Nexus 5 says "Couldn't download" wireless voicemail messages

[robertyknwt]

I've had my Fido account and my Nexus 5 for about a year now. For a while now, it won't download voicemail messages (which I used to get a text transcription of). For each message, I get "Couldn't download", info about the message (eg. "size: 59.22 KB, expiration 4/30, 11:02 AM"), then "Subject: New Wireless voicemail message", then "Tap to download". But it never downloads; I tap to download, then it says "Downloading..." for a very long time, and eventually comes back to "Couldn't download".

I'm not sure when it stopped working, but I'm guessing it's either sometime when I upgraded Android (current version 6.0.1), or when I replaced Google Hangouts with Messenger (version 1.8.035) as my default texting app. Is there a fix for this problem?

** Edited to add labels **

[FidoMegan]

Hey robertyknwt! 

Weclome to the Community!

Do you have data enabled on your device? Are you able to send and receive regular MMS (picture or video messages)? Are you using the Fido network or are you on Wi-Fi when trying to retrieve these messages? 

Also, does it work when you use Google Hangouts? 

Let me know!

[JFlo]

I just called FIDO and they told me that you cannot download voicemails. For lots of reasons, that's not great. Sometimes you get a voicemail that you want to download and save to another device (e.g., computer, not phone) - just for sentimental reasons. But I was told that FIDO doesn't allow for this (which I find a little less compassionate than one might hope from a company that tries to pretend they care). 

[Cawtau]

Hello JFlo,

  Welcome to the community!

  While there isn't a system in place like you suggest, Fido does offer the Premium Voicemail-to-text add-on (see here for rates). I'm not sure if one can get the Premium voicemail as a standalone add-on anymore.

  In addition to receiving a transcript of your voicemail sent as a text message, they also provide a recording of the message as well. In theory, you should be able to forward that text message to another phone number or email? I haven't tried it myself, though. Since the text messages are on your phone, they should be available for as long as you don't delete the messages.

  I rather like the voicemail-to-text feature and I also find the recordings useful when the system can't transcribe the message (like with those Chinese spam calls).

  You should note these forums are community-driven and not intended as a venue for customer services. If you wish enquire whether the standalone option is available, you would need to contact customer service. In addition, they can also be contacted via Live Chat, Facebook, or Twitter. Those methods can be accessed via the contact page posted above.

Hope this helps 😀

Cheers

[robertyknwt · Accepted solution]

Turning on cell data did the trick! Thank you very much!