Pesches Schlauch

Final step in my carrier migration: the visual voicemail (VVM). I was quite surprised that it didn’t work out of the box. The hotline confirmed that VVM was activated on the carrier’s side and that I should try to synchronise with iTunes (to be sure to have the latest carrier settings) – but that didn’t help.

The hotline engineers told me then that my iPhone needs to marked as unlocked in Apple’s device database. But even after the device database was updated, it didn’t work. Then the Swisscom engineers changed one more configuration setting and asked me to update to the latest firmware (3.1.3). The configuration change or the update (I don’t know which one) did the trick:

The conclusion: it may not be enough to unlock the iPhone with Ultrasn0w to change the carrier and have a working VVM, maybe it’s necessary to acquire an official unlock.

Ihr iPhone wurde erfolgreich entsperrt.

After a phone call to my former carrier, where I had to tell my IMEI number, and some days of waiting, I finally received the official Apple unlock for my iPhone:

Some remarks:

• I had to restore my firmware to one which doesn’t remove the need for activation; only then iTunes showed me the above screen (PwnageTool option legit iPhone — valid contract).
• The unlock works and any SIM card can be used. The carrier logo is missing, however. Ultrasn0w fixed this for me.
• To find out if your carrier allows unlocking after the end of the contract, visit Apples support page Locating iPhone wireless carriers and locate the Carrier offers authorized unlocking column.