All you need to know about O2 Voicemail 901.

[MI5]

The most common issue we come across is customers trying to turn off voicemail and can't. 

If you want to know more about voicemail 901, read on.....

Visual Voicemail 

Visual voice mail (VVM) is a voicemail with a visual interface presenting a visual list of messages for playback. Each message can be shown on the screen, as text.

Turning on VM
Dial 1750 and press send
Turning off VM
Dial 1760 and press send

Personalise your greeting
Your Voicemail 901 is automatically set up with a default message that greets your callers. Or you can record your own. Here's how:

To change your personal greeting
Call 901 from your mobile
Press the * (star) key
You will hear the main menu options - select option 'three'
Another set of options - select 'two' to record a full greeting, or 'three' to record a new nametag
Follow the prompts to complete the change

To change your PIN
Call 901 from your mobile
Press the * (star) key
You will hear the main menu options - select option 'four'
Follow the prompts to complete the change

To retrieve your voicemail messages from a landline
Switch off your mobile phone
Dial your mobile number from a landline
Interrupt the voicemail greeting by pressing the * (star) key
Enter the four digit pin code (default is 8705)
Follow the prompts to listen to your messages

Check your messages
You can listen to your messages anytime by dialling 901 from your mobile. Or you can speed-dial Voicemail 901 by holding down 1.
Then, while you're listening to a message you can:
Press 0 to pause or continue
Press 4 to skip back 5 seconds
Press 6 to skip forward 5 seconds
You can also do any of the following during or after you've heard your message:
Press 1 to replay the message
Press 2 to save it
Press 3 to delete it
Press 5 to return the call
Press 7 to forward or reply (post-pay only)
Press 8 to hear who called you and when
Press 9 to reply by text (post-pay only)

How much does it cost?
If you're a Pay & Go customer, calls to 901 are chargeable (see your tariff for individual prices) https://www.o2.co.uk/freesim/
If you're a Pay Monthly customer, calls to 901 come out of your allowance or are charged at your tariff rate (currently 35ppm).

O2 Call Alert
What is it?
O2 Call Alert is a simple, easy-to-use alternative to Voicemail 901. It provides missed call information for up to four callers, at no extra cost, by sending you a text message update.
So, if you're on another call or your mobile's switched off, if you're out of coverage or you just don't answer in time, O2 Call Alert will tell you the caller's number and the last time they called.
But it's not just you who benefits from the service. Callers also hear a message telling them that their number's being sent to you via text message, to let you know they called. (Although, if anyone decides to withhold their number, you won't be sent the missed call text and they'll be told to call again later.)

How do I switch it on?
You can turn on O2 Call Alert any time by calling 1710 free from your mobile phone. And you call exactly the same number to switch it off.

Voicemail 901 users
If you use Voicemail 901 and you want to replace the service with O2 Call Alert, call 1710 free from your mobile. Then you just call the same number to switch back again. (Please note: you can only have one service or the other.)

How much does it cost?
If you've got O2 Call Alert it's free to receive the text update, whether you're in the UK or abroad.
If you're calling someone with O2 Call Alert you'll be charged your standard tariff rate unless you withhold your number, then it's free.

Voicemail 901 Abroad

To obtain the Voicemail roaming number call 1780 free from the mobile (whilst in the UK) and a text with the voicemail roaming number will be sent to your mobile.

Before travelling abroad, you will need to change your voicemail pin code from the default. If you don't and you are roaming on a network which doesn't support short codes, then you will not be able to retrieve 901 messages.

Pay Monthly and PAYG

How can I listen to my voicemail when I'm abroad?
Just call 901 as usual. This will work in some countries abroad. Depending on which country you're in, you'll either go straight to your messages or you'll go to your voicemail greeting. If it's your voicemail greeting, press * and enter your PIN.
In countries where this doesn't work, you'll need to call a different number for your voicemail.

Try calling your own number,  when you hear your voicemail greeting, press * and enter your PIN.

