Cingular cell phone service - Go right to voice mail--how?

Author

Go right to voice mail--how?

kevincniven@gmail.com

2007-11-20, 10:33 am

I received several calls from my doctor last week. All of them went
directly to voice mail--that is, my phone did not ring but I received
an alert that I had a voice mail.

I understand why a doctor would want to have this service: cuts down
on call times, because he can just leave the message he wants to leave
without having to get into a conversation.

I think this is a neat feature, but I've been unable to discover how
it works. Is it a VSC? Is it a service that you pay for?

How can I get this ability on my phone?

Thanks,
Kevin

Frankster

2007-11-20, 10:33 am

This happens when the phone cannot receive the incoming call for some
reason. There are tons of reasons. Keep in mind that the VM alert warning is
data-based and can be received even when a call cannot.

Some reasons...

Callers circuits (and/or cell-towers) are busy/overloaded...
Recipients circuits (and/or cell-towers) are busy/overloaded...
Calling phone is located in bad reception area...
Receiving phone is located in bad reception area...
Receiving phone is off

There are more...

This issue is not unusual at all, and it is reported here very often.

BTW, it has nothing to do with Doctors, specifically! LOL.

-Frank

<kevincniven@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:b8e47df6-4f7d-419d-a337- 0462d37a32a1@a39g200
0pre.googlegroups.com...
>I received several calls from my doctor last week. All of them went
> directly to voice mail--that is, my phone did not ring but I received
> an alert that I had a voice mail.
>
> I understand why a doctor would want to have this service: cuts down
> on call times, because he can just leave the message he wants to leave
> without having to get into a conversation.
>
> I think this is a neat feature, but I've been unable to discover how
> it works. Is it a VSC? Is it a service that you pay for?
>
> How can I get this ability on my phone?
>
>
> Thanks,
> Kevin

Joseph Wheeler

2007-11-20, 10:33 am

<kevincniven@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:b8e47df6-4f7d-419d-a337- 0462d37a32a1@a39g200
0pre.googlegroups.com...
>I received several calls from my doctor last week. All of them went
> directly to voice mail--that is, my phone did not ring but I received
> an alert that I had a voice mail.
>
> I understand why a doctor would want to have this service: cuts down
> on call times, because he can just leave the message he wants to leave
> without having to get into a conversation.
>
> I think this is a neat feature, but I've been unable to discover how
> it works. Is it a VSC? Is it a service that you pay for?
>
> How can I get this ability on my phone?
>
>
> Thanks,
> Kevin

If my doc decided he didn't want to talk to me, I'd find another guy to get
my health care from...

kevincniven@gmail.com

2007-11-20, 12:33 pm

On Nov 20, 7:35 am, "Frankster" <Fr...@SPAM2TRASH.com> wrote:
> This happens when the phone cannot receive the incoming call for some
> reason. There are tons of reasons. Keep in mind that the VM alert warning is
> data-based and can be received even when a call cannot.
>
> Some reasons...
>
> Callers circuits (and/or cell-towers) are busy/overloaded...
> Recipients circuits (and/or cell-towers) are busy/overloaded...
> Calling phone is located in bad reception area...
> Receiving phone is located in bad reception area...
> Receiving phone is off
>
> There are more...
>
> This issue is not unusual at all, and it is reported here very often.
>
> BTW, it has nothing to do with Doctors, specifically! LOL.

Yes, I'm aware a phone can fail to receive a call. What I asked about
was deliberately going to someone's voicemail. As I said, this
happened each time my doc called, so it seems a surprising coincidence
if they were all failures. I'm wondering, IOW, if it's a feature.

Hmm, maybe I'll just ask him how he does it (or if he does it).

Kevin

John Navas

2007-11-20, 12:33 pm

On Tue, 20 Nov 2007 06:15:32 -0800 (PST), kevincniven@gmail.com wrote in
<b8e47df6-4f7d-419d-a337- 0462d37a32a1@a39g200
0pre.googlegroups.com>:

>I received several calls from my doctor last week. All of them went
>directly to voice mail--that is, my phone did not ring but I received
>an alert that I had a voice mail.
>
>I understand why a doctor would want to have this service: cuts down
>on call times, because he can just leave the message he wants to leave
>without having to get into a conversation.
>
>I think this is a neat feature, but I've been unable to discover how
>it works. Is it a VSC? Is it a service that you pay for?
>
>How can I get this ability on my phone?

