Voicemail never really took off in India the way it did in Western countries and most of us have never bothered about it. But it's a neat feature that lets callers leave you a message when you can't pick up the call. iPhone users in India got native voicemail support with the iOS 18 update back in 2024, but there is barely any information for Android phones. So in this guide, I will take you through how to set up voicemail on your Android phone, step by step. On that note, let's begin.
How Voicemail Actually Works on Android in India
There is a confusion as to how voicemail actually works on Android, especially in India, so let me clear it up. Voicemail is actually a network operator feature and it's not tied to your phone. The mailbox, the storage and the recordings all are stored on your operator's servers.
Android does bring basic support for voicemail in India. It gives you the long-press 1 shortcut and the voicemail number in the Phone app. However, none of that matters if your SIM card provider doesn't offer the service.
By the way, there are two kinds of voicemail. Basic voicemail lets you call your mailbox and listen to messages. On the other hand, Visual Voicemail is the modern version which offers a scrollable list right inside the Phone app with transcription.
As for support in India, Jio doesn't offer voicemail at all, however, Airtel does offer a proper service and it's completely free once you activate it. That said, none of the Indian operators support Visual Voicemail on Android so that slick transcription experience is just limited to iPhones. By the way, you can turn off voicemail on iPhone if you find it annoying.
To sum up, you can set up basic voicemail if you are on Airtel's network. And if you are on Jio, the only real option is a third-party app. I have covered both of the options below.
Set Up Voicemail on Android (Airtel Only)
Here is how to set up voicemail on Android if you are using Airtel in India. This process is completely free and can be followed on any Android phone.
- On your Android phone, open the Phone app and dial *321*671# to start Airtel's Voice Mail service.
- You need to press the call button. Now, a small pop-up will appear. Enter 1 to confirm.
- Within a few minutes, Airtel will send you a message that the Voice Mail service is live at zero rental.
- It will also have Airtel's voicemail number which is 52555.
- Now, inside the Phone app, open Settings > Voicemail.
- Here, open Voicemail number, enter 52555 and tap on OK.
- Now, just go ahead and long-press 1 inside the Phone app and you will be connected to your voicemail.
I tested it on my Samsung Galaxy S23 with an Airtel SIM and it worked flawlessly well. If you are busy or unavailable, callers can record their voice message and you can hear them later via voicemail. The best part is that Airtel offers all of this for free in India. In case, you want to disable voice mail on your Android phone, dial *321*673# inside the Phone app.
Set Up Voicemail on Android Using Truecaller (All Networks)
In case you are unaware, Truecaller rolled out a free voicemail feature for Android in India in December 2025. Since it routes calls through its own system instead of the network operator, it works on every network including Airtel, Jio, Vi and BSNL. With the Truecaller app, you can also block spam calls on Android. Note that you must be using the free version of Truecaller to enable voicemail.
With all that said, Truecaller utilises call forwarding behind the scenes to route calls when you are busy or unavailable. If you are uncomfortable forwarding your calls to Truecaller's system, you can skip this method. That said, Truecaller says it keeps recordings on your device and transcribes them with AI in 12 Indian languages. Here is how to set it up.
- Launch Truecaller and move to the Voicemail tab at the bottom
- Now, tap on Activate now and it will take a few seconds to enable voicemail on your Android phone.
- Once done, you will receive voicemails inside the Truecaller app when you are unavailable to pick the call.
- As you can see below, you can hear the recording and check the call transcript as well.
If you want to disable Truecaller Voicemail, you can do so from the the three-dot menu. You can also dial ##002# to wipe all call forwarding on your Samsung phone or any other Android phone at the operator level.
And that is how you set up voicemail on your Android phone. If you are on Airtel, the network's free service is the best route and if you are on Jio, Truecaller does a decent job for free. Note that both the setup binds to your SIM, so it will keep working even if you change your phone. Finally, if you want to make your number private on Samsung phones, you can follow our dedicated guide.
