In today’s digital age, receiving phone calls might not be everyone’s preferred mode of communication. Yet, it remains inconvenient when incoming calls skip the ringtone and head straight to voicemail. Missing important calls because your phone fails to ring is frustrating, especially when they could be crucial for business or personal emergencies.
Fortunately, this common problem is not insurmountable. In this guide, we’ll delve into effective solutions to address calls going directly to voicemail without ringing your phone first. From adjusting phone settings to making software tweaks, we’ll explore a variety of fixes to ensure uninterrupted communication. If it’s not the sender using ringless voicemail software to send a message to you, then you can use the following steps to address this.
Whether you’re using an Android or iPhone, these strategies are designed to help you regain control over your incoming calls.
What makes calls go straight to voicemail without ringing?
Several factors can lead to your calls going straight to voicemail. Here’s a rundown of the most common reasons:
- Activating certain Focus Modes can silence incoming calls and send them straight to voicemail.
- If your phone is out of network coverage or experiencing intermittent signal, calls may bypass ringing and go straight to voicemail.
- Call forwarding or conditional call forwarding settings could be directing calls to your voicemail.
- Enabling Airplane Mode will reroute incoming calls directly to voicemail without notification.
- Software bugs or glitches in your phone’s system may also cause incoming calls to skip ringing and head straight to voicemail.
How to resolve the issue of calls bypassing ringing and going straight to voicemail?
Now that you’re aware of potential reasons for calls going straight to voicemail, let’s explore solutions. Here are some top troubleshooting ideas.
Switched carriers with mobile number porting
If you’ve recently switched from one carrier to another while keeping the same phone number, your phone service might still be in the process of porting. During this transition period, incoming calls may bypass ringing and go straight to voicemail, either on your new or previous voicemail account.
Carriers typically state that this porting process can take up to 72 hours, during which time inter-carrier calls might be directed to voicemail. Therefore, it’s essential to wait for a few days to see if the issue resolves itself. If the problem persists, your best course of action is to reach out to your carrier’s customer support team.
Check your network coverage
If your phone calls are consistently landing in voicemail without ringing, one possible explanation could be the lack of network coverage. This issue commonly arises when you find yourself in areas with poor or no signal reception. It could occur if you’re in a remote location, deep inside a building, or near obstructions like tall structures or natural terrain features that hinder signal transmission.
To determine if network coverage is the culprit, glance at the signal bars displayed on your phone’s status bar. If you notice that the bars are low or completely absent, it indicates a weak signal strength or complete absence of network coverage. In such cases, your phone may struggle to establish a stable connection with the cellular network, resulting in missed calls that are automatically diverted to voicemail.
To address this issue, consider relocating to a different spot where you can obtain a stronger signal. Moving to an area with better reception, such as an open space or closer to a window if you’re indoors, can significantly improve your chances of receiving incoming calls without them being directed straight to voicemail.
Check your SIM card
A faulty SIM card could be the issue. This small chip connects you to your network and identifies your phone number. If it’s inserted incorrectly, damaged, or corrupted, your phone might not receive calls. To check, turn off your phone, remove the SIM card, and inspect it for damage. If damaged, contact your network provider for a replacement. If not, clean it with a soft cloth, reinsert it correctly, and restart your phone.
Most smartphones use a SIM card from the service provider. Some newer ones have an “eSIM” embedded in the phone. If you suspect a faulty SIM, test it in another phone. If problems persist, contact your provider for a SIM swap, transferring your account to a new card without changes.
Disable call forwarding
Call forwarding allows you to redirect incoming calls to another number, like voicemail or another phone, useful when you’re busy or unreachable.
To check if it’s enabled on your iPhone, open your Phone app, tap the three dots at the top right, then go to Settings > Calls > Call forwarding, and ensure it’s turned off. If it’s on, disable each option.
You can do the same with Android devices.
Once disabled, your phone will ring for incoming calls instead of forwarding them. If you can’t find Call Forwarding in Phone settings, your cellular network carrier may not support it.
Turn off silent mode
If your phone calls keep ending up in voicemail without ringing, one possible reason might be that silent mode is enabled.
If you’re using an iPhone, follow these steps to turn off silent mode:
- Check if the Ring/Silent switch is accidentally activated.
- For iPhone 15 or later models, tap the Action Button to ensure Silent Mode is off.
- For older iPhones, look for an orange sticker near the switch’s base. Push it up to deactivate silent mode.
If you’re using an Android device, follow these steps to turn off silent mode:
- Open device Settings and go to Sound/Sounds and notifications.
- Check the slider for Ring volume and ensure it’s above the minimum level.
