Updated list of Voicemail Access Numbers

[Nezgar]

Hey all, as you may know Public Mobile/Koodo/Telus Mobility have local access numbers across Canada, most ending in *4001. Many of the numbers are used for a much wider geographic area than the rate centre listed. (ie BC lower mainland numbers being assigned for phones everywhere outside of the lower mainland). These may come in handy for those travelling looking for local numbers to call from a land line, etc.

I also found a local access number in Yellowknife by looking up TELUS rate centres in area code 867, and trying those prefixes with *4001.

Anyhow, the "Intended Serving Area" is mostly guesses at this time, so I'd enjoy some comments oh what cities people are in, and what phone number is configured for your voicemail, and post here.

To check your voicemail deposit/access number, dial one of: *#61# *#62# or *#67# and let me know if you have a default access number outside of your geographical area, or one not listed here.

Access Num	Province	CNAC Rate Centre	Intended Serving Area?
403-371-6245	Alberta	Calgary	Southern AB 403/587/825 (Old Mike #)
587-580-4001	Alberta	Calgary	Southern AB 403/587/825
587-580-4002	Alberta	Calgary	Southern AB 403/587/826
587-580-4003	Alberta	Calgary	Southern AB 403/587/827
587-580-4004	Alberta	Calgary	Southern AB 403/587/827
587-580-4005	Alberta	Calgary	Southern AB 403/587/827
587-580-4006	Alberta	Calgary	Southern AB 403/587/827
587-580-4007	Alberta	Calgary	Southern AB 403/587/827
587-588-4001	Alberta	Edmonton	Northern AB 587/780/825
587-588-4002	Alberta	Edmonton	Northern AB 587/780/825
778-580-4001	BC	Whalley	outside greater Vancouver area
778-580-4002	BC	Whalley	greater Vancouver area
778-580-4003	BC	Whalley	Outside greater Vancouver area
778-581-4001	BC	Whalley	BC 250
778-581-4002	BC	Whalley	BC 250
204-588-4001	Manitoba	Winnipeg	Winnipeg 204/431
204-588-4002	Manitoba	Winnipeg	Outside of Winnipeg 204/431
506-588-4001	New Brunswick	Moncton	NB 428/506
902-580-4001	Nova Scotia	Halifax	NS/PEI 782/902, NL709/879
867-688-4001	NWT	Yellowknife	NWT/NU/YT
705-780-4001	Ontario	Barrie	ON 249/705
289-680-4001	Ontario	Hamilton	ON 289/365/905
226-580-4001	Ontario	London	ON 226/519/548
613-581-4001	Ontario	Ottawa-Hull	ON 343/613
647-580-4001	Ontario	Toronto	ON 416/437/647
647-580-4002	Ontario	Toronto	ON 416/437/647
647-580-4003	Ontario	Toronto	ON 416/437/647
647-580-4004	Ontario	Toronto	ON 416/437/647
647-580-4005	Ontario	Toronto	ON 416/437/647
647-580-4006	Ontario	Toronto	ON 416/437/647
647-580-4007	Ontario	Toronto	ON 416/437/647
450-320-4001	Quebec	Granby	Outside Montreal 450/579
438-580-4001	Quebec	Montreal	Montreal 438/514
581-580-4001	Quebec	Quebec City	367/418/581
819-588-4001	Quebec	Sherbrooke	QC 819/873
306-580-4001	Saskatchewan	Regina	Southern SK 306/639, Edmonton
306-580-4002	Saskatchewan	Regina	Northern SK 306/639

Cheers! - N

Edit: Numbers all re-verified and confirmed still working as of Apr 11, 2022.

[Korth]

@darlicious 

My voicemail seems to work fine, I've been able to retrieve messages, I'm unaware of any lost or missing calls. My voicemail notification seems to be broken, the little icon insists I have stuff in the box when it's empty, the little icon claims the box is empty when it isn't. I just assumed it was a trivial software issue on my phone.

I didn't get a referral reward last month or this month. The referral is still on the list. I haven't received the usual "sorry, one of your friends has left Public Mobile" notification. I just assumed the referral has suspended service from lack of payment, I'll wait another couple months to see if I get a notification (when the referred account is terminated) or a reward (when the referred account is renewed).

