Turn off voice calls only internationally

You can enable international call blocking from addons:

This will prevent outbound calls from your phone. If you also want to block incoming calls, you could just configure your phone app to drop directly into voicemail. Here are full details of what is included and what is charged when you travel abroad:

https://www.t-mobile.com/support/coverage/international-roaming-checklist

I believe the international barring you speak of is to block intenational calls from my home area, not while roaming. In any case, I'm not worried about blocking making calls while traveling internationally. I will just not make calls.

For incomming calls, are you saying to setup forwarding calls to voicemail and I will not get charged for them? Can I then check voicemails when i am on wifi and am using wifi calling?

jamokebob wrote:

I'm still looking for a solution to this. I'll restate the issue:

I only want to block incomiing calls when roaming internationally (outbound calls I can control myself). I still want to be able to use data and text. I do not want to be charged for calls that go to voicemail.

Basically, I want to use the features of Simple Global (Unlimited text and 2G data) without worring about be charged $0.25/minute for voice calls.

This question needs an answer. T-Mobile allows unlimited data when abroad, but charges for calls including incoming calls.  You can't control when calls come in. If you can't stop calls from coming in while still wanting to use the data allowance, this is basically a trap - incentivize you to use the unlimited data so that you can be charged 25c per incoming call regardless of whether you answer it, if you have the phone switched on and it goes to voicemail.  That having been said, if my calls are forwarded to Google Voice if I don't answer (which they are), will I be charged if I let it go to Google Voice rather than Voicemail?

I am looking for some definitive answers on this one for y'all. I do agree that sometimes you don't want the all-or-nothing that the barring feature offers. I am not sure right now, but I wanted to say that I see your question and I am working on it. 😃

The best thing is to simply use Unconditional Forward to send all incoming calls to Voicemail and don't make any outgoing calls.  The Unconditional Forward debería happen before any attempt is made to deliver the call to the roamed carrier.

drnewcomb wrote:

The best thing is to simply use Unconditional Forward to send all incoming calls to Voicemail and don't make any outgoing calls.  The Unconditional Forward debería happen before any attempt is made to deliver the call to the roamed carrier.

Thank you!!! One small change to make sure you don't get a charge. Unconditionally Forward the calls to another US phone number. Send them to a landline or maybe a friend for family member that is staying in the states that can field your calls while you travel. If you forward the calls to voicemail, the voicemail system will take your call and then ping your phone that you have a new message, and that ping can charge you. 

BMG4ME wrote:

That having been said, if my calls are forwarded to Google Voice if I don’t answer (which they are), will I be charged if I let it go to Google Voice rather than Voicemail?

In this Google Voice example, yes you would be charged. When someone calls your number, you are charged for the phone call being directed to the towers in the other country to get it to your phone. That is why you should set up Unconditional Call Forwarding to your Google Voice number. The other person will dial your number and the system will skip sending it to the other country towers and just send it to your Google Voice system. 

I appreciate all of your patience while I dove into the details of this one to make sure you are getting the right answer. 

jamokebob wrote:

I believe the international barring you speak of is to block intenational calls from my home area, not while roaming. In any case, I'm not worried about blocking making calls while traveling internationally. I will just not make calls.

For incomming calls, are you saying to setup forwarding calls to voicemail and I will not get charged for them? Can I then check voicemails when i am on wifi and am using wifi calling?

The international call barring feature does more, although it's a bit speculative depending on who you ask. If you are using calling app that uses data like WhatsApp, there are folks who were charged the international calling rates because some phones will switch to cellular voice if it detects that the wifi signal is not sufficient. Same thing with sending MMS texts.

As for voicemail, the check list page I linked above gives you the details on what is charged and what is not. If you phone is turned on, you will be charged 1 min of roaming if a voicemail is left. If you access your voicemail from outside the US, you will be charged for roaming.

What the check list doesn't say is whether the voicemail transcribing to text is charged or not. I would call TMO support to confirm.

I'm still looking for a solution to this. I'll restate the issue:

I only want to block incomiing calls when roaming internationally (outbound calls I can control myself). I still want to be able to use data and text. I do not want to be charged for calls that go to voicemail.

Basically, I want to use the features of Simple Global (Unlimited text and 2G data) without worring about be charged $0.25/minute for voice calls.

Removed by author

BMG4ME wrote:

jamokebob wrote:

I'm still looking for a solution to this. I'll restate the issue:

I only want to block incomiing calls when roaming internationally (outbound calls I can control myself). I still want to be able to use data and text. I do not want to be charged for calls that go to voicemail.

Basically, I want to use the features of Simple Global (Unlimited text and 2G data) without worring about be charged $0.25/minute for voice calls.

This question needs an answer. T-Mobile allows unlimited data when abroad, but charges for calls including incoming calls.  You can't control when calls come in. If you can't stop calls from coming in while still wanting to use the data allowance, this is basically a trap - incentivize you to use the unlimited data so that you can be charged 25c per incoming call regardless of whether you answer it, if you have the phone switched on and it goes to voicemail.  That having been said, if my calls are forwarded to Google Voice if I don't answer (which they are), will I be charged if I let it go to Google Voice rather than Voicemail?

This is basically a user to user forum with some Tmobile moderation but they don't always check every thread. If you know who the mod is you can tag them. @HeavenM is our very helpfull mod on this board now.