Sometimes relationships can get a bit rocky, and you notice that a cell phone call that used to get answered is now ringing out to voicemail. So how can you know whether your boyfriend is blocking or sending your call to voicemail?
A few rings and then being sent straight to voicemail likely means the call is ignored, or your number is blocked. If it goes straight to voicemail, you may be blocked or the phone may be off.
Let’s have a look at how phones will ring and work with voicemail, as well as some ways to check if you’re being blocked or there is something more sinister.
What Does It Mean if Your Call Goes Straight to Voicemail?
If the phone goes immediately to voicemail without ringing, it’s more likely that your number has been blocked. You can also be on their blacklist due to the instant timing of the decline. However, this could also be a ‘do not disturb’ style setting.
You can always send a message to confirm if this setting is meant to be on, as sometimes people don’t realize this has happened.
If you want, be a bit sneaky and double check by using a different number or by hiding your own caller ID. Find a friend or family member and use their phone to check, but even this is not particularly foolproof.
If you put yourself in the shoes of a person who has blocked you, you’re not going to answer another call that has come straight after a number that you don’t want to answer has called, so give it at least 30 minutes between calls.
Remember that the blocking or ignore function may work differently depending on the phone or carrier. For example, you may not be able to send text messages to someone who has blocked you, or leave a voicemail.
Use the ‘read’ function in certain apps like Messenger, as if the person opens up and reads the message you’ll be able to tell.
Disconnected or Dead Phone
A disconnected number will likely direct you straight to a recorded message saying the number is no longer active, although it may ring once or twice before doing so.
If you’re still getting connected to a voicemail, it is very likely that the phone account is still active, and it may just be that the phone has run out of battery.
If the phone has airplane mode on, it will also go straight to voicemail in most situations. Airplane mode disconnects you from both WiFi and cell networks, meaning you won’t be able to send or receive calls.
How to Know if Your Boyfriend Blocked Your Number?
It’s going to be hard to know if someone has blocked your number. The behavior of a phone that is off versus one with voicemail turned on is going to be very similar to that if your number has been blocked or blacklisted.
For example, phones will allow you to answer or ignore the call, the latter sending the call directly to voicemail and prompting the caller to leave a message.
As it will take some time for the person to see the phone is ringing, and reach for the ignore button, you can generally expect the phone to ring once or twice.
However, keep in mind that a number of rings a phone makes before it goes to voicemail can be set, so it may just be that a phone rings twice to give the user a chance to answer before it goes automatically to voicemail.
For some carriers, voicemail may activate after a set amount of rings that can be set by the user, but if the call is not answered, then the amount of rings a call has before it gets sent to voicemail may decrease per missed call.
So if you notice this decreasing pyramid of rings each time you try and get them on the phone, then that person is likely just not answering their phone, rather than blocking you.
However, a call getting dumped straight into a recorded message every single time when you know their phone is on and working is very suspicious, and could indicate that your number has been blocked.
