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- 04-29-2005, 03:12 PM #1N2Guest
Until yesterday, I was able to check my voicemail by dialing any SPCS
3-digit prefix followed by 6245(MAIL). For example: 845-6245. This worked
for any local SPCS prefix, but it seems that all of them are shut down now.
Anyone know what's going on? I used this several times/day due to horrible
reception at my office.
› See More: Voicemail Backdoor Shut Down?
- 04-29-2005, 03:29 PM #2Isaiah BeardGuest
Re: Voicemail Backdoor Shut Down?
N2 wrote:
> Until yesterday, I was able to check my voicemail by dialing any SPCS
> 3-digit prefix followed by 6245(MAIL). For example: 845-6245. This worked
> for any local SPCS prefix, but it seems that all of them are shut down now.
> Anyone know what's going on? I used this several times/day due to horrible
> reception at my office.
Still works in my area. Besides, you can still call your phone number,
let your Voice Mail answer, and then press *, followed by your voicemail
passcode. That is how you're *supposed* to get into your voicemail from
a landline phone.
--
E-mail fudged to thwart spammers.
Transpose the c's and a's in my e-mail address to reply.
- 04-29-2005, 10:39 PM #3Frank HarrisGuest
Re: Voicemail Backdoor Shut Down?
Isaiah Beard wrote:
> N2 wrote:
>
>> Until yesterday, I was able to check my voicemail by dialing any SPCS
>> 3-digit prefix followed by 6245(MAIL). For example: 845-6245. This
>> worked for any local SPCS prefix, but it seems that all of them are
>> shut down now. Anyone know what's going on? I used this several
>> times/day due to horrible reception at my office.
>
>
> Still works in my area. Besides, you can still call your phone number,
> let your Voice Mail answer, and then press *, followed by your voicemail
> passcode. That is how you're *supposed* to get into your voicemail from
> a landline phone.
>
Still works in my area, too. By the way, it was never "any local SPCS
prefix". And ditto what Isaiah said. Sorry yours stopped working.
--
Frank Harris in San Francisco with an A680
- 04-30-2005, 01:53 AM #4N2Guest
Re: Voicemail Backdoor Shut Down?
"Frank Harris" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Isaiah Beard wrote:
>> N2 wrote:
>>
>>> Until yesterday, I was able to check my voicemail by dialing any SPCS
>>> 3-digit prefix followed by 6245(MAIL). For example: 845-6245. This
>>> worked for any local SPCS prefix, but it seems that all of them are shut
>>> down now. Anyone know what's going on? I used this several times/day
>>> due to horrible reception at my office.
>>
>>
>> Still works in my area. Besides, you can still call your phone number,
>> let your Voice Mail answer, and then press *, followed by your voicemail
>> passcode. That is how you're *supposed* to get into your voicemail from
>> a landline phone.
>>
> Still works in my area, too. By the way, it was never "any local SPCS
> prefix". And ditto what Isaiah said. Sorry yours stopped working.
>
> --
> Frank Harris in San Francisco with an A680
Hmm. Curious. Every local SPCS prefix in Vegas all worked. Calling my
cell from my landline is a very kludgey method and not always socially
acceptable (Hey honey, don't answer the phone, it's me calling myself....)
- 04-30-2005, 09:27 AM #5Bob SmithGuest
Re: Voicemail Backdoor Shut Down?
"N2" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:grxce.1$tQ.0@fed1read06...
> Until yesterday, I was able to check my voicemail by dialing any SPCS
> 3-digit prefix followed by 6245(MAIL). For example: 845-6245. This
worked
> for any local SPCS prefix, but it seems that all of them are shut down
now.
> Anyone know what's going on? I used this several times/day due to
horrible
> reception at my office.
Still works for yours truly as well. I'd suggest going into your account on
line and send an email about this situation. You should receive an answer
back between 24 to 48 hours.
Bob
- 04-30-2005, 08:27 PM #6Jerome ZelinskeGuest
Re: Voicemail Backdoor Shut Down?
What is kludgey about it? If you are holding the phone or have
temporarily turned the ringer off, she would not be likely to answer it.
- 04-30-2005, 09:16 PM #7RayGuest
Re: Voicemail Backdoor Shut Down?
Jerome Zelinske wrote:
> What is kludgey about it? If you are holding the phone or have
> temporarily turned the ringer off, she would not be likely to answer it.
Still OK in Des Moines Iowa
- 05-01-2005, 09:08 AM #8Isaiah BeardGuest
Re: Voicemail Backdoor Shut Down?
