Jill is missing the majority of her phone calls, because they go to voicemail before she can answer them. Today, Drew explains why this is the case and how to fix it.
Q. Jill
I recently purchased an iPhone and it only rings about five times before going to voicemail, making me miss quite a few calls. I can’t seem to change this ridiculously short ring time and it’s driving me crazy. What can I do?
A. I was in the same boat as you recently after purchasing a new iPhone from Telstra. I found my phone rang for six rings and then went to voicemail and couldn’t find any way to extend it manually.
Telecommunication companies only have a limited number of repeater towers in each area, so to decrease network congestion, a ring duration of 5-6 rings is now the standard for all newly sold phones.
I visited my local Telstra shop and the staff member explained that only they could change the number of rings on my phone. This is not necessarily true. According to the help sections of the Telstra and Optus websites, the following three codes should work depending on your phone make and model.
To extend Telstra Mobile ringtime, ring **61*101**30# (30 = seconds max.)
To extend Telstra Home phone ringtime, ring *9960# (60 = seconds max.)
To extend Optus Mobile ringtime, ring **61*321**30# (30 = seconds max.)
If you have no luck increasing your phone ring duration with the codes above, go into your local mobile service providers shop and ask for them to change it for you.
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