Alternatively, call +44 7802 090 100 once you're abroad. We'll send you a text with the number to call.

How much does it cost?
If you call to listen to your voicemail messages, it will cost the same as a call back to the UK.

What if I forget my PIN?
Here's how to change it:
Call 901
Press * for greetings and mailbox settings and then 4
Follow the prompts
If you forget your PIN when you're abroad, you'll need to call our customer service team and ask for your PIN to be reset. You'll need to change it before you can listen to your messages.

Contact Numbers
Pay monthly from abroad
+44 844 809 0200 Free
PAYG from abroad
+44 7860 980 202 International rates
Opening times
Monday-Friday 08:00 - 21:00
Saturday 08:00 - 20:00
Sunday 08:00 - 18:00
Sunday PAYG 09:00 - 18:00

About Call Diverts
With call diverts you can divert incoming calls to any UK fixed phone or mobile. There are four call diversion options available which you can set up from your mobile:
Not Reachable Divert
To activate ** 62 * phone number # SEND
To cancel ## 62 # SEND
To check status * # 62 # SEND
Divert calls when busy
To activate ** 67 * 901 # SEND
To cancel ## 67 # SEND
To check status * # 67 # SEND
Divert calls when there is no reply
To activate ** 61 * phone number * 11 * no seconds# SEND
To cancel ## 61 # SEND
To check status * # 61 # SEND
Divert all calls
To activate ** 21 * phone number # SEND
To cancel ## 21 # SEND
To check status * # 21 # SEND
To cancel all call diverts
To cancel ## 002 # SEND

For info on controlling the length of time your phone rings before VM answers see Josie's guide here

http://community.o2.co.uk/t5/Pay-Monthly-and-Pay-Go/How-to-Lengthen-Ringtime-on-any-O2-Mobile/m-p/36...

[Anonymous]

I know it’s been sorted but @reg091 and for anyone else with a G5

its not in settings..

its in PHONE > 3 dots (menu) > SETTINGS > calls

            ^^^^

press the PHONE icon, like you’re going to make a call! 

[reg091]

@Anonymous Not on my G5 😞

Phone - Settings - just gives me:

Display Options

Sounds and Vibration

Quick Responses

Calling Accounts

Call Blocking

Accesibility

[MatM]

Hi, I have a different problem. I have voicemail on and I want it on, but I can't access the messages I'm sent. When I click on the VM notification I am sent to Call Settings within the Phone App. What's gone wrong?

[MI5]

Hi @MatM Sounds like you need to store the voicemail access number in your settings. Open your call app and select the settings. Look for voicemail number or similar and enter 901 then press save or done. You phone should then automatically call your voice mailbox when you select the voicemail option.

[MatM]

Thanks MI5, that eventually solved the problem. There was a place to enter the number, and afterwards the voicemail came through.

[jonsie]

I do wish admin would lock these threads with a footnote to start a new thread. Or fix the bug that means scrolling through a hundred posts @Marjo @Martin-O2 @emilieT

[Cleoriff]

@jonsieThis was exactly what I was complaining about when I mentioned it here https://community.o2.co.uk/t5/Welcome-News/New-Community-Home-Page-amp-Other-Improvements/m-p/112857...

@Marjosaid it was a glitch in the system and they are looking to fix it. Mind you the same issue was reported months ago...:smileysad:

[MI5]

Glad you're sorted @MatM

[Martin-O2]

Hey @Cleoriff and @jonsie regarding the comments issue we've raised this with the platform provider and they have identified the bug. We're just waiting on a fix now but currently no ETA. 

[pgn]

Hi @MI5, good tutorial. Is it worth mentioning that O2 occasionally reset your VM PIN and Welcome message...? Not sure if it is due to low usage or contract change, but I know I have had to set a PIN away from the default on MY O2 VM at least twice over the years...

