Call goes straight to voicemail without ringing blocked

Cole Saladino/Thrillist

Editor's Note: This hack is for iPhone users only. Our apologies, Androiders; you're too lovely to get blocked anyway.

Apple's made it easy as pie to block individual phone numbers, which is much appreciated by those of us hounded by persistent robo-callers and overeager Tinder matches. But have you yourself reached such a level of nuisance that you've earned a place on someone's blocked caller list? In this age of rampant ghosting and straight-up textual awfulness, if you suspect you might be blocked, the answer is probably yes. Here's how to investigate whether your call is going straight to nowhere and -- bonus! -- how to get around the block.

One ring and straight to voicemail means you might be blocked

Even if you've been blocked, you'll still be able to ring through and leave a message -- the intended recipient simply won't be notified. When you call, there is a telltale sign to listen out for. If you only hear one ring before the voicemail picks up, there are three possible reasons: their phone is off, they've set their phone to auto-divert to voicemail (i.e., they've enabled Do Not Disturb mode), or you've been blocked. To rule out the former two, attempt to call a few more times; if the one-ring-to-voicemail continues and they don't call you back, odds are you're blocked. 

Check your sent-iMessage status

Another way to test whether you've been blacklisted is to find out whether they're getting your iMessages. If last you knew the recipient had their read receipts enabled and it's now only displaying "Delivered" after you send, you should be suspicious. Similarly, if they aren't the read-receipt type, but there's neither confirmation it's been received (a "Delivered" message beneath your blue bubble) nor an error message suggesting you re-send as a text, something may be up. 

Here's how to get around it: block your caller ID

To bypass any blocks placed on your number, simply block your caller ID -- but enabling this option depends on your carrier. If you have AT&T, go to Settings > Phone > Show My Caller ID and disable it. Verizon customers will need to dial *67 before entering the 10-digit phone number (others should be able to find instructions on their specific carriers' sites). Your call will go through as "No Caller ID." If the person actually picks up and sounds, uh, surprised to hear from you, you'll know for sure you've been blocked... and, now that you've thoroughly creeped this person out, you'll probably stay that way. Forever. (Needless to say, unless it’s an emergency and you urgently need to be touch with said person, you probably shouldn't do this.)

For the blockers, you can listen to voicemails left by people you've blocked

For those of you on the flip side of this coin, there's an easy way to find out if someone you've blocked has left you any voicemails. While you'll never get a notification of any kind when they call you, your phone does keep a record of the voicemails they've left. To access it, scroll to the bottom of the Voicemail tab -- if any exist they'll be in the "Blocked Messages" folder under the one labeled "Deleted Messages." 

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Joe McGauley is a senior writer for Thrillist who misses the good ol' days when you had to verbally harass telemarketers to get them to stop calling.

Hearing a phone call go to voicemail can be very annoying. There is something even more annoying; Hearing a phone call go to voicemail directly, without the phone even ringing first. Many of us have gone through this, and it is evident from several complaints on many forums that this issue has not come up suddenly. 

We looked into this for you and figured out what was going on and why this was happening. Turns out the article below was made just to help you deal with this issue on your android smartphone. Here’s what you can do when your Android phone call goes straight to voicemail.

Why does my Android phone call go to voicemail directly?

Incoming calls may go to voicemail without even ringing a few times because of a few reasons. These are the factors that could be sending the calls you receive to voicemail or putting the calls you make to voicemail – 

Interferences from Bluetooth

Bluetooth is a useful feature, but in this situation, an active Bluetooth frequency could push the voicemail message forward during an incoming call. This issue can come up frequently when your android smartphone has Bluetooth earphones paired with it. You will have to disable this feature to get your call ringing. 

SIM card issues

There could be issues with the SIM card and the server. However, this is very unlikely and the chances of this issue being caused by the SIM card are infinitesimal. But let us not rule this possibility out, in spite of not us not being able to do something about it. 

Blocked number

In Android devices, blocking someone’s mobile number tells the caller that the receiver is busy. However, when an Android device has the voicemail feature enabled, this will push the voicemail message to the caller. This is also a complicated way of knowing someone blocked the caller.

Disabled Features

There are certain features on every android smartphone that can cause this issue when they are enabled. You can always enable them and disable them if they don’t impact the android phone call and the voice message you send out or receive. 

What should I do when my Android Phone Call Goes Straight to Voicemail?

1. Turn off your Bluetooth Connection
2. Remove a Number from your Block List
3. Re-insert your SIM card
4. Features to Disable on Your Android Device
   • Call Barring
   • Call Forwarding Settings
   • Turn Off Do Not Disturb Mode

Stopping the Phone Call from going straight to voicemail on your Android device

Turn off your Bluetooth Connection

As discussed earlier, an enabled Bluetooth connection can get in the way of the phone calls you make or receive, and redirect them to voicemail. This cause cannot be determined without checking this by disabling the smartphone’s Bluetooth service temporarily. 

Every Android device has two methods to disable/enable Bluetooth audio – 

Notification Shade

The notification shade is a very resourceful tool, that has shortcuts for enabling features on Android. You just have to slide up from the bottom of your screen or the top to access this. Here, you should be able to see a toggle switch with the Bluetooth icon that can be used to enable or disable Bluetooth and other features. 

Settings of your Device

The System Settings is the phone’s control center which includes your Android. The icon to open this is shaped, typically, like a gear, and can be found on the phone menu.

