How To Extend Ring Time Before A Call Diverts To Voicemail [Verified Way]

[OldSchoolTech]

Hi guys:

This is to help anyone (like me) who needs to extend ring time before a call diverts to voicemail.

First, i am going to suggest updating your android phone with the latest android system update

EE recommend android system update (for various logical reasons): its a good idea...

Second, I have tested this method and know it works (its been posted elsewhere, but here, I am posting a logical step-by-step guide):

increase ring time before someone calling you is diverted to voicemail:

Dial *#61*11# on your keypad (you will see current ring time displayed as an "operator message")

Dial > **61*+447953222222**30# (to set ring time to 30 seconds)

> 30 seconds is max ring time, 5 seconds is minimum ring time (before whoever is calling you is diverted to voicemail)

Dial > *#61*11# again to confirm ring time set to 30 seconds.

thanks to @timsonr1 for posting a solution that actually works... 👍

the trick is:

1. use +447953222222 not 07953222222

2. to dial the + symbol (plus symbol) on an android keypad, long press 0 (you will see the + sign underneath 0 on your keypad).

hope this helps someone out there, because i've only just figured this out after many years 🙂

merry xmas 😊

[MmmToast]

Just to add to this very useful thread:

**61*+447953222222**30#

Worked for me on a pay monthly contract, using a Oppo Find X3 Neo 5G running Android ColourOS13.1 (based on Android 13)

After pressing the green dial button, the phone responds with:

“MMI Command started”
Then it will respond with “Call forwarding registration was successful”

Interesting idea to swap the SIM to an older phone if it doesn't work on certain brands, but can I propose an alternative is to change the phone dialler app.

I had success with this one:  Right Dialer

[OldSchoolTech]

dear contributors

as promised, here is a screenshot of "call forwarding delays" from my:

A15 samsung galaxy
OS: Android 14, Service Patch 1 March, 2024

i retrieved this information by dialing: *#61*11*# on my phone keypad.
when i press the green call button after dialing this code, my phone says:

"mmi code started"

then it displays a panel message indicating what my voicemail delay is set to (eg: 30 seconds)
[pic attached]

from what i can gather MMI Codes allow us to program our phones, so they do what we want which is the point of technology afterall... 😉

so when @Dave37  writes:

"From a few months ago EE took the decision to fix the call forwarding delay to 20secs which means you cannot shorten or lengthen the time period."

this is incorrect information. as indicated by @DSP1 (sorry dave): MMI codes are not provider specific, rather generic programming codes that can be dialed by all phones across all GSM, LTE and NR (radio) networks. technically MMI, USSD and SS codes are all different types of programmable codes we can dial from our phones. [but these all have similar phone programmable functions] 👍

for anyone with deeper interest, full wiki article here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unstructured_Supplementary_Service_Data

have a great day x

OldSchoolTech🚀