Checking your voicemail messages can be a hassle. You have to dial into a voicemail manager, enter in your voice mailbox and PIN numbers, and navigate menu prompts. And if you need to listen to the message again in order to write down a name or phone number, make sure that you press the menu prompt that replays it, not the one that deletes it!
Thankfully, there are other effortless ways to review voicemail messages, especially when you’re away from the office. Try using one of these below methods—not only will they make listening to voicemails easier, but they'll also let you retrieve and respond to messages much faster than before.
Softphones are software-based telephones that run in the browser or via desktop or mobile applications. They provide traditional telephone functionality in an interactive user interface on your device’s screen. Using a softphone, you can make and receive audio and video calls, perform call handling functions (like Mute, Hold, and Transfer), host video conference calls, and view your coworkers’ Presence statuses.
Softphones also display your voicemail messages in a visual format. Within the softphone’s interface, you can play and replay your messages, delete them, and set your voicemail settings.
OnSIP customers can easily review their voicemails right in the OnSIP app, OnSIP’s business softphone available for free for each employee on an account. Reviewing messages in the OnSIP app means that customers won’t have to dial into the Voicemail Manager to listen to their messages. And since the OnSIP app is available in the browser and as a desktop and mobile application, customers can access their voicemails in a web browser window; on their computers, laptops, or tablets; and on their smartphones.
If you don’t want to manually check your voicemail messages by logging into a softphone, try setting up voicemail to email. This business phone system feature automatically sends each new message to a specified email address. The email notification will include: caller ID info, the date, time, and length of the message, and the audio recording (as an attachment).
With voicemail to email, you can listen to your voicemail messages whenever and wherever you check your email. Whether you’re working from home, commuting on a bus or train, or waiting at a coffee shop before your next client meeting, you can access your voicemail messages directly from your email inbox—and respond to the contents of those messages faster.
OnSIP customers can set their voicemail to email settings in the OnSIP web or desktop app— locate it in the Voicemail Settings button under My Dashboard. Account administrators can also set up voicemail to email for their users in the admin portal.
In addition to having audio recordings of your messages sent to your email inbox, you can even have written transcriptions sent as well. Business voicemail transcription services will convert an audio message into text format and then send the transcribed message to you as an email or text message.
Sometimes included as a feature of a cloud phone system, voicemail transcription can also be accomplished by integrating a third-party service with your business phone provider.
Reading voicemail transcriptions provides you with many advantages over audio-only messages. You can quickly review the message contents during times that you need to be quiet, like when you’re on a conference call or when you’re sitting in on a presentation. You can also skim through the transcription to get a name or phone number instead of having to sit through the entire message to gather those details.
OnSIP customers can use another option to access their voicemails remotely:
Assign your voice mailbox its own unique extension. Account administrators can accomplish this in the admin portal. To access your voicemails, just dial the extension for your voice mailbox, hit * when you hear your greeting, and then enter in your password at the prompt. You'll then be able to review and delete your messages.
Working away from your desk doesn’t mean that you have to come back to a pile of new voicemail messages. By implementing any of the methods mentioned in this blog post, you’ll be able to review and promptly respond to your callers’ inquiries wherever you find yourself working.