Verizon pulls the plug on Visual Voicemail for certain devices starting July 8th (UPDATE)

One of the features that debuted on the original Apple iPhone that was well received was Visual Voicemail. No longer did you have to wait to go through all your unwanted messages before hearing the one you were interested in. With a list of the numbers and contacts that left you a message, Visual Voicemail was considered such a great idea back in 2007, that other carriers like Verizon started offering it on its high-end models like the BlackBerry Storm.

UPDATE: A source inside Verizon has reached out to tell us that the inclusion of the Motorola DROID Turbo and HTC One M9 on its list of affected models was a mistake on its part; those handsets never received the $2.99 Visual Voicemail service being discontinued.

While free on the Apple iPhone, Visual Voicemail on other Verizon devices cost users an additional $2.99 a month. The other major carriers (AT&T, Sprint and T-Mobile) do not charge for basic Visual Voicemail services. But Big Red is phasing out the entire service for selected handsets starting on July 8th. Those affected will be switched to basic voice mail and can access the service by dialing *86 from their handset. It is important to note that Verizon customers will not lose any voicemail with the switch. However, to make sure they have room for new messages, Verizon customers losing VVM must reduce the number of voicemails saved on their phone number to under 20 by July 8th. To learn how to set up the basic voicemail box, click on the sourcelink.

The phones that are losing Visual Voicemail capabilities are mostly older models, although the list does include the HTC One M9. Ironically, while that model is losing the feature, it will remain available for those with the older HTC One (M8). All iPhone models will continue to keep Visual Voicemail, but the Motorola DROID Turbo and the Samsung Galaxy S4 are both losing the service.

A complete list of affected handsets can be found right here.

source: Verizon via Crackberry