The Bluetooth settings on this page can be used to toggle the feature on or off. In addition, you can disconnect the Bluetooth devices on your system. 

Remove a Number from your Block List

You may have blocked some phone numbers on your device. This does not mean that these contacts will never be able to contact you again. When this happens, the blocked number will not ring but instead, take the caller to voicemail. You can try unblocking the specific number to see if this helps our case. 

• Launch the contacts or dial pad application on your Android smartphone. 

• Now, open the menu option for the dial-pad. This is usually available in the form of a three-dots menu or a hamburger menu.

• Choose the Settings option and go into the Blocklist section. In some User Interfaces (UI) the blocklist will be directly available in the hamburger menu itself.
• Once you see a list of all the contacts you blocked, choose the number belonging to the caller or recipient you wish to call.
• In the pop-up that appears, you will have to choose Unblock to whitelist the specific contact. Each contact has to be unblocked individually. 

Once these steps are complete, you should be able to call or receive calls from the number we just unblocked. If this method does not impact the issue, you can block the number again.

Re-insert your SIM card

The SIM card your phone is hosting can be why we face the voicemail issue. In this position, the best thing to do is refresh the SIM card. This is not a very complicated process as you just have to remove it from the device and place it back again. 

For this, you will need the SIM ejector tool to remove the tray that holds your SIM. Android devices have a tiny hole with a button to push this tray out. Start by switching your Android system off. 

Use the ejector to push into it gently. Once the tray pops out, turn it upside down and gently tap on the top for the SIM card to fall out. Make sure it falls on a gentle surface. Place it back in the perfectly shaped slot and push the SIM tray back in.

When you reboot your system, the SIM card will take a few seconds to re-initialize. Once this is done, the voicemail issue should go away. If it doesn’t, let us try disabling some features that could be responsible for the issue we are discussing.

The same procedure could also be used to fix network issues. However, this does not help if the issue is with the network carrier. 

Features to Disable on Your Android Device

Three features on your android mobile phone can cause the straight to voicemail issue. If you wish to work on this, the only option here is to disable them. If they are of no help to you, you can keep them permanently disabled.

The features for you to turn off to fix the straight to voicemail issue and the steps to do so are given below. 

Call Barring

Call barring is the smartphone feature that lets the users disable certain calls based on the callers and types of calls. This is recommended and can be very helpful when there is a chance of international calls being made by mistake. 

This is the procedure to disable call barring on your android – 

• Launch the phone app and enter the settings (three horizontal lines or vertical dots at the top corner of the screen). 
• Now, in some interfaces, the Call Barring option is available on the main or advanced settings page. 

• Locate the Call Barring option and turn off the toggle switch. 

This is something that has to be done for the other SIM if you have two. Some phones require these features to be done for both outgoing and incoming calls. 

Call Forwarding Settings

Android devices allow users to forward incoming calls to voicemail or a different phone number. Sometimes, this feature could be your enemy here. 

The steps to disable call forwarding settings are given below – 

• Open the Phone’s dial pad and go into the dial pad settings (hamburger icon on the top right corner). 

• Choose the Call forwarding section and toggle it off. This should be available as a direct toggle switch or a sub-setting with access to other settings.

The settings for this can be a little advanced. If that is your case, you might have to do this procedure for two SIMs. You might even have an interface that defines this feature with a different term in some situations. This could be in the voice sub-settings or be labeled as the Always forward option. 

Do Not Disturb Mode

Do Not Disturb is a great feature to avoid unwanted calls from telemarketers or your contacts when you are busy. When this is enabled, the callers get the voicemail system, and The DnD mode could trigger the voice mail issue on your device. This is the only reason we will disable it with the methods below.

Two methods can be used to deactivate DnD – 

• The notification shade of your device has the Do Not Disturb option. The toggle option here can be used to disable the feature on your system. 
• The sound settings on your device are also home to the toggle switch for disabling or enabling the Do Not Disturb mode.

This should stop the straight-to-voicemail issue, and the calls should normally be made or received as usual. 

If none of the above methods help you with the straight-to voicemail issue, you will have to check with your service provider or mobile manufacturer. Happy Calling!

FAQs

Can You Tell If Someone Blocked Your Number?

Mobile phones do not prompt the callers if the receiver has blocked their numbers. However, if you are trying to call someone who has blocked you, the interface tells you they are busy, irrespective of how many times you call them.

What Does It Mean When A Phone Goes Straight To Voicemail Without Ringing?

When your phone call goes straight to voicemail, it could mean that some factors are causing this issue – 
– SIM issues
– Blocked phone numbers
– Bluetooth issues
– Disabled features

Why do Some Phone Call Goes Straight To Voicemail?

Sometimes there is a chance that a phone call can get forwarded to voicemail directly, without even ringing first. This could mean that you have some SIM or Bluetooth issues. This can also happen when you have blocked the caller on your device. 

Why are my calls going straight to voicemail on my android phone?

On Android, a phone call goes straight to voice mail under the following circumstances –
– SIM card issues
– Blocked mobile numbers
– Bluetooth audio enabled
– Disabled call features like Call forwarding and Call Barring
– Active Do Not Disturb mode

Does it mean I'm blocked if it goes straight to voicemail?

What does it mean when you call someone and it goes straight to voicemail without ringing on iPhone?

What does it mean when you call someone and it goes straight to voicemail without ringing Android?

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