How to skip to voicemail when calling someone?

Question

K.G. Laxmi · Answer

Slydial(Opens in a new window) lets a caller go directly into a mobile number's voicemail. Even better, the basic service is free, and no signup is required to use it unless you need more functionality.

To use Slydial, dial 267-SLYDIAL (267-759-3425). When prompted, enter the US mobile phone number for the person you are trying to call. Once the service connects you, leave your voicemail, and then just hang up.

You can also use the Slydial app for iOS(Opens in a new window) or Android(Opens in a new window). Create a free account with the service, then choose a contact through the app or manually enter a phone number. Once the app has connected the call, leave a voicemail and hang up when you're finished.

Unfortunately, not all phone numbers can be dialed: Slydial doesn't work with landline phones, third-party voicemail services, VoIP numbers, or prepaid mobile phones. If you subscribe to one of the premium plans, you can eliminate the ads on the service and send messages to multiple contacts at once.

Alternative services exist, but most voice-broadcasting services don't offer functionality for free, and most focus on messaging dozens or hundreds of contacts at a time.

Traditional voicemail services once offered this feature, but visual voicemail (with a visual interface that lets you access messages directly) has mostly eliminated that possibility. If your phone does not have visual voicemail, and you have to call an inbox to hear your messages, you may still be able to use this feature.

Check with your carrier on specifics, but an option to "send a message" may be in the voicemail menu. This will allow you to send a voice message from your voicemail to another person's inbox without having to make a phone call first. Even if you have this feature, it can only be used to send messages to contacts with the same carrier as you. So Verizon customers can send voice messages only to other Verizon customers, for example.

Many messaging apps, including Facebook Messenger, Telegram, and WhatsApp, offer the ability to send voice messages to contacts without needing to make a phone call at all. Typically, you would send a voice message by opening a conversation in the app and holding down the microphone button. You then let go to send the message or swipe the screen to delete.

Apple iPhone users can send voice messages from Apple's Messages app by tapping the microphone button inside the text box (this works only when you're messaging other iPhones). By default, these messages last for only two minutes before they are deleted, but you can change that. Tap Keep under any sent voice message to preserve it.

For future voice messages, head to Settings > Messages and tap Expire under Audio Messages. You can set the expiration date to Never, but this affects only your record of the conversation, not the recipient's.

Apple's Voice Memos app can also be used to record a voice message. You then tap the ellipsis icon and open the Share pane to find the correct destination.

Plummy Scheimer · Answer

Navigate to your call list and add the number you want to avoid as a contact. Navigate to Contacts and select the contact you just added. Inside the individual contact, tap the three-dot menu icon. Select Route to voicemail.

Nicolo Fink · Answer

So, can you call someone’s voicemail directly?

We’ve discovered multiple methods to bypass those troublesome phone conversations, allowing you to simply leave a voicemail and carry on with your day.

Let’s take a look at how to call directly to someone’s voicemail.

Some wireless carriers give their subscribers the option to send voicemail directly without ringing the other party’s line. This generally is only available if both parties are on the same carrier, but when it’s available it’s super easy.

To send a voicemail directly to another AT&T subscriber:

To send a voicemail directly to another Verizon subscriber:

To send a voicemail directly to another T-Mobile subscriber:

To send a voicemail directly to another Sprint subscriber:

If you aren’t on the same network as the person you want to call, the next-best option is to use an app.

There are two popular apps to perform this service: Slydial and WhatCall. While Slydial used to be the market leader, it’s since been flooded with poor reviews due to the service only working sometimes. WhatCall continued to work for a time, but as of February 2021, also appears to be having major issues and is only working sporadically.

Slydial is an app that is available for both iOS and Android. Free accounts are available but they require you to listen to an ad before making your call.

There are two tiers of paid accounts, giving you ad-free access, the ability to “Slydial” multiple people simultaneously, and other premium features. For most people, the free version is perfectly adequate.

Here’s how to use the service:

Slydial only works if you’re calling a mobile phone. Even if the landline you are trying to call has digital voicemail, the app will not work. Otherwise, the process automatically bypasses the live line and goes straight to voicemail.

WhatCall is also available for Android (sideload only) and iOS. The app similarly directs a phone call to another person’s voicemail without causing their phone to ring.

However, as of February 2021, reviewers share the same concern as was expressed towards Slydial — it only works sometimes. WhatCall imports all of your contacts, so all you have to do is open the app and tap a contact. From there, you will be directly connected with their voicemail. WhatCall is a cell-only app, costing $0.99 on the iOS app store.

Forget about messing around with apps. There’s a powerful voicemail handling system built into nearly every big carrier today — and that system almost always includes a system for recording a voice message and sending it directly without ringing the target phone. I will walk you through the process of doing this on Straight Talk (since that happens to be my carrier) but most carriers will have similar systems.

Follow these steps to use this method:

What if you’re on the other side of things?

Your phone rings, you see who’s calling, and wish you could send them straight to your customized voicemail message.

This can easily be accomplished by setting your phone to airplane mode or turning on Do Not Disturb. Additionally, you can reject any incoming calls, sending them straight to voicemail.

In order to automatically direct a specific caller to your voicemail without your phone ringing, you’ll have to use a different method depending on which phone you’re using.

(Note: This only works on some Android builds.)

Another alternative for Android users who don’t have the option for ‘Route to Voicemail’ in their settings can use the Do Not Disturb function. Although this prevents anyone from calling, you can add exceptions.

Assuming you only care to hear from a handful of people, open your phone’s Settings, and tap on Notifications. From here, tap on Do Not Disturb and toggle it on. Now, you can tap Allow Exceptions and add the contacts you’d like to get calls from.

Unfortunately, you cannot currently send individual calls to voicemail on an iPhone without using a non-native app.

If you want to avoid marketing calls, you can just block them instead. This won’t stop that first call, but it will stop subsequent calls.

Calls will still technically be delivered to your phone, but your phone will not alert you to the call. This is a handset block and not a network block. You can put a network block on persistent telemarketers, but you need to contact your network provider for that. To view voicemails from blocked calls, go to Voicemail, then scroll all the way to the bottom and tap “Blocked Messages.”

R.J. Knotts · Answer