Public Mobile has all sorts of technical problems - and the networks have been overstressed by increased demand in recent years, which is sure to bring more bugs out of the woodwork - but I think these issues are unrelated.

[darlicious]

@dust2dust 

I know it's worked for the bf for two years then I need it and it doesn't work? Go figure!! Ok I can access my voicemail by dialing the access number and entering my phone number 3 times but how would anyone know to do that to leave a message?

Ok weirder still....I call the data account and my phone number and leave a message. Both phones send me a notification telling me I have a voicemail message. But as usual my phone with service does not tell me I have a voicemail message. I also noticed my suspended phone got a the 611 message that my refer a friend reward may be less.....after I had to briefly suspend the bf's phone the other day. What is up?!!

[dust2dust]

@darlicious- Doesn't work for me with my protest suspension over the forced plan change/pointless price hike. After reading you saying this all this time 🙂

[darlicious]

@dust2dust 

Lol...I'm trying anything at this point! But this doesn't help callers to my number. Has pm changed their system after I mentioned too many times having access to voicemail when suspended via lost/stolen?🤔

[dust2dust]

@darlicious- Keep trying. Some of the access numbers seem to stumble on this. When it says invalid it asks to re-enter. Try again. I recently tried this and entered a presumably valid number 3 times and it finally played my greeting.

Why are you entering a voicemail access number at this point?

[darlicious]

@Nezgar 

I have my $10 plan phone number suspended via lost/stolen. I have never had it suspended before. When I call it I get call it I get "Welcome to Voice mail box system." and "Pick a language." and "Please enter a voice mail box number." If I enter any phone number I have access to it returns with "invalid number"  if I enter a voicemail number it's either invalid or just returns me to the beginning of this Catch 22 system.

Ideas?

Edit:

Ok so I phone my data account also suspended via lost/stolen and it rings 5 times and hangs up. I have a referral currently suspended via lost/stolen. Call that number it rings 10 times and hangs up.

[dust2dust]

I see Nezgar updated his great list saying he checked everything as of April 11th.

I did too and found some interesting differences.

I went ahead and tried them all.

Calling these tells me immediately that I have no messages which is correct and that if the customer has not set their voicemail option to require a password when calling from the phone (which I haven't).

587-580-4004 Alberta Calgary Southern AB 403/587/827
587-580-4005 Alberta Calgary Southern AB 403/587/827
587-580-4006 Alberta Calgary Southern AB 403/587/827
587-580-4007 Alberta Calgary Southern AB 403/587/827

778-580-4001 BC Whalley outside greater Vancouver area
778-581-4001 BC Whalley BC 250
778-581-4002 BC Whalley BC 250

506-588-4001 New Brunswick Moncton NB 428/506

705-780-4001 Ontario Barrie ON 249/705
647-580-4001 Ontario Toronto ON 416/437/647
647-580-4003 Ontario Toronto ON 416/437/647
647-580-4004 Ontario Toronto ON 416/437/647
647-580-4005 Ontario Toronto ON 416/437/647
647-580-4006 Ontario Toronto ON 416/437/647
647-580-4007 Ontario Toronto ON 416/437/647

450-320-4001 Quebec Granby Outside Montreal 450/579
438-580-4001 Quebec Montreal Montreal 438/514
581-580-4001 Quebec Quebec City 367/418/581
819-588-4001 Quebec Sherbrooke QC 819/873

These ask for the password anyway regardless of setting - and then work
778-580-4002 BC Whalley greater Vancouver area
778-580-4003 BC Whalley Outside greater Vancouver area

289-680-4001 Ontario Hamilton ON 289/365/905

647-580-4002 Ontario Toronto ON 416/437/647

The rest give a long welcome recording and then ask to choose a language and then to enter the phone number. I found that my number came back as invalid on them.

[Mimi33]

I use these to access voicemail messages from the USA. Only way to pick up messages is by dialling these numbers depending where your phone 

[Betyourlife]

Thanks everyone!

got it!!

Merry Christmas!!

[softech]

good to know how much  CS_Agent from all Telus family need us..  we are important!!!

[Anonymous]

 @Nezgar : Well...y'know...everything here belongs to Telus. You have no copyright. It would have been nice for some credit of course if only "a customer over on PM made this list". Alas.