[MI5]

You just have mate

[pgn]

@MI5 Oh. Yes. I meant "in the body of your excellent guide" rather than down here at message #38odd 

[MI5]

Admin can do it

[kuepper]

just installed my first o2 sim. I don't want voicemail, is voicemail already activated on it or not? i was told by guru chat there'd be an icon displayed at the top of my phone if it was activated but thought he should have known if it was pre activated automatically or not

[jonsie]

Normally voicemail default is set to on. simply call 1760 free to turn off, you will get the old lady to answer that voicemail has been switched off.

[kuepper]

I did that but the voice didn't mention voicemail, it said my messaging service is now switched off. I didn't want my messaging service switched off, i still want to receive texts. How do I get it back on so I can receive texts?

[kuepper]

also why was there no symbol saying it was on in the first place like the chat guru said???

[MI5]

There is no symbol. The guru was talking out of his <insert preferred word for backside> 

Dialing 1760 turns off voicemail messenging only, not texts. 

[kuepper]

why does the voice when you dial 1760 say 'messaging' then and not 'voicemail'? I associate messaging =text

[jonsie]

messaging relates to voice messaging

[MI5]

That's what O2 call it.

You can either believe us who have been with O2 for years or not. Your choice mate .

[pgn]

Good guide, @MI5, @the classes of call diversion especially. 👍

[nialled]

I noticed that my VM was answering after 15s so I tried the code to lengthen it to 30s. Even though I had the confirmation response, it didn't work. So, I tried it several times with times of 10s, 20s, 25s and 30s all of them gave a confirmation message but on testing, it was still answering after 15s. I tried the status check *#61# and it confirmed that everything was set to 15s so I called O2. The first person I spoke to said he would investigate and call back but he didn't so I called again. This time, I spoke to 'Yusuf' who was very helpful and after going away to talk to someone, they identified that it was something to do with 'wifi calling'. I told him that I didn't even know that I had 'wifi calling' let alone how to use it. Yusuf told me that it was recently introduced on all new tariffs. Anyway, Yusuf said he would have to disable 'wifi calling' then I would be able to change the time. He did and sure enough, I was then able to set the answer time to 30s using the code **61*901*11*30# . Be aware though that it can take a few hours for the 'wifi calling' to be turned off and when it was, I received a 'SIM not provisioned' message until I restarted my phone. Apparently my 'wifi calling' is going to be enabled again tonight at midnight so I will add another post if the voicemail divert time reverts to 15s.

[MI5]

He must have gone off to read the forum

[jonsie]

---

@MI5 wrote:

The most common issue we come across is customers trying to turn off voicemail and can't. 

If you want to know more about voicemail 901, read on.....

Visual Voicemail 

Visual voice mail (VVM) is a voicemail with a visual interface presenting a visual list of messages for playback. Each message can be shown on the screen, as text.

Turning on VM
Dial 1750 and press send
Turning off VM
Dial 1760 and press send

Personalise your greeting
Your Voicemail 901 is automatically set up with a default message that greets your callers. Or you can record your own. Here's how:

To change your personal greeting
Call 901 from your mobile
Press the * (star) key
You will hear the main menu options - select option 'three'
Another set of options - select 'two' to record a full greeting, or 'three' to record a new nametag
Follow the prompts to complete the change

To change your PIN
Call 901 from your mobile
Press the * (star) key
You will hear the main menu options - select option 'four'
Follow the prompts to complete the change

To retrieve your voicemail messages from a landline
Switch off your mobile phone
Dial your mobile number from a landline
Interrupt the voicemail greeting by pressing the * (star) key
Enter the four digit pin code (default is 8705)
Follow the prompts to listen to your messages

Check your messages
You can listen to your messages anytime by dialling 901 from your mobile. Or you can speed-dial Voicemail 901 by holding down 1.
Then, while you're listening to a message you can:
Press 0 to pause or continue
Press 4 to skip back 5 seconds
Press 6 to skip forward 5 seconds
You can also do any of the following during or after you've heard your message:
Press 1 to replay the message
Press 2 to save it
Press 3 to delete it
Press 5 to return the call
Press 7 to forward or reply (post-pay only)
Press 8 to hear who called you and when
Press 9 to reply by text (post-pay only)

How much does it cost?
If you're a Pay & Go customer, calls to 901 are chargeable (see your tariff for individual prices) https://www.o2.co.uk/freesim/
If you're a Pay Monthly customer, calls to 901 come out of your allowance or are charged at your tariff rate (currently 35ppm).

