Does your mobile phone forward incoming calls to voicemail too quickly?  Are you missing calls or having to mess about with messages and call people back as a result?

Would you like to make your phone ring just a little bit longer – to give you a chance to actually answer it – before it redirects?

Here’s how:

1. dial *#61# to see your current forwarding (on no answer) settings
2. make note of the Voice Call Forwarding When Unanswered number – this is your voice mailbox (VMB) number
3. dial **61*VMB*11*RINGTIME#
   1. the 61 is for forwarding (on no answer)
   2. the VMB is your VMB number and includes the + sign at the front (e.g. +61411000321 for Optus Australia)
   3. the 11 is for voice calls only, so data/fax calls are unaffected
   4. RINGTIME is the new amount of time that you want your phone to ring for before going to voicemail
      1. it is in seconds
      2. it has to be a multiple of 5 (e.g. 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30…)
      3. many phone carriers limit this to 30 but some (like Telstra in Australia, limit it to 25)
4. you should see a confirmation message when the change has gone through but call yourself from another phone to test it anyway

There you have it.  Fewer missed calls.  Fewer pointless messages.  Smaller phone bills.

Enjoy.