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How Many Times Does a Phone Ring?

When you get a phone call, naturally your phone will ring (if you don't set your phone to vibrate). But have you ever wondered how many times it will ring if you ignore or hang up? And how many times does it ring before it goes to voice mail? In addition, how many times the phone rings mean you are blocked by the other? And we will give you the answers to these questions in this article.

phone rings

1. How Many Times Does It Ring before It Goes to Voice Mail?

In most cases, the phone will typically ring from 3 - 5 times before it goes to the voice mail. However, it depends on your voice mail settings or your provider, because some providers allow users to set the number of rings before going to voicemail. For example, if you don't want to answer any calls, you have an option to send all calls directly to voice mail. And you can also choose how many times you want your phone to ring first before sending it to voice mail.

This works on all kinds of phones including iPhone, Android phones, and landline phones. And in the US, the carriers such as AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile may have a few differences in which the phone is allowed to ring how many times before it goes to voicemail.

And note that the ringing you hear on calls to landlines is not actually in sync with what’s happening on the called party’s line. On the line of a call, a ringing may be heard a few seconds after the call is made, as a pacifier to the called party. In reality, however, the system may still be in the process of locating and determining the availability of the handset.


2. How to Tell If You Are Blocked When You Call Someone?

If your cell phone rings 3 times or less then goes to voice mail when you call someone, does it mean you are blocked?

No, one possibility is that the other party's phone is merely set for all incoming calls to go to voice mail after three rings or less. As we mentioned above, you can set your phone for any number of rings you want before going to voicemail.

Another possibility is that the other party rejected your call. Because if you are blocked by the recipient of your call, the call would either go to voicemail or you would get a message telling you that the call cannot be completed or that the call was rejected.

In general, these are the common signs you can tell if you have been blocked when you call someone:

  • If you call the person and the call goes directly to voicemail without ringing;
  • You get a message telling you that the call cannot be completed;
  • You get a message telling you that the call was rejected;

3. What Does It Mean The Call Goes Directly to Voice Mail without Ringing?

If you call someone, but it goes directly to voicemail without ringing, this can happen for a few different reasons, such as:

  1. The other party's phone is turned off or not within range of a cellular network.
  2. The other party has enabled all calls forwarding or do not disturb mode on their phone, which routes your call directly to voicemail.
  3. The other party has blocked your phone number, so your call is not able to reach the person's phone, which we just talked in part 2.
  4. The other party's phone is on Airplane Mode or powered off. If the phone is unable to take calls, it will immediately go to voicemail when you call.

In general, if a call goes directly to voicemail without ringing, it means that the call is not reaching the other party's phone for some reason. This could be due to a technical issue, a setting (including powered off and airplane mode) on the other party's phone, or because other party has chosen to block the caller.


4. How Many Times Does The Phone Ring If Your Call Is Rejected

How to tell if your call is rejected by the other party when you made a call? How many times does the phone ring if your call is declined? In fact, it can vary.

Since it will continue ringing until the other party manually rejected the call. And it will go to the voice mail when the phone reaches to the limit of ringing numbers.

Typically, if the phone rings between 1-3 times and then goes to voice mail, it's very likely that your call is rejected by the other party. This is because most phones ring more than 3 times to go to voice mails. Besides, the phone won't ring at all if you are blocked or the phone is off. So it rings between 1-3 times are most likely that your call is manually rejected.

Recommended reading: Why Does My Phone Randomly Vibrate?


Summary

When we are discussing how many times the phone rings to enter the voice mail, or how many times the phone rings means that you are blocked, we need to consider the actual situation and make a judgment. Because the user's custom settings, different carriers, and the state of the mobile phone will all affect the final results.


References

+2 sources

  1. Verizon - Voicemail Options
  2. https://www.verizon.com/support/knowledge-base-21683/

  3. AT&T - Set up voicemail on your mobile phone
  4. https://www.att.com/support/article/wireless/KM1008685/