Go directly to voicemail with Slydial
I've been testing out the new free service from Slydial that lets you leave a voicemail without ringing the other guy's phone. I called 1-267-SLYDIAL (267-759-3425), entered the phone number I wanted to dial, and sure enough I was soon talking to directly to the voicemail box.
The service is free, although you do have to listen to a very short advertisement (for McDonalds dollar menu, when I called), but there are a few catches:
- It only works for U.S. mobile numbers.
- Doesn't work for non-mobile numbers (like, say, Microsoft's corporate number)
I also noticed that it worked from my AT&T mobile number, as well as from the landline I use at home, but for some reason it didn't work from my VOIP account. I'm contacting my VOIP provider to see if they know why.
[update: it was a fluke. I tried again and it works fine with my VOIP account]