[Nezgar]

So apparently my list in the original post has been copied verbatim by "Chris Koodo - Official Rep" into a post in the "Articles by Koodo" section of Koodo's community forum.

No credit / source given, but its obvious it came from this thread... I couldn't help but reply... 😆

Would be cool if this person might actually have some additional info to provide from 'the inside'. Let's see if they reply!

[Anonymous]

 @Janey2 : Some providers use a short code to get in to ones voicemail. This place uses a phone number. Voicemail uses call forwarding for callers to drop to voicemail.

The same number is used for accessing voicemail by dialing or using the press and hold 1 method and also for the call forwarding that you used to extend ringing to the max 30 seconds and other conditions.

[hTideGnow]

@Janey2   are you all good in extending the ring tone before VM kicks in?  

Yes, some people for some reason the "Voicemail" key not setup properly on the phone, so, they need the Access number and set it up themselves manually.

Also, in some cases, some customers in another province , calling from a landline.  Instead of calling their own number, which would trigger LD, they might want to use the local access number.

[Janey2]

NeGar. Thank you for the list of access numbers.  I found the language a little too technical for me plus I don’t really understand what an access number is used for?  I needed an access number to extend the time of my phone ringer.  Is there another purpose?

[darlicious]

@thepennh 

There are no stupid questions. Come to the community for all your questions were always happy to help. As technologically challenged person my knowledge on all these matters has grown enormously in the past 18 months since joining public mobile. Best decision I've ever made!

[thepennh]

Thank you very much. I got it working. I am a 69 year old man who bought his first smart phone last month and I must sound like an idiot asking such simple questions. Thank you so much for your time. God bless.

[Mimi33]

Thank you Nezar.  These numbers do work.  I was, after hours of research in the community, able to finally pick up my voicemails from our location in the USA.  I so appreciate your help.  Thanks again

[pm-smayer97]

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@AE_Collector wrote:

And Yes there was that unadvertised (as far as I know) $3/month option that I had heard about so asked about it and surprisingly they let me go to that. It is 5 MINUTES a month included for the $3 though overage is only 15c/minute I think. I Haven’t found out YET because neither of them have exceeded the 5 minutes a month so far!

AE_Collector 

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Yes both the $3 and $10 exclusive plans were unadvertised. They were retention plan offers. Telus has ALWAYS been good to me about retention offers. I was able to get MANY phones replaced for free whenever they upgraded their networks that were no longer compatible with previous phones. I was even able to get a LG G4 for only $160!

As for the calling overages with Telus for these plans, I can only tell you 100% that for the $10 plan it is the standard rate of $0.60/min local + $0.50 for long distance. The only way to get the $0.15/min rate is if you have an add-on, as have been the case for a very long time. I suspect it is the same for the $3 plan.

[pm-smayer97]

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@AE_Collector wrote:

Yeah the Telus Prepaid plan change around two years ago forced everyone back to $10/month where as I had two plans for parents that were running for free using up a huge balance built up over years.

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Not sure if you are aware but you can still pay the $10/month from any existing balance. I did for over a year because I too had a large balance accumulated.

[AE_Collector]

Yeah the Telus Prepaid plan change a couple of years ago forced everyone back to $10/month where as I had two plans for parents that were running for free using up a huge balance built up over years. The $10 offer was 500 minutes a month so a very good deal for voice only, I didn’t know there was a text component to it too but neither parents know anything about texting. And Yes there was that unadvertised (as far as I know) $3/month option that I had heard about so asked about it and surprisingly they let me go to that. It is 5 MINUTES a month included for the $3 though overage is only 15c/minute I think. I Haven’t found out YET because neither of them have exceeded the 5 minutes a month so far!

AE_Collector 

[pm-smayer97]

@darliciousDon't recall the details for the plan other than it was a basic plan, and I had to look up what I paid...it was only $10/month back then in 2001, the second cell phone I ever had.

(Had a secondhand Bell space-age flip phone before that...still own them both).

[darlicious]

@pm-smayer97 

      You must have a great clearnet plan to begin with.... my plan was ridiculously expensive and the agent laughed at me when i said i wanted a better plan at half the price but i did cut in from $70 to $35 and gained a lot more free calling time probably because they wanted me off that per second billing plan.

