Voicemail Phone Access

Users and shared voicemail boxes can be accessed from any phone on the account by dialing a short code. This page covers what to dial, how first-time access works, and the keys available while listening to messages.

Star Codes

Code	What it does
*99	Access your own voicemail from your registered phone
*98<extension>	Access any mailbox by extension — a user's personal mailbox or a shared box

*99 is the quickest path when you're at your own desk phone. *98<ext> is the right choice when:

• You're on a shared or borrowed phone and need to check your own voicemail (dial *98 followed by your extension).
• You're accessing a shared voicemail box (dial *98 followed by the shared box's extension).

First-Time Access (Setting a PIN)

If the mailbox does not yet have a PIN, the system prompts you to set one — but only when it trusts the phone you're calling from:

• Personal mailboxes — only the owner's registered phone can set the PIN.
• Shared voicemail boxes — any registered phone on the same account can set the PIN.

If the mailbox has no PIN and you're not calling from a trusted phone, you'll hear "this mailbox is not configured for phone access, please contact your administrator." Ask your admin to set an initial PIN in the admin portal; you can then enter it from any phone.

To set a PIN on first access:

1. Dial *99 (or *98<ext> for a shared box).
2. The system says the mailbox has no PIN. Press 1 to set one.
3. Enter the new PIN (4–10 digits), then #.
4. Re-enter to confirm, then #.

The PIN is saved immediately and required on every subsequent call.

Normal Access

After a PIN is set, every call to the mailbox prompts for it:

1. Dial *99 or *98<ext>.
2. Enter your PIN, then #.
3. The system announces how many new and old messages are waiting, then begins playback.

You have up to three PIN attempts per call. After three wrong entries the call disconnects.

After Your PIN

Once your PIN is accepted, you hear a short summary and a menu hint, for example:

"You have 2 new messages and 1 old message. Press 1 for the new messages, press 0 for mailbox options."

The menu hint always offers two paths:

Key	What it does
1	Skip the summary and start listening to messages right away
0	Open the mailbox options menu (greeting, change PIN)
#	Exit the mailbox at any time

You can press any of those keys while the announcement is still playing — the system stops the announcement and acts on your key immediately.

New vs Old Messages

A message is new until you have listened to it from start to finish (or pressed 9 to save it). After that, it becomes old and stays in your mailbox until you delete it. The post-PIN announcement counts the two groups separately so you can tell at a glance whether anything has come in since the last time you checked. Both groups play back together, newest first; the next message starts about three seconds after the previous one ends.

Listening to Messages

Each message plays in the following order:

1. Envelope: message number, caller's number (when known), and when it was received.
2. The message audio.
3. A brief pause before the next message (about three seconds) so you have time to press a key.

If the caller's number was not passed by the carrier or was withheld (anonymous), the envelope skips the "from" segment and goes straight from the message number to the timestamp.

Keys While Listening

Key	Action
1 or 5	Replay the current message
4	Previous message
6	Next message
7	Delete the current message
9	Save (mark read and keep)
*	Skip the envelope or cancel the current audio
0	Mailbox options menu
#	Exit the mailbox

Deletes take effect immediately and cannot be undone. The system plays a short "deleted" confirmation tone so a mis-pressed key is noticeable.

Mailbox Options Menu (Key 0)

From the listening loop, pressing 0 opens the options menu. The menu does not announce its keys — they are listed here:

Key	Action
1	Record your "unavailable" greeting
5	Change your PIN
#	Exit the mailbox

Any other key plays a short "sorry, that option is not available" prompt and returns to the menu. If you stay silent for a few seconds twice in a row, the system says goodbye and hangs up.

Recording Your Greeting From the Phone

1. From the options menu, press 1.
2. Wait for the "record after the beep" prompt and the beep.
3. Speak your greeting (up to 90 seconds), then press # to stop.
4. Review the recording. Press 1 to save, 2 to re-record, or * to cancel.

Saving from the phone replaces whatever greeting was previously in place — the same slot the admin portal updates. See Voicemail Greetings for the portal-side controls.

What Callers Hear

When someone leaves you a message, here is the experience from their side:

1. The system plays the mailbox's greeting — your custom recording if you have one set, or a default system announcement otherwise.
2. A beep signals that recording has started.
3. The caller speaks their message.
4. The caller presses # to finish, or simply hangs up.

After the message is recorded it is uploaded, transcribed, and delivered into your mailbox the next time you dial *99 or *98<ext>. Greetings are managed on the mailbox detail page (see Voicemail Greetings).

Changing Your PIN

1. While in your mailbox, press 0 to open the options menu.
2. Press 5 for "change password".
3. Enter the new PIN (4–10 digits) and #.
4. Re-enter to confirm.

You must already be authenticated into the mailbox (via the PIN prompt at the start of the call) to change it; there is no separate current-PIN prompt.

For Administrators

• You can pre-set a user's or shared box's PIN from the admin portal when creating or editing the mailbox. This is useful for users who don't yet have a registered phone of their own.
• When you leave the PIN field empty, the first trusted caller sets it from the phone — see First-Time Access above.
• For shared voicemail boxes, trust is account-scoped: whoever on the team dials first and sets a PIN becomes the gatekeeper. Share that PIN with the team out-of-band.