Knowledge Base - Message Center (Voicemail) Setup

There are a few considerations when preparing your Message Center for use.

First, a few pointers:

Option 3, Advanced Options are only enabled in specific circumstances - it is normal for this menu to be empty. Just press * to return to the main menu.
You can only initialize your Message Center for extensions that have Message Center configured. If you need Message Center configured on an extension, you can use PhoneOpts or contact support using the form below and provide the extension number.
Extensions that are part of a ring group may not all have Message Center enabled.
Click here for information on enhanced features including Follow Me, Email Notification, Pager Notification, and Voicemail to Email Forwarding can be enabled for you by Client Support.
Email forwarded messages can either be left in the Message Center for later review by phone or can be deleted after they are converted to email. If you forward and delete, your Message Center will never contain any messages.
Messages forwarded by email can be recovered in the event of email failure or accidental deletion.
Certain options can render the Busy Greeting non-functional, but you should always record a Busy Greeting or callers may hear a generic numeric greeting.

To initialize the Message Center, dial *97 from the phone you are setting up.

For details on ways to access the Message Center, click here.

When you enter the Message Center, you will hear a summary of new and old messages available to listen to. A complete outline of the menu's in the Message Center is below.

Initialize Your Message Center

After entering your password, press 0 to configure mailbox options.

Press 1 to record your Standard Greeting
Press 2 to record your Busy Greeting
Press 3 to record your Name
Press 5 to change your password
Press * to return to the main menu

You can hang up and resume this process at any time.

It's worth taking the time to confirm your greetings sound good - people may be listening to them for a long time and you want to avoid accidental background noises.

Temporary Greetings

If you create a Temporary Greeting it will override the Standard Greeting and Busy Greeting until you remove it. Use this greeting to enable a temporary replacement (e.g., a vacation message) without erasing your usual greeting.

You can also use it to force your Standard and Busy greetings to be identical though this is impractical if you use Follow Me.

While active, the Temporary Greeting can be edited or removed by returning to the same menu:

Press 4 for Temporary Greeting
- If no Temporary Greeting exists you will be prompted to record it immediately.
- If a Temporary greeting does exist you will be given choices:
  - Press 1 to change the Temporary Greeting.
  - Press 2 to remove the Temporary Greeting.

When you remove the Temporary Greeting the Standard Greeting and Busy Greeting will be restored.

Voicemail Password or PIN

Your voicemail password is very important. Your mailbox can be accessed from outside the system to facilitate message retrieval. Enabling Voicemail to Email allows you to archive your messages on your own computer, but someone could still embarrass you or your company by changing your outgoing greeting if you do not keep your password secure.

Always change the password at set up, and any time you change staff. Changing it regularly is even better for security. You should change your password during Message Center set up.

Message Center Menus

The following is an outline of the menus in the Message Center:

Press 1 to read voicemail messages

While playing messages you have additional choices:

Press 3 for Advanced options

Press 1 to reply

Press 3 to hear the message envelope

Press * to return to the playback menu

Press 4 to play previous message

Press 5 to repeat current message

Press 6 to play next message

Press 7 to Delete current message

Press 8 Forward message to another mailbox

A mailbox is an extension followed by a line number – normally a 1. Enter the extension + 1 followed by #. You will be given the option to record an introduction. Afterward you can choose to delete the message from your mailbox.

Press 9 to save message in a folder

Press * Help;
during message playback: Rewind 3 seconds

Press # to exit to the main menu;
during message playback: Skip forward 3 seconds

Press 2 to change folders.

Press 3 for Advanced Options (normally none exist)

Press * to return to main menu

Press 0 for Mailbox Options

Press 1 to record your Standard (Unavailable) Greeting

Press 2 to record your Busy Greeting

Press 3 to record your Name

Press 4 to record your Temporary Greeting

If no temporary greeting exists you will be prompted to record it immediately. If a temporary greeting exists, you will be given options to:

Press 1 to change your Temporary Greeting

Press 2 to delete your Temporary Greeting (enabling the Standard & Busy greetings)

Press 5 to change your password

Press * to return to the main menu

Press * for Help / to repeat the menu

Press # to Exit

Menus While Recording

After recording a message (incoming message, Standard / Busy / Temporary Greeting, or Name)

Press 1 to accept the greeting

Press 2 to review the greeting

Press 3 to re-record the greeting

Press 0 to reach the operator (while recording incoming message only)

When leaving a voicemail, you can press 0 to reach the designated operator group if one has been defined. You can mention this, however most people seem to assume 0 is standard so mentioning it might be unnecessary.

Suggestions For Your Greetings

You can choose to use the Busy Greeting to let people know you are in the office / on the other line, or you can choose to keep the messages the same to avoid revealing your status.

If you use Follow Me, you can choose to mention the option to press 1, or you can not mention it to avoid encouraging people to dial your external numbers.

If you use Follow Me, you should not mention it on your Busy greeting - Follow Me only works during the Standard Greeting.

Note that you can enable and disable Follow Me once configured by dialing *21

Tips For Efficient Use

If you use Follow Me, the Standard Greeting will be played if you are not busy. Pressing 1 will attempt Follow Me. If you do not answer the call, the caller will be directed to the Busy Greeting.
While listening to a recorded voicemail message press # to fast forward, or * to rewind by 3 seconds for each press.
Note that the # and * keys only work like this while the message is in the process of being played back
If you need to archive messages seriously consider Voicemail to Email. You can manage your messages in email both at a computer and possibly on your mobile device, and benefit from easy searching and archiving built in to email systems.