     I think both  @AE_Collector and @Anonymous have their parents on the $3 plans offered after they  were both on some similar plan telus was eliminating for low use customers.

[pm-smayer97]

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@darlicious wrote:

@Nezgar   More interesting phone numbers as per usual....i did have a clearnet phone and kept my per second billing til 2008 when I finally relented and halved my bill with telus but had to switch to per minute billing.

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I kept a Clearnet line with per second billing through to Oct 2018 with Telus and combined it with the $7 Unlimited One Number feature that dialed a third party long distance plan for 0.7¢/min (yes less than 1¢) effectively give us a virtually unlimited Canada-wide plan for peanuts. But then in 2018 Telus forced everyone to have a minimum plan that no longer has per second billing. I now have an exclusive $10 plan with 500 mins/100 text. (They also offered an exclusive $3 plan with fewer minutes for those that had very low usage...I think it was targeted at seniors).

[darlicious]

@popping 

Interesting my (604) number switches to the (647) voicemail number but records it as the local (778) voicemail number in my usage history. Is the that the same for everyone or does it vary ? I also wonder what determines who gets a female or the male voicemail/611 recording? I get the guy my bf gets the girl?!! Coincidence that we each get the opposite gender?

@Nezgar   More interesting phone numbers as per usual....i did have a clearnet phone and kept my per second billing til 2008 when I finally relented and halved my bill with telus but had to switch to per minute billing.

[popping]

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@Nezgar wrote:

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@Korth wrote:

Is this number assignment from the network updated when phones travel around?

And (assuming no long distance or roaming, etc) does it matter which of these numbers you dial for voicemail?

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I presume the number assigned to you is determined only by the area of your own phone number. If anything, given that some cities have multiple numbers, and some users in Alberta have the Regina Sask # provisioned suggesting users in any given area may be 'load balanced' across a range of them as well.

All of these numbers function exactly the same.

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[Data Point] Voicemail number does not change while travel and uses the same voicemail # according to area code.

Example 1: My son is using his Calgary 403 number in Vancouver for 1.5 years.  I checked his usage history.  His voicemail is still using 587-580-4001

Example 2: I activated an account with AB number 8 months ago,  Then, I ported my sister's Montreal number 514 to this account.  The voicemail number is a Montreal number 438-580-4001.

[Anonymous]

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@computergeek541 wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

But really...with Canada-wide calling, all these numbers aren't even necessary to keep going. Only the grandfathered provincial calling customers would be interested.

The rest of us can just set it to a particular number and forget about it.

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That's true, but I'm not even sure that it makes any difference. It would not surprise me if these numbers aren't coded to use up long distance minutes. If that's the case, this list of numbers would simply be for those who can't get the phone to automatically read the proper voicemail number assigned to the account.  In general, I'd say that that for most people, the voicemail retrieval and deposit numbers should never be changed.

And as I said earlier, I know for certain that Public Mobile sometimes assigns an out-of-province number for voicemail. 

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Yeah we saw that the other night with someone having picked up an NS number when they activated everything in ON with an old provincial plan. And their 200 minutes didn't deduct. Go figure.

[computergeek541]

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@Anonymous wrote:

But really...with Canada-wide calling, all these numbers aren't even necessary to keep going. Only the grandfathered provincial calling customers would be interested.

The rest of us can just set it to a particular number and forget about it.

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That's true, but I'm not even sure that it makes any difference. It would not surprise me if these numbers aren't coded to use up long distance minutes. If that's the case, this list of numbers would simply be for those who can't get the phone to automatically read the proper voicemail number assigned to the account.  In general, I'd say that that for most people, the voicemail retrieval and deposit numbers should never be changed.

And as I said earlier, I know for certain that Public Mobile sometimes assigns an out-of-province number for voicemail. 

[pm-smayer97]

@Anonymousexactly.

Of course one good use of these is when needing to call from a third party phone.

So there are 3 choices to access your voicemail:

- from your own phone that should already be programmed with the access number for your area code (and if it is not, you can programme it)

- calling your own cell phone from a third party # and press * to get to the voicemail prompt (this will cause your cell phone to ring)

- calling one of the above access numbers from a third party phone (avoids ringing your cell phone)

Again, if you are not concerned about long distance charges, you can use any one of the access numbers.