You hear your phone ringing from the other room. You run, grab it, swipe to answer — two seconds too late. The caller is already talking to your voicemail. Your reflexes are probably fine: most phones hand unanswered calls to voicemail after only about 20 seconds, and some start at 15. The fix is real, but the control is not where you would expect it. The ring timer lives on your carrier's network, not in your phone's settings — which is why the same trick works on both iPhone and Android.
Why the setting is not on your phone
When nobody answers, your carrier does not "wait for voicemail" — it executes a rule called call forwarding on no reply: after a fixed delay, the unanswered call is forwarded to your voicemail number. That rule and its timer sit in your carrier's network profile for your line, so no phone menu can change it directly. The `*#61#` and `**61*` sequences are GSM codes your dialer sends to the network, and the network answers with the current value or applies the new one. This is also why the change survives switching phones: it belongs to the line, not the handset.
Step 1: check your current ring time
- Open the Phone app and go to the keypad.
- Dial `*#61#` and press the call button.
- The screen shows the forwarding number (your voicemail deposit number) and the current delay in seconds under "Forward when unanswered" or "Voice Call Forwarding When Unanswered".
Write both down. The voicemail number is often *not* your own phone number — it is a carrier voicemail deposit number — and guessing it wrong is the most common reason the code below fails.
Step 2: set a longer ring time
Dial the following on the keypad and press call:
`**61*[voicemail number]*11*[seconds]#`
Each part means something:
- `**61*` — "set forwarding when unanswered" (the no-reply rule).
- `[voicemail number]` — the exact number you copied from `*#61#`, including any country code shown.
- `*11*` — tells the network this applies to voice calls. Several guides document it this way; some carriers officially use a shorter form without it (for example, Telstra's official guide uses `**61*101**30#`, where 101 is its voicemail number) — both forms are documented, so use the short form if the long one is rejected.
- `[seconds]` — your new delay: 15, 20, 25 or 30.
- `#` — ends the command.
So if your voicemail number is +491701234567 and you want the full 30 seconds, you dial `**61*+491701234567*11*30#`. The network replies with a confirmation such as "Call forwarding successful" or "Registration was successful". This official Telstra guide to extending ring time walks the same steps for iPhone and Android, and this iPhone ring-count guide documents the `*11*` code anatomy.
How long can you make it ring?
On most networks the maximum is 30 seconds, adjustable in 5-second steps — this iFixit community answer documents the 5-second increments and the 30-second cap. How that translates to rings is approximate, because networks do not ring in perfect 5-second cycles:
| Seconds | Approximate rings |
|---|---|
| 15 | 3 rings |
| 20 | 4 rings |
| 25 | 5 rings |
| 30 | 5–6 rings |
The default varies by carrier — Telstra notes 20 seconds as the iPhone default on its network, and most carriers start somewhere between 15 and 25. If you just want "a bit longer," 25 seconds is the sweet spot: noticeably more time to reach the phone without keeping callers waiting through an eternity of rings.
When the code does nothing: carrier limits
Not every carrier lets you change this yourself, and this is the part most guides gloss over.
- Verizon (US) no longer offers a self-service way to change the ring delay — Verizon support staff have said it "systematically defaults to the same value for every customer" (see this Verizon community thread and this carrier code comparison. What still works on Verizon: dismiss an incoming call with the red end button and it goes to voicemail immediately.
- Some carriers put the setting in their app or account portal instead of accepting codes — recent guides report AT&T listing a ring timer among its online voicemail options and T-Mobile pointing customers to its app or account page. Carrier tools change, so treat their support page as the authority.
- On any carrier, support can change it for you. Call or message them and ask for the "no-answer call forwarding delay" set to a specific number of seconds — say 30. That is the same backend value the code edits.
Shortening the ring time works the same way
The code sets the delay — it does not care which direction you move it. If 30 seconds keeps callers waiting too long, or you want missed calls in voicemail faster during work hours, dial the same sequence with a smaller value, for example `**61*+491701234567*11*10#`. There is nothing special about 30; 10 or 15 seconds are valid on most networks, since values are accepted in 5-second steps.
How to test it
Ask a friend to call you, or call your own number from another phone, and count the seconds before voicemail answers. Two things to remember while testing:
- Test with the phone unlocked and nearby. If Do Not Disturb, a Focus mode, or airplane mode is on, calls skip the delay entirely and go straight to voicemail — that is a different feature, not your ring timer.
- Dual-SIM phones set this per line. The code applies to whichever line the dialer used, so repeat it for the second SIM if you want both to ring longer.
FAQ
Does this change my ringtone or make the phone louder?
No. It only changes *how long* the phone rings before forwarding. The sound it plays during those seconds is your normal ringtone. If the ringtone itself is too quiet or too short, see our guide to changing your iPhone ringtone — and note that a very short ringtone looping for 30 seconds can sound repetitive, so a longer tone pairs well with a longer delay.
Why does my phone still go to voicemail after 2 rings?
That is not the no-answer timer — something is skipping it. The usual suspects, in order: Do Not Disturb / a Focus mode is on, the phone is in airplane mode or has no signal (the "unreachable" forwarding rule, a different code), the line is on a second call with call waiting off, or the caller was blocked. Fix the trigger first; the ring timer only applies to normal unanswered calls.
I set 30 seconds but it still feels short. Did it work?
Re-check with `*#61#` and confirm the network stored your value — some carriers silently round to their nearest allowed step or cap certain plans lower, so the stored number is the truth. Also count actual seconds with a stopwatch rather than rings; five rings *feels* short when you are sprinting across the house.
Will this work over Wi-Fi calling?
Telstra's official guide says its code works even when Wi-Fi calling is in use. Other carriers likely behave the same way, since the timer lives in the same network profile — but I have only verified Telstra's statement directly, so confirm on your own line with the test above.
Does changing the ring time cost anything?
None of the carrier documentation in my research mentions a charge — it is a standard network setting, changed through the same free code path carriers have published for years. If your carrier ever quotes a fee, ask them to change it from their side instead.
I changed carriers. Do I need to redo this?
Yes. The setting lives in your old carrier's network profile, so a new SIM starts at the new carrier's default. Run the two steps again after the port completes.