topic Re: The New VM System And The Number Of Rings in Get Support

The New VM System And The Number Of Rings

Martin — Tue, 04 Jan 2022 17:50:47 GMT

Hi,

When my PM phone was supported by the former voicemail system, it rang 4 times before the incoming call was forwarded to voicemail. I didn't regard 4 rings as sufficient; as a result, I increased the number to the maximum allowable, namely, 5.

When the new voicemail system was implemented, I wanted to ensure that my phone would still ring 5 times before calls were directed to voicemail. To my surprise, only 2 rings were necessary before a call would be forwarded.

It's possible that the new system is forwarding calls to voicemail after only 2 rings when someone calls you.

The following applies to Android devices; other phones may or may not be similarly affected:
1: If you wish to know how many rings are necessary before a call is sent to voicemail, you can either call your PM phone from a non-PM one, or you can enter *#61# in your PM phone's dialer.
2: After learning the above, and, if you wish to increase or decrease the number of rings, enter in your phone's dialer **61*+1(your 10-digit regional voicemail number without spaces)*11*30#. In this example, 30 represents 30 seconds, which equals 5 rings, the maximum allowable. If you want 4 rings, change 30 to 25, and so forth.

FYI.

Re: The New VM System And The Number Of Rings

7789849803 — Wed, 02 Mar 2016 14:57:17 GMT

@Martin wrote:
If you want 4 rings, change 30 to 25, and so forth.

I think it's 6 seconds per ring. So 4 rings would be 24 seconds, and 3 would be 18.

Re: The New VM System And The Number Of Rings

srlawren — Wed, 02 Mar 2016 19:22:47 GMT

Awesome tips, @Martin! I just tried the *#61# and it indeed reports to me that it will callforward after 25 seconds to 7785804002. Cool.

Re: The New VM System And The Number Of Rings

srlawren — Wed, 02 Mar 2016 19:24:35 GMT

I should add: how do I know if I'm on the old or new voicemail system? I believe I signed up around the time that PM was starting to migrate people; to the best of my knowledge, I've never received notification of being migrated, but I'm not sure if I started in the old system or possibly directly in the new? I signed up on I believe Sept 29, 2015, if that helps...

Re: The New VM System And The Number Of Rings

Martin — Wed, 02 Mar 2016 19:47:38 GMT

Hi @srlawren,

I'm glad that the dialer input-code worked for you.

The main difference between the two voicemail systems is this: With the old one, before a caller left a message, one was presented with a choice of leaving a call-back number, along with other options. With the new system, the call-back prompt and other options are heard by the caller AFTER the message has been left. So, have a friend call your PM number, and then ask him/her if the prompts/options came before or after he/she left a message. If you have a second phone, you can call yourself and learn which voicemail system you have.

FYI.

Re: The New VM System And The Number Of Rings

7789849803 — Wed, 02 Mar 2016 19:48:37 GMT

@srlawren See if you can access https://voicemailexport.publicmobile.ca/

That should give you an idea of whether or not you're on the new system yet.