O2 Call Alert
What is it?
O2 Call Alert is a simple, easy-to-use alternative to Voicemail 901. It provides missed call information for up to four callers, at no extra cost, by sending you a text message update.
So, if you're on another call or your mobile's switched off, if you're out of coverage or you just don't answer in time, O2 Call Alert will tell you the caller's number and the last time they called.
But it's not just you who benefits from the service. Callers also hear a message telling them that their number's being sent to you via text message, to let you know they called. (Although, if anyone decides to withhold their number, you won't be sent the missed call text and they'll be told to call again later.)

How do I switch it on?
You can turn on O2 Call Alert any time by calling 1710 free from your mobile phone. And you call exactly the same number to switch it off.

Voicemail 901 users
If you use Voicemail 901 and you want to replace the service with O2 Call Alert, call 1710 free from your mobile. Then you just call the same number to switch back again. (Please note: you can only have one service or the other.)

How much does it cost?
If you've got O2 Call Alert it's free to receive the text update, whether you're in the UK or abroad.
If you're calling someone with O2 Call Alert you'll be charged your standard tariff rate unless you withhold your number, then it's free.

Voicemail 901 Abroad
Pay & Go
Can I listen to my voicemail when I'm abroad?
Just call 901 like you do at home. This will work in all countries where you can use your mobile abroad.

How much does it cost?
If you call 901 to listen to your voicemail messages, it will cost the same as a call back to the UK.

Pay Monthly

How can I listen to my voicemail when I'm abroad?
Just call 901 as usual. This will work in most countries abroad. Depending on which country you're in, you'll either go straight to your messages or you'll go to your voicemail greeting. If it's your voicemail greeting, press * and enter your PIN.
In countries where this doesn't work, you'll need to call a different number for your voicemail. Usually, this involves you calling your own number, alternatively, call 1780 free from your mobile, or +447802 090 100 once you're abroad. We'll send you a text with the number to call.

How much does it cost?
If you call to listen to your voicemail messages, it will cost the same as a call back to the UK.

What if I forget my PIN?
Here's how to change it:
Call 901
Press * for greetings and mailbox settings and then 4
Follow the prompts
If you forget your PIN when you're abroad, you'll need to call our customer service team and ask for your PIN to be reset. You'll need to change it before you can listen to your messages.
Contact Numbers
Pay monthly from abroad
+44 844 809 0200 Free
PAYG from abroad
+44 7860 980 202 International rates
Opening times
Monday-Friday 08:00 - 21:00
Saturday 08:00 - 20:00
Sunday 08:00 - 18:00
Sunday PAYG 09:00 - 18:00

About Call Diverts
With call diverts you can divert incoming calls to any UK fixed phone or mobile. There are four call diversion options available which you can set up from your mobile:
Not Reachable Divert
To activate ** 62 * phone number # SEND
To cancel ## 62 # SEND
To check status * # 62 # SEND
Divert calls when busy
To activate ** 67 * 901 # SEND
To cancel ## 67 # SEND
To check status * # 67 # SEND
Divert calls when there is no reply
To activate ** 61 * phone number * 11 * no seconds# SEND
To cancel ## 61 # SEND
To check status * # 61 # SEND
Divert all calls
To activate ** 21 * phone number # SEND
To cancel ## 21 # SEND
To check status * # 21 # SEND
To cancel all call diverts
To cancel ## 002 # SEND

For info on controlling the length of time your phone rings before VM answers see Josie's guide here http://community.o2.co.uk/t5/Pay-Monthly-and-Pay-Go/How-to-Lengthen-Ringtime-on-any-O2-Mobile/m-p/36...

