iPhone 7 Plus Visual Voicemail.

A Strange Issue.

I've had iPhones on Verizon since the 4s. 4s/5s/6s. I ended up losing my 6s and then breaking my 5s this summer and had to resort to an old Motorola Droid Turbo before the 7 came out. Now that the 7 is out I'm having Voicemail issues. First I bought an unlocked Sprint Model from the Apple Store (as they were out of Verizon phones) and put my sim card in it, everything worked great except for the fact that I could not access or set up my visual voicemail. When i click on voicemail it would just call *87 with no way to change it and when I would get a new voicemail i have no notification, but i do get a cryptic text message along the lines of //VZWVVM:SYNC:ev=NM...etc (goes on for a few lines with random fields). I called Verizon and they said that due to the fact that it is Hard Coded with Sprint restrictions (even though it's unlocked) the voicemail just would not work. Now I went back to Apple and again they were out of Verizon models, I exchanged it for a SIM FREE model mean there should be no restrictions regardless of carrier. I am still having the same issue, my visual voicemail will not pop up, and i have no way to set it up and still receiving the cryptic text messages.

Now there should be no reason why this option ever got turned off on my account due to the fact that I've owned iPhones and have had the same contract and account for the past 5+ years. Unless switching to an Android for a whole 6 weeks or so somehow screwed everything up.

Can anyone help re-activating my visual voicemail on my iPhone? It drives me crazy to have paid so much money for a phone that a simple and very usable feature is not working.

Thank you very much.

- STEVER

Accepted answers

Acrillix

While the FCC demands all 4G devices are unlocked and are usable by any carrier in the US (as long as they use CDMA), you will experience some issues.

Your issue, while yes it's strange, is not because of you per say but it's the phone. VZW phones are specially encoded with specific parameters to communicate and transfer data on the network.

Visual Voicemail does use data, and it's very possible that the SIM Free version you bought, while yes it is compatible with any carrier, just is not functional with Visual Voicemail. This is why its highly recommended to have a Verizon version VS purchasing directly from the manufacturer.

I would contact Apple and see when they will have Verizon versions in store and setup an appointment to exchange it for the different version.

You should still be able to dial *86 and access your voicemail the normal way until then

All comments

Acrillix

While the FCC demands all 4G devices are unlocked and are usable by any carrier in the US (as long as they use CDMA), you will experience some issues.

Your issue, while yes it's strange, is not because of you per say but it's the phone. VZW phones are specially encoded with specific parameters to communicate and transfer data on the network.

I would contact Apple and see when they will have Verizon versions in store and setup an appointment to exchange it for the different version.

You should still be able to dial *86 and access your voicemail the normal way until then

STEVER315

When I bought my 6s, I actually Purchased the T-Mobile Version of the phone, and everything worked perfectly with my Verizon sim. Does Verizon and T-Mobile use the same form of Voicemail settings?

And why are Apple employees not informed of these communication issues between carriers? I was very clear on my intentions of putting it on Verizon when I made the purchase with the Sprint phone and also when I just made the swap with the SIM FREE phone. I would think that both the Carriers and Apple would want anyone selling their products and services (Since you can obtain a contract through apple) with all of the information.

Thank you for your time.

Acrillix

Additionally, the iPhone 7/7+ has signal issues. It's possible it's impacting the Visual Voicemail feature.

It's possible that the Apple representative knew that you had Verizon, knew that there could be issues between the two and sold the phone anyways to get a sale. But remember: this is a stereotype and not applicable to every situation.

My best advice would be to contact Verizon Wireless, verify that you have the correct feature Visual Voicemail VS Basic Voicemail [Removed]

phone number removed as required by the Verizon Wireless Terms of Service

Message edited by Verizon Moderator

Acrillix

Sorry something weird happened lol....

Anyways.... What I was saying is check with VZW make sure the correct feature is on the phone. If it is, then you should follow my original advice and check with Apple and see if you can exchange it for a VZW version when it is available.

mscksr

I have a Verizon Iphone 5s and I am having the same problem with no visual voicemail following Verizon's phase out of their visual voicemail. When I press the voicemail icon, it calls the voicemail system and when someone leaves a message, it gives me the same message mentioned above. I went to the Verizon store and their newest phones were doing the same thing. After an hour there and numerous network resets, the only advice they had was to back up my phone and wipe it then restore from backup. I did that and it has not helped. Very frustrating that Verizon is not able to offer any insight or help.

STEVER315

I was finally able to get it to work when I called Verizon and had them turn off my voicemail on their end and turn it back on. Then I hard reset my phone and when it came back up I had my voicemail back.

Try giving them a call and see if they can do that for you. I didn't even lose my saved voicemails.

RMCCAMMAN

Here is a link to set it up correctly (Assuming VZW has it done correctly on their end)

Visual Voicemail on your iPhone - Apple Support

JoeChef

Remember this year the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus do have a major difference in comparison to last year. This year there was two makers employed to the modem inside the phone. The iPhone made for CDMA (Sprint, Verizon) is exclusively made by Qualcom. The unlocked version as well as the AT&T and T-Mobile version, the modem is made by Intel. Although Sprint is a CDMA carrier, they very likely have carrier restrictions on their iPhone. This does not include that the Sprint version may not be able to access the proper bandwidth frequencies that Verizon operates on.

tc2013

Same question same problem here :smileysad:

Got involved in the galaxy note 7 fiasco, need to find a iPhone fast. Get the sim free iPhone 7 from Apple Store because Verizon store has none.

Now I'm having the same voicemail set up issue!!

Whats going on here?? Should I go to change it back to Verizon's iPhone 7 ?

Verizon_Support

tc2013 We understand the importance of having a working device. Let's take a closer look. Have you recently updated the device? When did this voicemail problem start?

TabithaJ_VZW Follow us on TWITTER @VZWSupport. If my response answered your question, please click the Correct Answer button under my response. This ensures others can benefit from our conversation. Thanks in advance for your help with this!