Android Native Visual Voicemail Trouble

Hola @erikswan2​ - Android uses logcat through adb.

Simple instructions:

1. Put your phone into developer mode

2. enable usb debugging

3. install android debug bridge (adb)

4. once you're connected to your phone, run the following:

          adb logcat -c

This will clear the current logs, so you don't get a bunch of stuff you don't need. Now reproduce the issue you're looking for logs on, then run:

(for the vvm logs, I normally open the phone, go to the vvm tab, wait for it to fail, then after I clear the logs, hit the "try again" link.

          adb logcat -d > (filename).txt

Yeah I've had a case open for two weeks for my Pixel 3 XL.  They even got Google on the line for an hour to troubleshoot and they deemed it a T-Mobile issue.  They said they'd escalated it last week to engineering but no response.  Every time I call they act like they've never heard of this issue.  Would be great if they read their own support threads.

Don't hold your breath for a fix.  My case was escalated to the engineers 3 weeks ago and I never got a response.  They either don't know how to fix it or don't care to fix it because T-Mobile seems to have faith in their crappy visual voicemail app so why bother with the naitve option.  I put my SIM card back in my pixel 2 just as a test and voicemail activates just fine so it's definitely a per device issue.

I'm in the same boat. SIM works fine in the Pixel 2, but the Pixel 3 won't activate at all. It's definitely a config issue on TMo's end that they can't or won't fix. I've opened multiple tickets and spoken with several support people, even having the issue "escalated to the engineers" a few times, too. Still no change at all, and every person I talk to acts like they've never heard of this issue. I've even referenced this thread in my calls. At this point, it's a waiting game. Wait for them to fix it, or wait until I can reconcile switching providers (again) to someone that doesn't have this issue.

nokisme wrote:
This is my 3rd call to T-Mobile. I had the 1st rep check and she said she just enabled VVM to my account. I do have the One Plus so I assumed it was already enabled. Either way, I stopped the app, cleared cache, restarted phone but it's still not working. She escalated to the tech, who said that this feature doesn't work on T-Mobile and reiterated that the device is a "Verizon" phone so the T-mobile's VVM feature won't work. I asked if I bought a T Mobile device, such as one of the Samsung's they sell or even the OnePlus 6T, she continued to say that those devices will work. But looking at this thread and others I've found on the internet, this doesn't always hold true.
So in the end, the tech claims I won't be able to use my Pixel 2 XL's native VVM because it's not a fully supported device through T Mobile. The only way this phone can get VVM is to use the app. So why was T Mobile touting they were the superior carrier for the Pixel? Libera el Pixel 2 a mitad de precio - No requiere Verizon | sección de noticias de T-Mobile

It's all apparently marketing and lies. I've put more work into solving this than T-Mobiles "engineers" have.

Does my Pixel 2 XL not work because I got it from Verizon instead of Google? Would this work on Google Fi which uses T Mobile's service as one of the supported carriers?

No, Verizon doesn't put any specific software on the Pixel that can't be removed. If you are so inclined, you can even flash the "non-Verizon" image to your Pixel and it will be indistinguishable from a "Verizon" Pixel. (OG/XL, 2/XL, 3/XL) Images can be found here: https://developers.google.com/android/ota

Your native vvm app would (and does) work on Google Fi, even using T-Mobile's network, because they actually bothered setting up omtp compliant vvm services. (I came to T-Mo from Fi. In retrospect, maybe not such a great idea...)

---- snip ----
12-14 11:31:03.225 2229 12844 I Dialer : VvmActivationTask - Subscriber not ready but provisioning is not supported
12-14 11:31:03.225 2229 12844 I Dialer : OmtpVvmCarrierCfgHlpr - OmtpEvent:CONFIG_SERVICE_NOT_AVAILABLE
---- snip ----

This is the same error everyone else is seeing - even those that have T-Mobile "branded" OnePlus 6T phones. (Which, incidentally also don't work... great work there, T-Mobile.) At this point, it's clearly T-Mobile that's screwed up. They are outright refusing to acknowledge the issue, hiding behind the weak "You should buy our branded phones" argument. Frankly, it's shameful.

Thanks. I knew she was blowing smoke up my @$$ when she made those claims. I even asked if I got the phone from Google, she claimed it still wouldn't work because it was designed for Verizon. I told her it wasn't designed for Verizon, and she stuck to her guns that it wasn't designed to T Mobile services. She even went as far to say that T Mobile's VVM app was specifically designed for these reasons. Really? I thought it was because older OS versions of Android dialers didn't have VVM built in. I'm going to put T Mobile on blast and try to reach out to some of the media outlets (Android Police, The Verge, Engadget, etc.) so they can spread the word out and light a fire. I'm to the point of reporting them to BBB.

It's obvious this is a backend issue that they are ignoring.

Your native vvm app would (and does) work on Google Fi, even using T-Mobile's network, because they actually bothered setting up omtp compliant vvm services. (I came to T-Mo from Fi. In retrospect, maybe not such a great idea...)

I'm waiting for from my credit to pay off my phone. If this isn't resolved by then, I will be hopping carriers till I'm happy. Google Fi is next on my list.

Ummm, guys?

Mine just started working.  I've been hitting "Activate voicemail" in the Phone app (P3XL) about 1-2x/day fruitlessly for about a week now, getting the failure message.

But this time when I went to the VM tab in Phone, it came up with a screen I've never seen before, asking me if I wanted to activate VVM.  I said yes.  It didn't do anything visibly -- no failure message, no success message either.  So I had somebody call me and leave a voicemail... and bam it's working now.

That said, for some reason the test voicemails I've been left (2 of them now, from 2 different numbers, but both from iPhone users) show up with "This is a message for the Apple Voicemail system" as the transcription. No idea what that's all about.

Anybody else?

No such luck here. I think it may be something to do with that screen you saw. I was doing more reading of the code for the vvm activation, and it looks like there's supposed to be a trigger that pops up a user agreement that either isn't happening at all, or not as it should.

I REALLY don't wanna reset my phone again to see if I can get it to pop up, but I might have to.

Having this same issue with a Nokia 6.1 on Android 9 Pie, brand new line, brand new phone. T-Mobile VVM works, but it's annoying to have voice mail in a separate app when it's integrated into the stock Phone app (with free transcription, as on my iPhone). If I delete T-Mobile VVM after clearing caches, the problem persists. Sounds like I might need to try various resets from other super helpful commenters on this thread.