---

lol

[reg091]

Can anyone explain why my outgoing greeting gets reset to the default one periodically? It is really annoying as it is quite an important list of numbers to call if I am unavailable. I have to remember to check by calling my phone regularly, which is pretty stupid. Is it a glitch or is there a default period of time to your outgoing message "lasts"?

[MI5]

I'm not entirely sure about your personal message but I do know the access pin gets reset after a period of time if you haven't called your voicemail.
Call yourself and leave a message once a month and see if it helps?

[reg091]

Thanks @MI5. Worth a try.

[PennyG]

Glad your sorted lol 😁😁
If I put any code in say **61 * code or even 62
Will these even work if I have blocked them ? 🤪

[MI5]

@PennyG 

Any blocked numbers should get a disconnected tone when they try to call you. 

[YorkshirePud]

Good Morning folks!

I'm posting this on behalf of my mum who is an o2 customer like me. There seems to be an odd discrepency between how her voicemail and mine behaves. Her phone does not ring as long as mine before it automatically redirects to voice mail. I have never tinkered with any settings on my phones or at network level (as far as i know) to alter the ring time. And neither has she but since she has changed phones it has become a bit of an issue.

She's not too quick with the touch screen phones and she isn't getting enough time to answer a call before it cuts to voicemail. Then we have the whole rigmarole of going into voicemail and changing the stupid pin every damn time. Is there anyway we can increase the ring/dial time before it cuts to voice mail? Thank you!

[jonsie]

Help here @YorkshirePud 

Guide:How to Lengthen Ringtime on any O2 Mobile 

[MI5]

It's at the bottom of the first post @YorkshirePud 

[nialled]

Hi @YorkshirePud

I had this problem about 9 months ago; I noticed that my phone was diverting to voicemail after 15s rather than 30s. It used to divert after 30s but think it changed when I changed phones. I tried using the instructions shown in the first post (many times) and instructions from other websites but it refused to go beyond 15s.
In the end I called O2. They said it had something to do with WiFi calling (which incidentally I have never used or even turned on) and they would have to make a change at their end.
I don't know whether the reason was correct but within 24 hours, my calls started diverting after 30s rather than 15s.
Good luck, I know how frustrating it can be

[jonsie]

That is in the guide I posted  @nialled 

Important ::

If you have wifi calling enabled, you may need to disable it before you use any of the codes in this guide. You can enable wifi calling again after changing any voicemail settings.

[nialled]

Thanks for pointing that out, it is clearly important.
At the time, my phone wasn't actually showing the WiFI calling option in my Connections settings (I am using a Samsung S8). It did appear sometime afterwards, possibly after O2 did whatever they did at their end.
Anyway, hopefully all this will help YorkshirePud's Mum get the longer delay that she needs.

[YorkshirePud]

thanks for the assistance guys! i thought i had throughly scoured the faq for something like the dialing code but i must have missed it. I've been through it with my mum and have sorted it all out now! I can't understand why for your years this had been an issue. Or why we would have seperate ring times. I can remember when the handsets actually used to be able to determine the timeout. Maybe it's a hangover from that.

Fortuntely i know it wasn't a wifi calls issue as she has only switched on when required. Things like that make it more complicated for her. Cheers again!

[Chasmore]

Help please.  My voicemail won't take any new messages.  it claims to be full but it is in fact empty.  I called O2 and after a bizarre diversion around my security question failure (don't ask but utterly ridiculous) I was told to:

dial ##002# to deactivate voicemail then

diaL 1750 to activate it afresh.

it didn't work.

Any ideas?