If you're on the same carrier, you can usually leave a voice message
without making a call. Call your voice mail system, and check the
options. It's something I use frequently.

--
Best regards, FAQ FOR CINGULAR WIRELESS:
John Navas <http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/ Cingu...less_FA
Q>

Frankster

2007-11-20, 10:33 pm

> Yes, I'm aware a phone can fail to receive a call. What I asked about

> was deliberately going to someone's voicemail. As I said, this
> happened each time my doc called, so it seems a surprising coincidence
> if they were all failures. I'm wondering, IOW, if it's a feature.
>
> Hmm, maybe I'll just ask him how he does it (or if he does it).

There is no way to do it unless you are on the same mailbox system (as John
Navas mentioned). That pretty much eliminates this as the Doctor's Standard
Operating Procedure (SOP) because he would not be able to do that with most
people.

-Frank

SMS 斯蒂文• 夏

2007-11-21, 10:33 am

Frankster wrote:
>
> There is no way to do it unless you are on the same mailbox system (as
> John Navas mentioned). That pretty much eliminates this as the Doctor's
> Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) because he would not be able to do
> that with most people.

It's quite simple to do it. For example, on Verizon:

1. Call (408) 568-6300 (or one of the many other local portal numbers
into the voice mail system).

2. Enter the number of the person for whom you wish to leave a message.

3. Leave the message.

I also use these access numbers to save using up minutes on my Verizon
cell phone.

AT&T is a similar procedure. For my area it's (408) 307-5049. I just
tried it but it told me the number I was trying to call wasn't on AT&T
Wirless, even though I'm pretty sure it is, so maybe AT&T Wireless has
disabled this service, or maybe there's some other reason. I only know
one person with AT&T Wireless, so maybe someone else could try the
system and see if it works for them.

You can see a list of access numbers at
"http://www.bridog.net/cellular/voicemail.txt"

Frankster

2007-11-21, 10:33 am

> You can see a list of access numbers at
> "http://www.bridog.net/cellular/voicemail.txt"

Okay fine. Still, it is carrier specific. Do you really think a Doctor's
office would research all this to leave messages for its patients? Which
ones use cell numbers? Of the ones that use cell numbers, what service do
they use. Of the ones that can be identified as cell users of a specific
service, what is the portal number for that service. Okay, now, for all the
ones you were able to successfully obtain all this information, make the
call. Then proceed to call all the others for which you do not have all this
information.

Geeeze... yeah, sure.

-Frank

SMS 斯蒂文• 夏

2007-11-21, 12:33 pm

Frankster wrote:
>
> Okay fine. Still, it is carrier specific. Do you really think a Doctor's
> office would research all this to leave messages for its patients?

If the calls are _always_ going to voice mail, then clearly they are not
just calling the regular phone number. It saves time to not have to
engage in a conversation, so it may be worth the initial effort to
determine if in fact the number is a wireless number, and which carrier
it's on.

It's rather simple to find out which carrier a cell phone number uses,
i.e. "http://www.411.com/reverse_phone" but if the number has been
ported then it doesn't work.

Many doctors use an external service for appointment reminders, and such
a service would be especially likely to have systems in place to speed
the delivery of messages, and there's an advantage to both the sender
and receiver to have a semi-permanent voice-mail message.

D. Stussy

2007-11-22, 7:33 am

"John Navas" < spamfilter1@navasgro
up.com> wrote in message
news:1096k31o42vmlp7
v03hqf0t73098dgk1un@
4ax.com...
> On Tue, 20 Nov 2007 06:15:32 -0800 (PST), kevincniven@gmail.com wrote in
> <b8e47df6-4f7d-419d-a337- 0462d37a32a1@a39g200
0pre.googlegroups.com>:
>
>
> If you're on the same carrier, you can usually leave a voice message
> without making a call. Call your voice mail system, and check the
> options. It's something I use frequently.

Verizon does have such a menu option. I've never used it, but I remember it in
the menu.

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