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How do I get Google voicemail to pick up only calls that were called to my Google voice 5 Recommended Answers 19 Replies 91 Upvotes
Using T-Mobile iPhone. Have carrier number and GV number. Currently when someone calls my GV number, and I don’t answer, my carrier voicemail picks up the call and the caller hears my personal carrier number which I would like to keep private from GV callers.
Would like calls coming from GV to go to GV voicemail and calls coming from my carrier go to my carrier voicemail.
The instructions online state to dial or activate **004*xxx but this sends all calls to GV which is not what I want. I want to separate the two voicemails respectively.
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1. I have had to Google voice since the first year it came out in beta version. All of these years I was able to have calls coming from GV number answered by GV vm. And all of the carrier calls were answered by my normal carrier voicemail. So it is in fact possible to do this, however I had to re-boot my software on my iPhone which is the reason why I had to reinstall all of the apps, and then I was no longer able to have the two separate numbers separate their voicemails respectively.
It would be helpful to explain the technology behind this, because no, this is the way Google Voice has always worked.
When someone calls your inbound Google Voice number, Google Voice subsequently and simultaneously forwards that call to all of your linked/forwarding destinations. It will wait about 25 seconds of ring time. Whichever one of the forwarding destinations answers first, wins the race and takes the call. When a forwarding destination number is busy, or unanswered, THAT phone number's carrier number is programmed to send the call to its voicemail system. That behavior is controlled by that number's carrier. It's a problem, because it creates an unwanted behavior - the calls end up on your carrier's voicemail instead of Google Voice's voicemail.
Therefore, to make Google Voice work properly, you need to prevent that phone number from taking those calls before any of the other forwarding destinations can answer, and it prevents Google Voice from taking the voicemail message.
The design of the service is that you, the user, program your forwarding phone number(s) to use Conditional Call Forwarding. This sends those calls back to GV VM.
The workaround, or "hack" to not use CCF, and thus allow direct calls to your mobile number to be sent to its own VM, is to turn on call screening, which requires you, the GV user, to press "1" to accept the call. Since your mobile phone's carrier isn't human, it can't press 1, and so the call will keep ringing until the 25 second ring interval ends, and then GV will take the call.
The operation of call screening is that, when you toggle the feature on, all inbound calls will be screened. "Screened is defined as Google Voice asking you, the GV user, if you want to accept a call from this caller.
- If the caller's number is not in your Google Contacts, and it is not a business number known to Google (for example, when you search for that number, it appears on Google Maps), then the caller will be asked to state their name. This is known as "name presentation".
- If the caller's number is in your Google Contacts, or it is a known business, then the call is still screened, but the caller will not be prompted to say their name, because Google already knows the name, based on your contacts and their list of business phone numbers
2. Many people are using Google voice for business, and their carrier phone number for their personal and that’s the way I would like to keep it. I do not want my personal calls to be directed to my GV vm.
You can achieve this by enabling call screening, as described above.
3. Also you mentioned that we have to turn on call screening ( which is OK with me ), but you said that it will only screen the calls if the number is in my Google contacts? I am not sure if my phone contacts are synced with my Google contacts. I use a third-party google voice app and even though I have my settings turn on properly on my phone to sync phone numbers with the GV email address, the contact name and number only shows on my iPhone and GV app, however, when I log into GV online from a browser, It only shows phone numbers and no contact name associated with any of the text messages or calls.
Answered above.
4. If the GV voicemail option can only be enabled simultaneously for both numbers (GV & Carrier ), can we still receive calls coming from GV number but not have the GV voicemail enabled?
No.
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We don't have any information about why the website UI is not displaying names with the numbers. Several people have reported it, so I am guessing it's a bug.
Please use the "Feedback" link on the website to report the problem. Google employees don't routinely read posts in this forum, but they do use feedback reports to identify and triage bugs. Thanks!
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Hi:
The design of Google Voice is to use it as your sole voicemail service. Enabling Conditional Call Forwarding is the way to have your mobile phone's carrier network send busy or unanswered calls back to Google Voice's voicemail.
The only way to achieve what you want is to a) turn off Conditional Call Forwarding) and b) turn ON Google Voice's call screening feature.
However, you should understand that call screening will ask callers to speak their names before ringing your forwarding destinations, unless their name and number is already stored in your Google Contacts.
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I don't understand what you are asking about the iOS app. There is one, and only one, official Google Voice app, authored by Google. Any other misleadingly-named apps are fakes, and will not work. In particular, one example is "GV Phone by Mo+".
This is the link to the real thing: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/google-voice/id318698524
It sounds like you don't understand my previous explanation. This is the correct behavior of Google Voice; it's always worked this way, and no, there is no way to make it work any other way -- it is a limitation of the telephone carrier network, and Google has no way to control your mobile phone carrier.
And finally, I should point out, this is the consumer version of Google Voice. It is neither designed nor intended for business use. It is specifically designed to give you a single point of contact inbound number, which you should give out to all of your contacts, not one of your forwarding phone numbers, and thus, use one and only one voicemail system. It is intended for individual consumer use.
If it doesn't meet your needs, there are other alternatives out there for small business telephone requirements.
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That will not help at all, if your iPhone number is busy or the phone is turned off. The calls will be grabbed by your mobile carrier's voicemail.
For the last time: you must enable Conditional Call Forwarding to use Google Voice with a mobile phone number. The only alternative is to use call screening.