Cheers

[Tricky01]

Fantastic guide, really useful. Reason for posting is because I think there’s a typo in the original post around handling call divert.

currently says:

Divert calls when busy
To activate ** 67 * 901 # SEND

But I think that will divert the call to voicemail, no? To align with the other instructions, I believe it should read:

Divert calls when busy
To activate ** 67 * phone number # SEND

if I’ve got that wrong though, please let me know

As a side note, my reason for browsing was trying to resolve an issue with Hullomail not being activated correctly. I have now resolved - the activation number hullomail provide includes the country code in front of your mailbox number (0044). O2 don’t seem to like this, so replacing with a single zero (0) seems to work. I’m not sure what happens if you’re called from abroad though - hopefully O2 automatically add the 0044 to make sure it transfers to a UK number.

[Charles4]

Rang O2 yesterday to ask for help to access my voicemails; I'd forgotten the number I needed to dial. The woman told me I had to text 02 and request a RESET.

I looked on this site this morning and found what I was looking for almost immediately: 901!!!

Do these people make things difficult on purpose or is it just so they can give staff something to do???

[pgn]

That's why the O2 Community Forum exists, @Charles4 - glad to be of service, helping out other customers of O2 👍

One for @Martin-O2 🙃

[scooby369]

Thank you for sending me the information. I've got everything working fine now.

[neilrpasc]

I have an iPhone 7 (on IOS 15.8.2). Any incoming call on it seems to be immediately diverted to Voicemail, so I don't even hear a ringtone. Ideally I would want a call to ring for a set time (say 10 secs) before VM kicks in. I see there is a rather complicated procedure for setting this up (starting with **21*901hash) but I cannot get this to work (DISMISS appears at the outset instead of at the end of the procedure). So I have tried 1760 to switch off VM altogether; a message says this has been arranged - but it hasn't, VM is still working. I have tried 1710 for Call Divert with the same result - VM still in operation.

Grateful for advice on how to get out of this bind, which effectively means I am unable to answer incoming calls.

Thank you.

[MI5]

@neilrpasc 

Try dialing ##002# to cancel all diverts

[neilrpasc]

Thanks for your reply. The 002 code cancels VM ok but now I just get an engaged tone, the phone doesn't ring but a "missed message" is left. So I restored VM and input the formula on Jonsie's post for creating a delay before a call is dropped into VM (**61*901*11*10(seconds)hash). No effect - call is dropped immediately into VM.

Appreciate your further advice on possible next steps. 

[MI5]

Clearly something else wrong on your account then @neilrpasc 

Guide: How to find help & contact O2 

[Idah]

Good evening everyone,
My phone number on O2 monthly does not receive SMS and some calls, how can I recover my number and what are the codes used on O2 to activate and deactivate calls.
Thank you very much.

[Branta]

Was pointed here by another post when I was enquiring why my O2 voicemail doesn't report date & time of messages. Was told I needed "envelope mode" and to come here for instructions. But the browser word search tells me the word "envelope" does not appear on this page. So still don't know how to get told when messages were received.
This page tells me what VVM is (before it tells me anything else). But nothing more on VVM. Why have you added this confusion to the mix ?
And finally, I often see text messages ("free Call Alert") to tell me that I missed a call (O2 coverage poor where I live, but better than the others !). According to the above that service is an "either/or" to voicemail 901, so was concerned my voicemail had been turned off. It hasn't.
Is this going to be one of those days when I start off being confused, but end the day being even more confused ?

[pgn]

@Branta - have you called 901 and explored the options on your mailbox? The date and time of receipt is usually read put before it starts to play the message, a factor which can be disabled as it adds to the length of time you are connected to Voicemail before you get to the actual message content.

As for how confused you are going to get, well, it is difficult to say - but "envelope" mode stumps me too (not a VVM user, and have disabled Voicemail as I'd rather callers to my number hear the "engaged" tone or the "out of range" signal and try to call back later, than leave me a message I have to go to listen to...).

A quick Google search reveals:

Message envelope

A message envelope is information that plays before a voicemail message, including the caller's ID, the date and time the message was received, and the length of the message.

Good luck!