No More Voicemail is an app that kills voicemail so callers have to text you instead

Voicemail is so last century. The idea of phoning someone then leaving a rambling message when they don’t pick up seems decidedly antiquated in the age of instant connectivity, where friends, family, colleagues and others can be easily reached with a text. Voicemail is so over, in fact, that large corporations like JP Morgan and Coca-Cola have ditched the service entirely. If only consumers had the same option.

Well, thanks to a new app simply called No More Voicemail, they now do. Available for both iOS and Android devices, No More Voicemail is a clever solution to the voicemail problem.

Today, if you want to actually deactivate voicemail, you would have to contact your carrier and explain that you don’t want the service. That’s a hassle in and of itself. And if you ever want to turn voicemail back on for any reason, you’d have to call the carrier again to re-enable it.

No More Voicemail offers a different solution. The app isn’t actually disabling voicemail per the carrier – it only seems like it is. Instead, No More Voicemail uses the conditional call forwarding feature on your phone to send your unanswered calls to a virtual number that will just ring and ring.

This is the same concept that’s used today in other legit third-party voicemail apps like YouMail or Google Voice, expect it ditches the idea of offering a hosted voicemail system.

Calls won’t be shuffled off to No More Voicemail’s third-party system until you reject or ignore the call. That means you’re able to pick up calls normally when you have time to talk.

But if you choose to not take a call, the callers will just hear the phone ring forever, the company claims.

Eventually, callers should get tired of waiting for voicemail to pick up and will hang up. (Then hopefully text you instead!)

The process of setting up No More Voicemail is straightforward. You’re provided an activation code to copy and paste into your phone’s dialer, which you then call to make the necessary changes.

In practice, I found that this process failed the first time I tried it, then succeeded on the second go-round. When testing this further, I declined an incoming call, but found that the phone didn’t ring indefinitely as promised, but rather rang a bit then automatically disconnected the call.

Sadly, that’s far from perfect. But even if it’s a little buggy, it did prevent my voicemail from picking up and taking the call on my behalf. And I’m hopeful these kinks will get worked out over time.

(I’m using an iPhone 6s running a beta build of iOS on T-Mobile, so it’s possible that I’m not the best test subject, I should point out. Your mileage may vary!)

Disabling No More Voicemail uses a similar process as activating the service. This worked as advertised in tests.

The app is the latest creation from TelTech Systems, a company that has released a number of telecommunications apps over the years. It’s probably best known for TrapCall, a service released in 2009 that unmasked Caller ID on blocked incoming calls, or its earlier SpoofCard Caller ID spoofing service.

“We think voicemail is a thing of the past and that it just makes life a little easier to never have to worry about checking and returning voicemails,” explains TelTech partner on Special Projects, Nate Kapitanski. “If it’s important, people will text you or message you on one of the various messaging apps,” he says.

No More Voicemail is supported on all the major carriers at launch, including AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile, Sprint and US Cellular. The app is a free download on the iTunes App Store and Google Play.

Comments

eGym raises $45M Series C for cloud-connected gym equipment and fitness software

eGym , the Munich-based startup that offers cloud-connected gym equipment and supporting cloud software and app for the fitness training floor, has closed $45 million in Series C funding. The round was led by new investor HPE Growth Capital, while existing investors, including Highland Europe, also participated. The problem that eGym is looking to solve is that, whilst gyms have moved from a bodybuilder market to a mass market in the last 20 years, the technology in gyms lags behind. That’s despite the fact that better use of technology can help to reduce customer churn, the biggest pain-point of both gym operator and gym users. Comprising of an app for both gym user and trainer, combined with the company’s connected strength machines, the eGym Cloud makes it possible for gym members to receive better fitness instruction and an evolving and personalised fitness plan based on data collected as they workout. And by providing a better workout feedback loop, gym goers can get an i...

Xiaomi’s 15.6” Notebook To Cost Less Due To Older CPU & GPU

Xiaomi is, first and foremost, a smartphone manufacturer. This company tends to dabble in pretty much anything tech-related, and they will release their first notebook soon. Inventec has already confirmed that they’re working on (one of) the company’s notebook, and that the device is expected to arrive in April next year. Well, Inventec is working on one of the company’s notebooks, but three different ones have been mentioned, the 12.5, 13.3 and 15.6-inch models. Inventec is working on the 12.5-inch model, while Compal is rumored to be working on the 13.3-inch variant. The 15.6-inch notebook is the most interesting one here, read on. The specifications of the 15.6-inch Xiaomi notebook have surfaced a while back, and according to that report, the device will sport a 15.6-inch 1080p (1920 x 1080) display, 8GB of RAM and will be powered by Intel’s Core i7 4th-generation SoC. Nvidia’s GeForce GTX 760M GPU is said to be included in this package as well, and...

What will a driverless future actually look like?

There is a growing consensus that autonomous vehicles (AVs) will soon be a reality. The debate today centers not on whether, but how soon, AVs will be commonplace on our roads. But for all the buzz surrounding AVs, many details about what a driverless future will look like remain unclear. Which business models will work best for the commercialization of AVs? Which AV usage models will be most appealing for consumers? Which companies are best positioned to win in this new market? These are big questions, and no certain answers can be given at this stage. Nonetheless, it is valuable to reflect, in a concrete way, on how this transformative technology might develop. This article will present some conjectures. The end of private car ownership? At a high level, two possible paradigms seem most likely for how society will use AVs. The first is private AV ownership. Under this model, individuals or families would continue to own their own vehicles and use them to get a...

Interview Question

1 = 5 2 = 25 3 = 125 4 = 625 5 = ?

Airbnb will open its Cuba listings to users outside the United States

Airbnb will now let travelers from outside the U.S. to book properties in Cuba after receiving authorization from the U.S. government, reports the Associated Press . Previously, only Americans were allowed to reserve the site’s Cuban listings . They will open to international users on April 2. Airbnb launched its Cuban operations in April 2014 , four months after the Obama administration revealed that it will begin to restore diplomatic relations with the Communist country . The historic policy change means that travel and trade sanctions will be lifted , which is expected to boost tourism to Cuba dramatically because Americans no longer need licenses to visit. In fact, President Obama is currently on an official visit to Cuba , the first president since Calvin Coolidge to do so. According to the AP, Cuba is currently Airbnb’s fastest-growing market, with about 4,000 homes added since it opened listings. Other travel businesses...

Exciting Technology

Search This Blog