Fine-tuning divert to voicemail for iPhones (and Android, BlackBerry, etc.)

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Answerphone by jypsygen http://www.flickr.com/photos/jypsygen/3461757736/sizes/l/For some reason, the iPhone 4, iPhone 4S and iPhone 5 (with the current or recent versions of iOS) have very few options for call diversion. Fortunately, it is possible to set up all the usual diverts using network codes from the keypad. To divert to voicemail, you need to know your <voicemail> number (see the section below).

The instructions below work regardless of phone operating system, so do work for Android
, BlackBerry and other devices. Those phones tend to provide these features in a more intuitive fashion, but if you can’t find the settings, the procedures here should work anyway.

Press the call button after entering the codes below:

Function Dial
Activate divert all **21*<voicemail>#
Deactivate divert all ##21#
Query divert all *#21#
Activate divert when no answer* **61*<voicemail>#
Deactivate divert when no answer ##61#
Query divert when no answer *#61#
Activate divert when not reachable **62*<voicemail>#
Deactivate divert when not reachable ##62#
Query divert when not reachable *#62#
Activate divert when busy **67*<voicemail>#
Deactivate divert when busy ##67#
Query divert when busy *#67#

*You can vary the number of seconds to wait before diverting when there’s no answer. The delay can be between 5 and 30 seconds. Enter that as a two digit number (05 to 30) in place of “<xx>” in the following code: **61*<voicemail>**<xx>#

Voicemail numbers

On the UK T-Mobile network, your voicemail number is usually +44063, followed by your mobile phone number (without the leading 0), e.g. if your phone number is 07123456789, the appropriate voicemail number is +440637123456789. Long-press the 0 key to get the +. BUT! in the voicemail number prefix (+44063) , the ’63’ may be something different for your phone – e.g. for the Fresh sub-network, the prefix is +44060. You can check the correct prefix by entering *#67#.

Voicemail numbers for other networks are more straightforward:

  • O2 901
  • Orange +447973100123
  • Virgin 212, or try prefixing your mobile phone number with +44002 (dropping the leading 0)
  • Vodafone 121

Answer phone image copyright © jypsygen, licensed under Creative Commons. Used with permission.