WARNING: Full Backup option is NOT a full backup (you lose your older voicemails)

Question

Just a warning out there for anyone upgrading phones or otherwise restoring from a back up.  iTunes gives the option for either iCloud backup, which will "back up the most important data on your iPhone to iCloud", OR Computer Backup in which "a full backup of your iPhone will be stored on this computer".
A downside of the computer backup is that you have to plug in via wire. It is not a wireless option for backup. Frankly, that's not any bother. My phone sits each night at my desk anyhow to charge.
Another downside, however, that I discoverd today is that it is NOT A FULL BACKUP.  It does not back up voicemail.  Whether there is anything else it doesn't back up, I don't know.  But it doesn't back up voicemails.  How do I know?  When I restored, I lost every voice mail older than 30 days (I'm an ATT&T user). That sweet message my 4-year-old left me. Gone.  That client I needed to get back to even thought it's been a while. Gone. 
I can't tell you how frustrating this is.  Doesn't make it better when Apple tried to start blaming AT&T.
The Apple engineers have screwed this one up.  Either allow the option for autobackups during a wired sync AND allow iCloud backup (rather than requiring you to select either or).. OR include visual voicemail backup as part of the full back up to the computer.  In other words, make sure that "full back up" means "full".  And if you can't do either of those, then don't use the word "full" when it's not a full back up.  Include the caveat that you might lost voice mail if you don't do an iCloud back up.
Apple: fix this.
Consumers: Avoid this situation. Before switching phones, do the iCloud sync, then do a manual backup.  That would have avoided this situation of losing voicemails. Now I know. Too late for me -- but hopefully not for you.

Answer 1

Apple blaming AT&T (as told to you by AT&T), and you believe AT&T that it's Apple's fault? Voice Mail is a service provided by your provider. Apple is not the provider - AT&T is. In the AT&T User Guide, they tell you how to permanently save your voicemails. They also say this:
4. YOUR RESPONSIBILITY TO RETRIEVE MESSAGES.
AT&T assumes no responsibility for
the deletion or failure to store or retrieve Voice Mail messages.
As described in Your Guide, your Service will retain only a
limited number of messages and will store messages only
for a limited number of days. AT&T retains the right, at AT&T’s
sole discretion and at any time, to change any
of the capacity limits on message exchange and st
orage. Accordingly, timely retrieval of
messages is your
responsibility. 
FYI, here is a link to the AT&T Voice Mail User Guide:
https://www.vm.att.com/dchelp/EN/att_vm_user_guide.pdf
Apple is not to blame here - it is not Apple's job to keep your Voice Mails - it is AT&T's job. iTunes doesn't back up Voice Mail at all as indicated here:
http://support.apple.com/kb/ht4946
It backs up the Voice Mail password, but not the actual Voice Mail. If you only have 30 days - talk to AT&T....
Sorry you lost your 3-year old's message. That is really sad..... Just wanted you to know where the problem actually lies.
Cheers,
GB