Google Contacts app lost option to unroute/route to voicemail with latest update, issue escalated (workaround inside)

One of the most important Google-owned services has to be the Contacts app as it allows you to store and manage contact information for your organization.

It can easily be found on the sidebar of Gmail as a component of Google Workspace, as an Android mobile application, or as a web app.

Moreover, it also lets users create groups across different departments at once and even makes the import and export of Contacts easier.

Google Contacts app lost the option to unroute/route to voicemail

However, it seems that the option to route or unroute to voicemail has been removed or is missing from the Google Contacts app after the latest update (1,2,3,4).

Why does the option to route a contact to voicemail seem to have vanished? This used to be very simple to do and incredibly useful but seems to have disappeared since the last update.
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Was the route/unroute to voicemail option removed from Pixel 6 pro this morning???? Unable to unroute a contact from voicemail as of today. It’s no longer on the menu drop down when you select the contact
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The ‘Route to voicemail’ option helped users route/unroute a contact directly to the voicemail. But ever since the recent update, it’s not possible anymore as it has seemingly been removed.

The feature definitely did save people from having to answer calls from contacts they don’t really want to talk to. In addition, users who had some contacts set to voicemail can’t be unrouted since the option is no longer available.

It is incredibly frustrating for users and are even asking the devs to bring the feature back.

Issue escalated

Fortunately, the issue has been escalated to the Google team for further investigation. Therefore, it is too soon to ascertain if the feature removal was done on purpose or not.

We have also come across a workaround that can help fix this issue among Pixel users. It seems that reinstalling the older version of the app (if it was installed as a 3rd party app) seems to do the trick.

I was able to fix this issue after reading another forum. For Pixel users uninstall the Contacts App update by hitting uninstall. Go to Contacts and unroute like previous. However when your phone updates the Contacts App the option disappears again.
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Hopefully, Google fixes the issue where the ‘Route to voicemail’ option has gone missing from the Contacts apps soon.

We’ll keep tabs on the latest developments and update this article accordingly.

NOTE: We have these and many more related stories in our dedicated Google section.

Featured image source: Google

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