Block number of caller who left voicemail when phone was off

[DaveZiffer]

I have the A03s. My phone is off most of the time. I want to block all calls from a caller who left a voice mail while the phone was off. The number does not appear in the call log, so I can't use the Phone app to block the number, since the Phone app doesn't know about the call. The Voice Mail app seems to have no such option; all I can do with Voice Mail is delete the voice mail without blocking the number. Why can't the Voice Mail app use the same mechanism as the Phone app to provide me with this option?

[LongHiker]

@DaveZiffer You would need to call your carrier and ask them to block that number. If they enable that, the number will not go to your voicemail and your phone will never know that they attempted to call. 

[DaveZiffer]

Why should I have to call my carrier to do this? My phone has a Phone app that will allow me to block calls from a phone number; I presume that this means that the caller could neither call me NOR leave voice mail messages (if my phone is off or if I decline or don't answer). Why can't the Voice Mail app use the same mechanism to allow me to completely block all interactions? I am presuming here that blocked numbers can neither call nor leave voice mail. Thanks.

[LongHiker · Accepted solution]

@DaveZiffer It would seem so, but it doesn't because of the way that a mobile call works. 

1. The caller places the call.
2. The call is routed to your carrier. 
3. The carrier sends the call to your phone. 
4. Your phone says, "Hey that's blocked". So it doesn't show you the call or ring. 
5. The carrier says, oh they didn't answer. We better route it to voicemail. 

If you call your carrier and have it blocked there, the process becomes:

1. The caller places the call.
2. The call is routed to your carrier. 
3. The carrier sees that it is on the block list and does not send the call to your phone. 

[DaveZiffer]

Well that is interesting. I am happy that you explained the problem, but unhappy as to how the blocking mechanism works. It never occurred to me that when I block a phone number, it is my PHONE that is doing the blocking. I assumed that when I tell the Phone app to block a call, the phone app is sending a message to the carrier instructing the CARRIER to block the call. How is it that in 2023 all phone vendors and carriers have not yet developed a simple protocol whereby the phone can tell the carrier to block a phone number? The protocol that allows the implementation of the Voice Mail app must already be many times more complex than that, and we've had such protocols since 2007. How could everyone still be missing this?

[sdmelody1784]

Bc they don't care about convenience for the customer. Their focus is on locking the consumer into paying for every aspect of a phone service/carrier

[sdmelody1784]

You should be afforded the ability to manually block a specific number from leaving a voice-mail.
I'm being harassed by a foul mouthed bi-polar person repeatedly. Blocking :prohibited: them doesn't stop the foul voice-mails.

HELP !!!!!!