbs faster than any other generation tin can clear words from their mouth holes.

Only how do you avert greetings when you do make the call and desire to jump correct to leaving a message? And how do you lot avoid getting any voice post messages at all? Let u.s. break information technology downward for y'all.

Avoid Greetings

A few years agone, onetime New York Times columnist David Pogue went on a tear most how the major mobile carriers gouged people out of their cellular minutes by calculation a few extra seconds of instructions after people listened to vocalization mail greetings (and the greetings were probably already long enough). Information technology wasn't exactly universal—Apple made AT&T take information technology out for iPhone users—but pretty close. The instructions were total of highly useful tidbits similar "when you are finished, hang upwardly."

The decline of email since 2009, as texting skyrocketed, means it's unlikely the carriers are extorting as many millions back from user. However, you can still take steps to bypass a greeting and the instructions that follow. Assuming you however feel the need to leave a voice mail at all.

The key is knowing the carrier used past the person you're calling. If you do, the following keys should let yous become straight to the beep. Tap the post-obit when the greeting begins:

AT&T and T-Mobile: # (the pound or hash key)
Sprint: 1
Verizon Wireless: * (star central)

Hit the wrong fundamental when calling the wrong carrier can send you into some instructions (like hit one with T-Mobile), kill your call, or bring up a prompt to sign into the call recipient's voice mail—that happens when you hitting # with Verizon, or * on the rest of the big four (plus Us Cellular). This is a trick all-time reserved for when you know a person's carrier of pick. Hitting the pound key if you don't know; at least that's a 50/50 shot. You still take to listen to the rings. Sorry. Or, hey, ameliorate even so, simply send a text!

SlyDial

An app-based selection: leave a voice mail bulletin for someone so their phone doesn't even ring! Or, it emits a quick half ring in some cases. Slydial has apps for iPhone and Android, or anyone tin utilise information technology by calling 267-SLYDIAL, even from a landline. It's free to use—if you're upward for listening to the advertising that pays for the service; a pro version skips the ads. Information technology doesn't piece of work if you call a prepaid phone, a line with a full vox mail box, a VoIP service, a 3rd-party phonation mail service like Google Voice, or a landline.

What Slydial does not exercise is salve you any time, since you're listening to even more than blah-blah-blah before the call goes to the vocalism post (though you can withal use the keys above to skip those greetings). It's strictly for leaving stealth messages. It worked find in my test calls, but many of the reviews of the app online are from pissed-off people who couldn't go it to piece of work, because they really got continued to the person for whom they wanted to leave a voice mail service. Oops.

Turning Off Vocalisation Mail

Today we take visual vocalization mail options on iPhones and Android devices—where messages are accessed via the Telephone app, rather than dialing into a number to admission calls, which requires listening for cues to push buttons, etc. It'south a lot easier, since you can generally delete a message with a tap or a swipe.

No More Voicemail But what if you utterly hate and despise voice mail with a passion, and you lot don't want the service to be part of your phone at all, so you're never forced to listen to messages you don't desire ever again? It's not e'er easy. In about cases you have to call the visitor (punch 611) or go to the retail outlet to turn off vocalization post. In some cases with some smartphone/carrier combos, you can go into Settings > Telephone and deactivate the voice post; only non in most cases.

A footling lifehack: call your own voice mail and play music into it for a while, until the voice mail box is full. Never delete that recording, and y'all'll never get any new messages. Do it a few times if letters take a cutoff time.

There's too an app for that: No More than Voicemail (NMV) for Android and iOS claims information technology can do away with your vox mail service, skipping the talk with the carrier. What it does is provide the code you need to prepare "conditional call forwarding." Unlike regular phone call forwarding, where the call is shunted to a different number so your phone never rings, this is a call where your phone still rings and yous tin can respond it. The difference with No More Voicemail's version is, if you don't respond, the caller but hears ringing that goes on forever. (Note that it only works for the big four carriers in the states, plus Usa Cellular, and won't work with Google Voice.) Once yous want your phonation postal service service back, go into the app and it'll generate a new code to phone call.

Note that the app services like Slydial and No More Voicemail aren't foolproof. The comments in the app stores are riddled with people having issues, only in NMV'due south case specially they're in in that location answering issues and trying to help. And if yous detest voice postal service plenty, it might be worth it.

Near Eric Griffith

Eric Griffith

Eric Griffith has been writing about computers, the internet, and engineering professionally for 30 years, more than one-half of that time with PCMag. He was previously on the founding staff of publications like Windows Sources, FamilyPC, and Access Internet Magazine, all of which are now defunct, and it's not his fault. He spent six years writing exclusively near Wi-Fi, just don't ask him to ready your router. At PCMag he runs several special projects including the Readers' Choice and Business Option surveys, and yearly coverage of the Fastest ISPs and Best Gaming ISPs, plus regularly writes features on all tech topics. He's the author of two novels: BETA Examination ("an …