Giffgaff. Is there a way to have an announcement-only voicemail message?

Appliance_engineer

Hi all,

I want to have my Giffgaff phone answer the call with the normal voicemail facility but I don't want to have the answering machine take messages.

Instead, I want to announce that I cannot take their call, but that if they need to contact me, please text me and I'll get back to them as soon as I can.

I have searched forums for this but cannot find any way of having my announcement switched on, but with the recording of voicemails switched off.

Any help greatly appreciated.

P.S. I asked Gemini AI if it was possible, and it gave me the following answer which looks overly complicated and not exactly what I want:

Unfortunately, there isn't a direct way to set up giffgaff voicemail to answer calls but not accept messages. However, you can achieve a similar outcome using a combination of voicemail greetings and call divert settings.

Here's what you can do:

1. Set a custom voicemail greeting:

   • Dial 443 (giffgaff voicemail number).
   • Follow the prompts to set up a voicemail PIN if it's your first time.
   • Once in voicemail settings, navigate to the option for recording a greeting.
   • In your greeting, inform callers that you are currently unavailable and cannot accept voicemails.

2. Enable call divert on busy (engaged):

   • This will divert calls to voicemail only when your line is busy or unavailable. Calls will still ring your phone first.

There are two ways to enable call divert on busy:

• Dial a shortcode: Dial <i><b>**21*443*#</b></i> (replace 443 with your giffgaff number if it's different) and press call.
• Use your phone settings: The specific steps will vary depending on your phone model. Generally, you'll find the call divert option in your phone's call settings menu. Look for options related to call forwarding or diverting calls on busy.

With this setup:

• Callers will hear your voicemail greeting informing them you can't accept messages.
• The call will then divert to voicemail, but since there's no greeting prompting callers to leave a message, most will likely hang up.

Keep in mind:

• This method won't completely prevent voicemails from being left. Some callers might leave a message anyway.
• You can disable call divert on busy anytime by dialing <i><b>#21#</b></i> and pressing call.

flaneurs_lobster

Have you asked the question on the Giffgaff Community Help & Support forum?

https://community.giffgaff.com/t/help-and-support