Disable silence unknown callers
A common reason for calls going straight to voicemail is the Silence Unknown Callers feature, often causing frustration due to its lack of awareness among users.
For iPhone users, disabling this feature is straightforward:
- Navigate to Settings > Phone.
- Scroll down to Silence Unknown Callers and toggle it off.
Android users can also deactivate this mode by:
- Opening the Phone app.
- Accessing Settings.
- Selecting ‘Blocked Numbers’.
- Disabling ‘Unknown Callers’.
With this feature turned off, your phone will ring for all incoming calls, including unknown ones.
Remove contacts from your blocked list
Blocked numbers is a feature that allows you to block unwanted calls from specific numbers or unknown callers. You can block numbers from your call history, contacts, or messages. To check if you have blocked any numbers, open your Phone app and tap on the three dots icon at the top right corner. Then, tap on Settings > Blocked numbers and see if there are any numbers on the list. If there are, tap on the minus sign next to each number to unblock it.
Disable airplane mode
Airplane Mode disconnects all wireless networking services on your phone. When your phone in Airplane Mode, and you get an incoming call, the carrier services send it to your voice mail.
You can disable Airplane Mode by accessing the Control Center by swiping down from the top of your phone. If the Airplane Mode icon is amber, tap on it to turn the feature off. Wait a few seconds, and you should reconnect to your mobile network.
Disable do not disturb (or your activated focus mode)
One possible reason why your device takes callers straight to voicemail is that you have Do Not Disturb — or another Focus Mode — activated. In some instances, you’ll need to choose which contacts you allow notifications from when the feature is on.
Do Not Disturb mode is a feature that silences all notifications and calls on your phone, except for those from your favorite contacts or specific apps. You can turn it on or off manually, or set a schedule for when it should be active. To check if Do Not Disturb mode is on, look for a moon icon on your status bar. If it is on, swipe down from the top of your screen and tap on the icon to turn it off. Alternatively, you can go to Settings > Do Not Disturb and toggle it off.
Let people contact you with focus modes activated
In some situations, you might need to activate DND or a Focus Mode so that you can concentrate on intense tasks. Thankfully, you can easily allow users to call you with these switched on.
Follow these steps to do that:
- Go to Settings > Focus.
- Pick the Focus Mode you want to allow people to contact you within.
- Under Silence Notifications, select Choose People.
- Tick Allow Notifications From. Then, select the Add People icon.
- Choose the contacts you want to allow to reach out to you and tap Done.
- Hit Next.
- On the Choose Calls to Allow window, select Allowed People Only and hit Done.
Check announce calls
To enable the Announce Calls feature on both iPhone and Android devices, allowing it to announce calls when using headphones or in a paired car, you can follow similar steps on both platforms. Here’s how to do it:
For iPhone:
- Open the Settings app on your iPhone.
- Navigate to the “Phone” section.
- Look for the “Allow Phone To Access” menu.
- Within this menu, locate and tap on “Announce Calls.”
- Select the option “Always” to ensure that calls are always announced by the feature.
For Android:
- Open the Settings app on your Android device.
- Scroll down and select “Apps & notifications.”
- Tap on “Advanced” to expand the menu.
- Select “Phone” or “Phone app” from the list of apps.
- Within the Phone settings, locate the section for permissions or access settings.
- Look for the option related to call announcements, which may be labeled differently depending on your device’s software version.
- Tap on “Announce Calls” or a similar option to access its settings.
- Choose the desired option, such as “Always,” to ensure that calls are announced consistently.
By following these steps on both platforms, you can customize your device to announce incoming calls through headphones or in a paired car, providing added convenience and accessibility. This feature can be particularly useful when you’re unable to check your phone manually, allowing you to stay informed about incoming calls without interruption.
Contact your network provider
If you’ve tried everything suggested above and your calls still go straight to voicemail without ringing, the issue might be with your network provider. They could be facing technical problems or doing maintenance work. Contact them to check for any issues or outages in your area and to review your account settings. If necessary, they’ll fix the problem or advise you on what to do next.
While it’s frustrating when calls don’t come through, most of the time, adjusting your phone settings or finding a better signal can resolve the issue. If not, your network provider can help. By following these steps, you’ll likely solve the problem and start receiving calls normally again.
Conclusion
In conclusion, dealing with calls going straight to voicemail without your phone ringing can be frustrating. But armed with the solutions provided, like adjusting settings and checking network coverage, you can tackle the issue. Whether you’re using an iPhone or Android, these steps offer a comprehensive approach to resolving the problem and ensuring you stay connected.
Remember, with persistence, you can overcome this challenge and enjoy uninterrupted communication once again. If you’re curious about leaving a voicemail without calling directly, we have a dedicated blog post covering that topic.
