Original topic:

Visual Voicemail up in smoke?

(Topic created: 07-20-2024 07:58 PM)
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userOqppI1neLQ
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When my wife’s S10e swelled, and after 30 years with Verizon, I opted when getting her a new phone to switch to a much less costly carrier.  She got a Pixel 7a, and Consumer Cellular set her up via eSIM, and I put a CC SIM kit card in my S10e.

Much to my chagrin, she has Visual Voicemail but I don’t.  She switched phone mfrs. mainly because this was her second swollen Samsung S10e phone failure;  my S10e is original, no issues, and it’s bad enough trying to learn her Pixel and help her adjust, so I kept my S10e.  

On Verizon I had Visual Voicemail, and I really miss it.  Consumer Cellular has been little help, other than to set up VVoicemail on her Pixel.  Apparently the app came from (Google) Pixel, I dunno.  When I try accessing my voicemail app, and try going to Visual options, it cannot do it… apparently it is still associated with my now defunct Verizon account(s).  I get text messages, I assume from Verizon, saying they don’t recognize the code or number.  I’ve tried entering my phone # again, and also the Consumer Cellular # called to retrieve voice mails, but still I have no option available anywhere to use a Visual Voicemail like I had with Verizon.

i have used up hours trying to sort this out, watching videos, checking CC and Samsung sites, and Play Store apps to no avail.  One Consumer Cellular tech said I’d have to use an app off the Play Store that worked with AT&T networks, but I can’t decipher one for sure, and AT&T apps seem for their plans only.  Are they dancing around that CCellular can’t supply a Visual Voicemail app like others do, and that by leaving Verizon I’ll have to pay for one now?  But my wife’s new Pixel had no issue setting up Visual Voicemail;  so does that mean Google supplied on the phone?  

Is there a Samsung version I can load on my S10e that would solve the problem?  CC told me they “turned VV on” at their end for both phones, but there is no VV in my phone app menu.

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Jayel4744
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I'm on Verizon and I don't have visual voicemail either, I think it's a Samsung thing, I have the S24 Ultra and my voicemail comes and goes, one day I can see my messages and other days I can't retrieve any of my messages.
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realaud
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Verizon likes to be proprietary.  There are several VVM apps in the play store that you can download and see if one works with your carrier.  Since I understand that CC uses either AT&T or T-Mobile networks, T-Mobile's VVM app may work.

Technically speaking, just like text message readers, VVM apps should be carrier independent, since it's just a shell.  You can also download Phone by Google and replace it as your phone app.  It includes VVM.

userOqppI1neLQ
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Which might be better, "Google Voice" or "Phone by Google"?  I believe you're right that I need to go with an app like those, and with some Google features in the home and my wife's new Pixel phone, I'm somewhat familiar with that venue.  I was just figuring that a Samsung or Consumer Cellular VV app would mesh best with my phone.  It would appear CC, unlike most of the other major carriers, doesn't (yet) offer such an animal.   One of the CC agents somewhere along the line did mention that any VV app I use needs to be able to access the AT&T network.

If Verizon sensed the competition more seriously and offered a price point that wasn't now over 4 times more expensive, I would've simply stayed with them.  You'd think 30+ years with them would count for something other than incessantly increasing rates.

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realaud
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I couldn't answer that question for 2 reasons. One is that I have never used either one, although I did download Phone. The 2nd is that personal preference is different for everyone.

The good news is that whatever you do is reversible, so you can try one for a bit and if you don't like it, you can uninstall and try the other.

Verizon doesn't give an discounts to established customers.
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meself
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That's a tough one to figure out in the phone settings from the dial pad going from newer versions than the 10 guessing be same should have option for visual voicemail cc uses att and tmobile according to there site it may be a issue with the phone being unlock as you would need to go from Verizon and the software of cc uses vs Verizon I believe the pixel is Newer so would explain the no problems I would get a free app from the store either Google or Samsung and see how it works
userOqppI1neLQ
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I installed Phone by Google as it supposedly includes VV, as Realaud suggested, but the VV option isn’t there when I use that app.  If I open that app, hit the 3-dot Menu top right in the Search field, choose “Settings” and then “Voicemail”, the Visual voicemail button there won’t switch on.  That option has a note, “The carrier may not support visual voicemail   Learn more” .  

And yet the last Consumer Cellular customer service representative I talked to told me that both of our lines had that feature “turned on” at their end.  I’m thinking there was a misunderstanding there, and she meant Voicemail was turned on, a much different entity from Visual Voicemail.  I’m unclear now as to whether or how CC has anything to do with VV.  If it was on my S10e with Verizon, then the phone is capable.

I’m also still very aggravated every time I see CC’s ads touting such great coverage, while repeated trips to our local grocery store have proven it a spot deader than a door nail, in spite of 3 towers within a mile of it.  If my wife and I got separated while shopping we could previously just call to find each other, and I’d become spoiled the last couple of years using the store’s app to locate products.  Neither benefit is available anymore.  Next time I’ll try connecting to the store’s WiFi to use their shopping app, although years ago that proved a funky method due to a weak network signal in the store’s farther reaches.

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meself
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With signal strength it's all about location to tower and congestion of course i.e big major city and the phone bands. So will vary. As for the visual voicemail I can only suggest something from the play store do some review checks and see which is best for ypu
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userOqppI1neLQ
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In my prior reply I mentioned a “…Learn more” link off the Voicemail settings selection.  

Referencing that link and perusing its many details, it becomes easier to conclude that Consumer Cellular just doesn’t offer a Visual Voicemail service, and despite my having a phone and app(s) capable of rendering it, without CC’s input it won’t engage.  The aforementioned link and information is (I think) offered through Phone by Google, and literally lists 7 carriers that offer VV, and Consumer Cellular isn’t one of them.  There’s also a means of “viewing a transcript of your voicemails “ that lists a slightly different set of carriers, with no CC.

Why Consumer Cellular agents aren’t more informed and helpful with this one glitch is beyond me, as almost all of them seemed knowledgeable otherwise.  Surely the issue has come up previously with other customers who’ve switched from carriers that supplied VV.

userOqppI1neLQ
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Okay, dumb me.  If CC doesn’t actually support Visual Voicemail then why does my wife’s Pixel 7a have it if we’re on the plan together?

aaarrgghhh!

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