I had the HTC 10 with Sprint and it had the VVM. HTC U11 does not have the VVM app, and Sprint charges for call forwarding. I do have a separate Google voice number, and use the *73+number for no answer forwards, and *74+number for busy forwards to my Google voice mail. Google voicemail is free, transcribes the VVM to text, and sends me push notifications.
I am disappointed in Sprint for not including their VVM as part of the package and charging for my call forwards, but hey, we all can find our work arounds.