(Credit: René Ramos/Apple)
Your iPhone offers a variety of voicemail options. There’s always the plain vanilla voicemail in which you listen to a message from someone whose call you missed. But Visual Voicemail provides a transcript of messages, and iOS 17 adds Live Voicemail, which lets you view the message as the words are being recorded and decide whether or not to answer the call. Let’s look at each option.
Set Up Voicemail
The first time you get a new iPhone or jump to a new carrier, you’ll need to set up your voicemail greeting and password. To do this, open the Phone app and tap the Voicemail icon at the bottom. Tap Set Up, then type a password between four and nine numbers in length and tap Done. At the next screen, retype the same password and tap Done.
(Credit: Lance Whitney / Apple)At the Greeting screen, tap Play to play the default voicemail greeting. If you’re fine with the standard greeting, tap Done. If you wish to use a more personal greeting in your own voice, tap Custom. Tap Record and then speak the greeting you want to use. When finished, tap Stop.
You can tap the Play button to hear your greeting. If you’re not happy with it, tap Record and try again. Otherwise, tap Done, and your greeting is saved.
(Credit: Lance Whitney / Apple)How to Check Your Voicemail
To listen to a new voicemail, open the Phone app and tap the Voicemail icon. Select the voicemail and tap Play to hear it. Tap the speaker icon to switch the audio output to and from speaker mode. Hit the phone icon to quickly return the call. To delete the message, tap the trash can icon. Choose the Share icon to share the message as an audio file via Mail, Messages, and other services.
(Credit: Lance Whitney / Apple)For more options regarding the contact, tap the Info icon next to a specific message. You can then share the caller’s contact card with someone else, create a new contact card, edit an existing contact card, add the person to your emergency contacts, or block the caller.
(Credit: Lance Whitney / Apple)You can also typically access your voicemail by dialing a specific code for your carrier, either on your iPhone or from another phone. The codes and steps vary among different carriers. In the US, open the following support pages for Verizon Wireless, AT&T, and T-Mobile to find out how to check your voicemail.
(Credit: Lance Whitney / Apple)Change Your Password or Greeting
To change the voicemail password on your iPhone, go to Settings > Phone > Change Voicemail Password. At the next screen, enter a new voicemail password and tap Done. Re-enter the same password and tap Done. You should receive a notification that your password or PIN changed.
(Credit: Lance Whitney / Apple)To change your voicemail greeting, open the Phone app, tap the Voicemail icon, and then tap Greeting in the upper-right corner. At the Greeting screen, tap Custom and then Record. You can then record your new greeting. Tap Save when done and Play to listen to the new greeting.
(Credit: Lance Whitney / Apple)How to Use Visual Voicemail
The Visual Voicemail feature displays a text transcription of a voicemail message for you to read. Not all carriers support visual voicemail, but the major ones do. Apple’s support page for wireless carrier features lists global carriers and indicates which ones allow Visual Voicemail.
Once you set up voicemail on your phone, then Visual Voicemail is automatically enabled as long as your carrier supports it. To check the transcription of a voicemail, just tap the message at any time after the call has finished. If the message can be transcribed, the text will appear.
(Credit: Lance Whitney / Apple)If the transcription is accurate, you can tap the Useful link. If not, tap the Not Useful link. If you choose, you can then share the transcription with Apple to help the company improve the accuracy of its speech-to-text technology.
How to Set Up Live Voicemail
Live Voicemail is available only in English in the United States and Canada, excluding Guam, Puerto Rico, and the US Virgin Islands. To set up Live Voicemail, go to Settings > Phone > Live Voicemail. Turn on the switch for Live Voicemail if it’s not already on.
(Credit: Lance Whitney / Apple)When enabled, this feature will show you a transcription of the voicemail as it’s being left by the person calling you. Based on the caller and the message, you can then decide whether or not you want to answer the call. Now, let’s say a call is coming through.
You can send a call to Live Voicemail by tapping the small Voicemail button that appears at the top of the screen. On an iPhone with the Dynamic Island, this button appears on the right side. Those without the Dynamic Island will have the icon on the left. If the caller’s contact card is already on the screen, tap the larger Voicemail button.
(Credit: Lance Whitney / Apple)When the caller starts to leave a message, the transcription will appear on the screen. At any point, you can decline the call, answer it, or allow the caller to finish their message and hang up.
(Credit: Lance Whitney / Apple)If you answer the call before the voicemail finishes, you can converse as you normally would. If you allow the call to finish, open the Phone app and tap the Voicemail icon. You’re then able to read the finished message. From there, you can play or delete the message or return the call.
(Lance Whitney/Apple)
