iPhone "Cannot Connect to Voicemail"
My wife's iPhone 4 came new out of the box at the telecom store. Neither of us have visual voice mail, in which case the voice mail button should just display a list with voice messages. It works on my phone, but it did not on my wife's. Instead, it displayed an error:
It simply asked to contact Telus Mobility for assistance. I did. At first they wanted to sell me their visual voicemail feature at $7/mo. When I explained that it works on my phone, they just made me Google it. Wow. Then they had me reset her voicemail password, which some folks reported as the solution in various forums, but that didn't work for us.
What did work is the following:
From the keypad, type *5005*86*-----------# where the dashes represent your 11-digit voice mail number (typically starting with 1). Then tap call. The screen will flash, ever so briefly, and after that it looks like nothing happened. (It doesn't actually make an outbound call.) Clear the number off the screen (switch to favorites and back or something) and press and hold the 1 key. It dialed voice mail! From then on, the voice mail button also started working.
Mind you, I know that we dial our own number to access voicemail. If your service provider has a fixed number (as many do) you would have to enter that number. This option seems to reprogram the voice mail number to what you enter.
The code *#5005*86# displays the currently active number.
Disclaimer: This worked for me. It may not work for you. If in doubt, please contact your service provider. As always with anything you find on the internet, use at your own risk.
This is still valid for the iPhone 7.
Comments
Glad it helped.
worked on mts iphone 4S
Hi there, I followed your instructions and got the iPhone to blink after pressing the call button. Pressing and holding 1 on a fresh screen did not do a thing. What am I doing wrong?
Not sure. Also check comment 137, it's a simple procedure in itself. Check by dialing
*#5005*86#what number is currently programmed.Worked great on MTS
Good!
thought this was gonna be made up worked great thanks
I wouldn't have posted it otherwise. :)
How do i get to know my voicemail number?!
Depends on the service provider but in most cases I would imagine your own number will work.
Thanks, my iPhone 5 through Koodo had the same problem until I applied your fix!
As a note I found with my setup, dropping the 1 and using my 10 digit phone number works fine, locally anyway.
What I REALLY want to know is why the service providers don't provide this information instead of sending us on a wild goose chase and saying Duhhhhh...
That is a good question that I asked myself too. :)
I think in general service providers are reluctant to make these programming tricks known. It may lead to more support calls in case something goes wrong, I guess.
I had given up on activating voice mail for a year thinking it doesn't work in Sri Lanka but this worked. Amazing. Thank you.
Glad you found it useful!
Mr. stplanken,
All I wanna say is THANK YOU so much! I am glad there are people out there like you that care about helping others and sharing knowledge :) it worked great for me (Iphone 4s in the U.S. with t-mobile)
Thank you, glad it helped!
Worked perfectly! I'm using an iPhone 5 on telus
Good!
Worked for me!!! Have new iPhone 5!! Thank you so much! Was on hold with telus for 15 mins until I googled this post on hold!!
He he, nice. :)
THANK YOU SO MUCH! THIS REALLY HELPED ME :)
You're welcome!
dude ! it really helped. thanks :)
If you're on Rogers, the above solution won't work. Try this instead:
*5005*86*+14037141188#
Works like a charm, iPhone5 j/b, on FIDO/Rogers. Thank you again, this was driving me batty!
Glad it helped!
Thanks! worked fine with Fido! the fixed number was 1 514158318210
Thanks!
thanks! your post was way more helpful than the telus rep I spoke to!
Hehe, I know the feeling. :)
Dude, you really need to consider getting a job with AT&T! This was awesome! Ive been on the damn phone HALF the day today trying to fix this. I switched from Iphone 3gs to Iphone 4, after that, no voicemail shortcut. UNTIL I found this page. Your great dude! THANK YOU SO MUCH FROM KENTUCKY!
Hehe, thanks. :-)
worked pissa!!
Dude - thanks so much!! Why on earth did they NOT document this for me???
Thanks again!
David
Probably because it's something that the end user should not have to concern himself with? Glad it helped you!
beautiful. solved my problem in two seconds, glad I didn't bother wasting my time with Telus.
thanks!
Glad it worked for you!
I was on the phone with Rogers and they couldn't figure out why voicemail set up wasn't working. They deduced that it was an issue with my iPhone 4S. Your method fixed the problem immediately!! Thank you so much for sharing! :D
You're welcome, glad it helped!
It worked! Thank you so much!!!
You're welcome! :)
Thanx ALOT!!!
Amazing. Thank you so much for the help, worked perfectly for me :)
Worked 4 me! Tnx
You're welcome, glad it worked!
Worked for iPhone4S on Straight Talk here near Phila., PA! Thank you SO much!!!
Ha, you're welcome!
Worked for me. Brilliant. Thank you.
Worked for me! Thanks! iphone 5!!!
Excellent!
Thanks for the fix. It took me 3 tries because I wasn't adding the # at the end.
Thank you for the code. This made it a lot easier.
Thank you. This was so easy.
It didn't work first time, when I tried couple of times on my 3GS, it worked perfectly.
thanks, it saves my time and probably some money.
Ha, glad it worked!
I just successfully used this lovely tip for my newly purchased iPhone 5s. This seems to be the tip that keeps on giving! Thanks a bunch.
Thanks for confirming it still works on the 5S.
Worked great, thanks for the help, much better service than my cell phone provider.
Ha, you're welcome.
Thanks Man.....Works with an iphone 5s with Digicel Jamaica. Instead of the 11 digit # I substituted the short code "123"...works like a charm!!!!
That worked, so much faster to this than to call in for help! Thanks
Yes, it is. :)
No idea why it worked or how but it did! Thanks
It worked for me but just wonder how you figured it out. Thanks a lot
Someone from Telus.
That is so helpful! It works. Thanks!!
Ha, glad it worked for you!
Awesome! Thank you! Very random process but worked just fine for my MTS iPhone.
Glad it worked!
Brilliant! Worked like a charm after nothing else would. Thank you!
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