N2 wrote:
>>Still works in my area, too. By the way, it was never "any local SPCS
>>prefix". And ditto what Isaiah said. Sorry yours stopped working.
>
> Hmm. Curious. Every local SPCS prefix in Vegas all worked.
I think the voicemail backdoors are being shut down as the systems get
reconfigured. There might be some security issue involving the backdoor
system that has Sprint concerned. Or, it could simply be that Sprint
wants to reclaim as many numbers as they can for use by customers.
> Calling my
> cell from my landline is a very kludgey method
Actually, it's the standard method, and the MAIL suffix is the kludge
(hence the term "backdoor"). Have you even dialed into a business PBX
system? Most of Lucent Audix systems in use today (and even their
competitors) usually require you to dial your extension, let the
extension ring and roll to voicemail, and hit a key sequence to get to
the login menu whenever you're calling in from an outside line.
> and not always socially
> acceptable (Hey honey, don't answer the phone, it's me calling myself....)
That's why the phone has a power button. Then it won't ring at all.
--
E-mail fudged to thwart spammers.
Transpose the c's and a's in my e-mail address to reply.
- 05-01-2005, 09:25 AM #9Isaiah BeardGuest
Re: Voicemail Backdoor Shut Down?
Ray wrote:
> Jerome Zelinske wrote:
>
>> What is kludgey about it? If you are holding the phone or have
>> temporarily turned the ringer off, she would not be likely to answer it.
>
>
> Still OK in Des Moines Iowa
For those of you who are really concerned about checking your voicemail
and not using up minutes, have you tried the 11+ method? If you dial
your Sprint PCS number from your handset with a "11" prefix, the call
rolls immediately to voicemail, and you can hit * to log in. Also, if
you have PCS 2 PCS calling on your account, then the call will be billed
as a PCS2PCS call (as opposed to straight-dialing your number, which
will NOT count as PCS2PCS when it hits voicemail).
Incidentally, you can call other Sprint PCS phones with the same 11
prefix and it will roll to their voicemial as well. Convenient if you
want to send someone a voicemail but aren't sure if it's a good idea to
disturb them and make their phone ring.
This doesn't always work for everyone, but it seems to work for more
people than the xxx-xxx-MAIL backdoor. And hopefully Sprint won't be
too motivated to fix this loophole.
--
E-mail fudged to thwart spammers.
Transpose the c's and a's in my e-mail address to reply.
- 05-01-2005, 10:31 AM #10TinmanGuest
Re: Voicemail Backdoor Shut Down?
Isaiah Beard wrote:
> Ray wrote:
>> Jerome Zelinske wrote:
>>
>>> What is kludgey about it? If you are holding the phone or have
>>> temporarily turned the ringer off, she would not be likely to
>>> answer it.
>>
>>
>> Still OK in Des Moines Iowa
>
>
> For those of you who are really concerned about checking your
> voicemail and not using up minutes, have you tried the 11+ method? If
> you dial your Sprint PCS number from your handset with a "11"
> prefix, the call rolls immediately to voicemail, and you can hit * to
> log in. Also, if you have PCS 2 PCS calling on your account, then
> the call will be billed as a PCS2PCS call (as opposed to
> straight-dialing your number, which will NOT count as PCS2PCS when it
> hits voicemail).
>
> Incidentally, you can call other Sprint PCS phones with the same 11
> prefix and it will roll to their voicemial as well. Convenient if you
> want to send someone a voicemail but aren't sure if it's a good idea
> to disturb them and make their phone ring.
>
> This doesn't always work for everyone, but it seems to work for more
> people than the xxx-xxx-MAIL backdoor. And hopefully Sprint won't be
> too motivated to fix this loophole.
- 05-01-2005, 10:46 AM #11TinmanGuest
Re: Voicemail Backdoor Shut Down?
Isaiah Beard wrote:
> Ray wrote:
>> Jerome Zelinske wrote:
>>
>>> What is kludgey about it? If you are holding the phone or have
>>> temporarily turned the ringer off, she would not be likely to
>>> answer it.
>>
>>
>> Still OK in Des Moines Iowa
>
>
> For those of you who are really concerned about checking your
> voicemail and not using up minutes, have you tried the 11+ method? If
> you dial your Sprint PCS number from your handset with a "11"
> prefix, the call rolls immediately to voicemail, and you can hit * to
> log in. Also, if you have PCS 2 PCS calling on your account, then
> the call will be billed as a PCS2PCS call (as opposed to
> straight-dialing your number, which will NOT count as PCS2PCS when it
> hits voicemail).