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Hi:
The design of Google Voice is to use it as your sole voicemail service. Enabling Conditional Call Forwarding is the way to have your mobile phone's carrier network send busy or unanswered calls back to Google Voice's voicemail.
The only way to achieve what you want is to a) turn off Conditional Call Forwarding) and b) turn ON Google Voice's call screening feature.
However, you should understand that call screening will ask callers to speak their names before ringing your forwarding destinations, unless their name and number is already stored in your Google Contacts.
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Thanks for your prompt response.
1. I have had Google voice since the first year it came out in beta version. All of these years I was able to have calls coming from GV number answered by GV vm. And all of the carrier calls were answered by my normal carrier voicemail. So it is in fact possible to do this, however I had to re-boot my software on my iPhone which is the reason why I had to reinstall all of the apps, and then I was no longer able to have the two separate numbers separate their voicemails respectively.
2. Many people are using Google voice for business, and their carrier phone number for their personal and that’s the way I would like to keep it. I do not want my personal calls to be directed to my GV vm.
3. Also you mentioned that we have to turn on call screening ( which is OK with me ), but you said that it will only screen the calls if the number is in my Google contacts? I am not sure if my phone contacts are synced with my Google contacts. I use a third-party google voice app and even though I have my settings turn on properly on my phone to sync phone numbers with the GV email address, the contact name and number only shows on my iPhone and GV app, however, when I log into GV online from a browser, It only shows phone numbers and no contact name associated with any of the text messages or calls.
4. If the GV voicemail option can only be enabled simultaneously for both numbers (GV & Carrier ), can we still receive calls coming from GV number but not have the GV voicemail enabled?
Can you please advise on matter 1,2,3 respectively ? Thanks in advance as I’m sure a lot of people are in my position !
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1. I have had to Google voice since the first year it came out in beta version. All of these years I was able to have calls coming from GV number answered by GV vm. And all of the carrier calls were answered by my normal carrier voicemail. So it is in fact possible to do this, however I had to re-boot my software on my iPhone which is the reason why I had to reinstall all of the apps, and then I was no longer able to have the two separate numbers separate their voicemails respectively.
It would be helpful to explain the technology behind this, because no, this is the way Google Voice has always worked.
When someone calls your inbound Google Voice number, Google Voice subsequently and simultaneously forwards that call to all of your linked/forwarding destinations. It will wait about 25 seconds of ring time. Whichever one of the forwarding destinations answers first, wins the race and takes the call. When a forwarding destination number is busy, or unanswered, THAT phone number's carrier number is programmed to send the call to its voicemail system. That behavior is controlled by that number's carrier. It's a problem, because it creates an unwanted behavior - the calls end up on your carrier's voicemail instead of Google Voice's voicemail.
Therefore, to make Google Voice work properly, you need to prevent that phone number from taking those calls before any of the other forwarding destinations can answer, and it prevents Google Voice from taking the voicemail message.
The design of the service is that you, the user, program your forwarding phone number(s) to use Conditional Call Forwarding. This sends those calls back to GV VM.
The workaround, or "hack" to not use CCF, and thus allow direct calls to your mobile number to be sent to its own VM, is to turn on call screening, which requires you, the GV user, to press "1" to accept the call. Since your mobile phone's carrier isn't human, it can't press 1, and so the call will keep ringing until the 25 second ring interval ends, and then GV will take the call.
The operation of call screening is that, when you toggle the feature on, all inbound calls will be screened. "Screened is defined as Google Voice asking you, the GV user, if you want to accept a call from this caller.
- If the caller's number is not in your Google Contacts, and it is not a business number known to Google (for example, when you search for that number, it appears on Google Maps), then the caller will be asked to state their name. This is known as "name presentation".
- If the caller's number is in your Google Contacts, or it is a known business, then the call is still screened, but the caller will not be prompted to say their name, because Google already knows the name, based on your contacts and their list of business phone numbers
2. Many people are using Google voice for business, and their carrier phone number for their personal and that’s the way I would like to keep it. I do not want my personal calls to be directed to my GV vm.
You can achieve this by enabling call screening, as described above.
3. Also you mentioned that we have to turn on call screening ( which is OK with me ), but you said that it will only screen the calls if the number is in my Google contacts? I am not sure if my phone contacts are synced with my Google contacts. I use a third-party google voice app and even though I have my settings turn on properly on my phone to sync phone numbers with the GV email address, the contact name and number only shows on my iPhone and GV app, however, when I log into GV online from a browser, It only shows phone numbers and no contact name associated with any of the text messages or calls.
Answered above.
4. If the GV voicemail option can only be enabled simultaneously for both numbers (GV & Carrier ), can we still receive calls coming from GV number but not have the GV voicemail enabled?
No.
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Yes thank you for the thorough reply.
5. Given I use my iPhone, a third-party Google voice app which you can find in the App Store ( is a forest green and white icon ), How can I get my email or my app to sync the current numbers and text messages that are on my GV app and iPhone, to my GV email contacts? As aformentioned, on my GV phone app, the contact names, numbers, and the text messages are all there but when logged in online, it only shows the current text messages with phone numbers displayed but no contact names.
6. Is GV ever planning to come out with a version that will direct GV calls to GV voicemail? This type of feature has been much requested for about 10 years.
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Agree with Greg about the ring time. I am also noticing this behavior recently (GV calls going to my carrier VM). One or more of the following has changed - GV / my carrier / OS. But of course some product experts here would like to think that dummies at Google finally figured out how to make GV work the way it was designed to work.
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