Changing The Ring Time On T-Mobile US Before VoiceMail Kicks In

[Ed Hansberry]

Just a random thought here that may help a few members out. If you have T-Mobile USA, you can program the time your phone rings before it rolls to voice mail, but it isn't at all intuitive. This applies to Pocket PC Phones, Smartphones, or even plain vanilla free phones from T-Mobile on their network. I've never seen a phone with this option on the menu. The first thing you should do is see see what your ring time is now. Do do this, dial <b>*#61*11#<i>[SEND]</i></b> and you should eventually get some text back that looks like the following screenshot.<br /><br /><img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/hansberry/2006/20060513-tmobilevoicemail.gif" /><br /><br />On a T-Mobile SDA Smartphone, it is a full screen message, but the text is the same, it lists the phone number for voice mail then some time in seconds. Notice that when the voice mail kicks in, it is forwarding to the voice mail number. Interesting. I suppose if you had another desired voice mail system outside of T-Mobile you wished to use, you could set it to that, as we'll see below.<br /><br />Ok, now that you know what your time is, you can raise or lower it. My understanding is it has to be 5-30 seconds in increments of 5. To set it, use the following command: <b>**61*18056377243*11*<i>nn</i>#<i>[SEND]</i></b>. Replace the <i>nn</i> command section with your desired time. I have mine set to 30. That phone number is the T-Mobile voice mail system. This is where you could play with an external phone number if desired. I have not tried that so play with a different system at your own risk. Worst case scenario you'd have to call T-Mobile to help clean up any mess you make because this isn't stored on your phone, it is stored on their server, so I advise extreme caution. Setting the time, however, is a relatively simple process. Just make sure you have all of the asterisks and hash symbols right. Since it is on the server, it applies to all phones you stick your SIM in. I set my time back when I used my Nokia 3650 and the setting has persisted with a PDA2K, JasJar and K-Jam.

[alabij]

Very nice!! Though usually I just call them and tell them to change it to whatever I like. They usually call your cell phone and ask you to pick it up when you feel it sounds right..

Also with regards to the VM number. On the PPC you can just go to phone settings and select Voicemail settings and change the number.

[djdj]

Here is a list of other T-Mobile (GSM) commands:

http://www.maxoutput.com/djdj/t-mobile_commands.html

[martinctv]

I believe this also works on the Cingular network, at the very least, there is something similar.

[Eriq Cook]

Thanks!

[AndrewF]

On my KJAM I can do this from a menu:

Settings, Phone, Services, Call Forwarding, Get Settings, it retrieves the current settings from the network, and I just chose the time I want front the drop down box called "Forward after". It currently offers from 5 to 30 seconds, in 5 minute intervals.

I am pretty sure the O2 Atom has this too, and I thought it was all WM5 phones?

I am not on T-Mobile though, so I guess they could have customised out this setting.

[Ed Hansberry]

On my KJAM I can do this from a menu:

Settings, Phone, Services, Call Forwarding, Get Settings, it retrieves the current settings from the network, and I just chose the time I want front the drop down box called "Forward after". It currently offers from 5 to 30 seconds, in 5 minute intervals.
Very cool. I had never really noticed what was behind those menu options. Thanks!

And thanks djdj for the other T-Mobile settings. :)

[ctmagnus]

:( Doesn't work on the SMT5600 with Rogers. Hopefully it works on the JAMin, as that's the one I have my eye on atm.

[Ed Hansberry]

:( Doesn't work on the SMT5600 with Rogers. Hopefully it works on the JAMin, as that's the one I have my eye on atm.
if it doesn't work on one, it won't work on any. these are server settings, not device settings. I amlsure there are codes for Rogers, just not these codes.

[mbranscum]

This is nothing new for the Cingular network. I use it all the time.