>
> Incidentally, you can call other Sprint PCS phones with the same 11
> prefix and it will roll to their voicemial as well. Convenient if you
> want to send someone a voicemail but aren't sure if it's a good idea
> to disturb them and make their phone ring.
>
> This doesn't always work for everyone,
(Whoops, helps if I actually write something.)
That method doesn't work for me. We have 7-digit local dialing, so
trying it from my home area didn't work. It also didn't work when I
tried it with two different calling cards (which will allow me to dial
to my cell via 1-###-###-####). Finally, it didn't work when I had my
(remote) office try it from out of state. Nothing but error messages.
Personally, I don't see what the big deal is about just dialing your own
number. If you have physical possession of your phone, mute the ringer
for a moment. As to others answering the phone: no one but me answers my
phone. I don't answer my wife's phone, and she doesn't answer mine.
('Course, who am I to criticize: ###-MAIL still works for me.)
Still, it would be nice if you could use a reliable toll-free (or not)
number to get into the VM system (but that security thing still might be
an issue, considering it's only a matter of knowing the phone number and
PIN). If there was an 800#, I would be OK with the minutes spent on that
call (after logging into VM) being deducted from my monthly allotment.
If I don't want to be charged minutes, I could still call my own phone
number. Seems reasonable to me.
--
Mike
- 05-01-2005, 05:28 PM #12Steve SobolGuest
Re: Voicemail Backdoor Shut Down?
Tinman wrote:
> Isaiah Beard wrote:
>>Incidentally, you can call other Sprint PCS phones with the same 11
>>prefix and it will roll to their voicemial as well. Convenient if you
>>want to send someone a voicemail but aren't sure if it's a good idea
>>to disturb them and make their phone ring.
>>
>>This doesn't always work for everyone,
>
>
> (Whoops, helps if I actually write something.)
>
> That method doesn't work for me. We have 7-digit local dialing, so
> trying it from my home area didn't work.
From your landline or your cell?
11-xxx-xxxx didn't work for me either, but 11-760-xxx-xxxx did.
Tried it with my wife's phone too :>
We'll see how it's billed, though.
Isaiah - Are you sure this isn't some brokenness in Sprint's system that isn't
supposed to be there?
> to my cell via 1-###-###-####). Finally, it didn't work when I had my
> (remote) office try it from out of state. Nothing but error messages.
This method is meant to be used from a cell phone, not a landline.
> Personally, I don't see what the big deal is about just dialing your own
> number.
If what Isaiah said is correct, it means you can call your voicemail from your
cell phone and have it billed PCS-to-PCS which means it doesn't subtract peak
minutes if you have free PCS-to-PCS calling.
--
JustThe.net - Apple Valley, CA - http://JustThe.net/ - 888.480.4NET (4638)
Steven J. Sobol, Geek In Charge / [email protected] / PGP: 0xE3AE35ED
"The wisdom of a fool won't set you free"
--New Order, "Bizarre Love Triangle"
- 05-02-2005, 08:28 AM #13TinmanGuest
Re: Voicemail Backdoor Shut Down?
Steve Sobol wrote:
>
> If what Isaiah said is correct, it means you can call your voicemail
> from your cell phone and have it billed PCS-to-PCS which means it
> doesn't subtract peak minutes if you have free PCS-to-PCS calling.
I realize that now; and it does work from my cell phone. I was still in
the mindset of reaching VM from a landline, and apparently skipped over
the first sentence ("...those of you who are really concerned about
checking your voicemail and not using up minutes"). I never even come
close to going over my anytime minutes, and hadn't considered the fact
that checking VM used my minutes.
HOWEVER, I think I might use Isaiah's suggestion to, for instance, leave
a VM on my wife's phone. "Honey, I did try to call and let you know I
was going out with a few friends after work, to that place that has no
cell reception. But for some reason your phone went straight to VM. You
did get my message though, right?"
['Course if she reads this, I'm sunk...]
--
Mike | Last words of Thomas Grasso, executed in 1995:
| "I did not get my Spaghetti-O's, I got spaghetti.
| I want the press to know this."
- 05-11-2005, 07:34 PM #14Johnny KapikkiGuest
Re: Voicemail Backdoor Shut Down?
On Sat, 30 Apr 2005 00:53:53 -0700, "N2" <[email protected]> wrote:
> Calling my
>cell from my landline is a very kludgey method and not always socially
>acceptable (Hey honey, don't answer the phone, it's me calling myself....)
>
If you get horrible reception in your office, you could forward your
PCS calls to your office's landline ($.10/minute), and keep your phone
off. Otherwise, just leave the phone off, and check voicemail by the
method Isaiah mentioned. I do it all the time.
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