This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
Receiving Voicemail on the Web
The first way to pick up your voicemail uses the Web and the Google Voice site. By default, Google Voice sends you both the recording of the caller's message and a transcript of that message.
Getting Voicemail Transcripts
Getting your voicemails on the Web is easy and takes just a couple of steps:
- Navigate to the Google Voice site and log in (if necessary).
Click the Voicemail link. Clicking the Voicemail link displays your voicemail, as shown in Figure 5.2. The transcript appears as shown in the figure.
Figure 5.2 Collecting voicemail.
Using caller ID information, Google Voice indicates who called, so you see the name of the person calling you and his or her phone number or Unknown for callers who block caller ID.
You can also click the Inbox link to see your voicemail, but you'll see all the messages and notifications you've received, not just your voicemails.
)
If you're picking up your voicemail from a mobile phone, use the Google Voice mobile site instead, www.google.com/voice/m. This site appears in Figure 5.3, and you can see the transcripts of your voicemails there.
)
Figure 5.3 Collecting voicemail from the mobile site.
Listening to Your Voicemail
You don't have to read transcribed voicemail messages; you can also listen to the actual recording. That's useful if the transcript got messed up, if you're not sure about the caller's tone, or if you just want to hear a loved one's voice. To hear your voicemail using the Web, follow these steps:
- Navigate to the Google Voice site and log in (if necessary).
Click the Voicemail link. Clicking the Voicemail link displays your voicemail.
You can also click the Inbox link to see your voicemail, but you'll see all the messages and notifications you've received, not just your voicemails.
- Click the box displaying a time and an arrow in the voicemail. The voicemail plays.
If you're picking up your voicemail from a mobile phone, use the Google Voice mobile site instead, www.google.com/voice/m. On the mobile site, click the Play link in the voicemail you want to play.
Organizing Your Voicemail
If you get a lot of voicemails, clearing out a cluttered Inbox can be essential. You have three options here: archiving voicemails, marking them as read, or deleting them.
When you archive a voicemail, that voicemail is removed from your Inbox; from then on, it appears only when you click the Voicemail or History link (the History link contains all the voicemail you ever received). To archive a voicemail, just check the checkbox on the left in the voicemail display and click the Archive button.
When you mark a voicemail as read, Google Voice remembers that you've read it. You can then tell Google Voice not to display the voicemails you've already read in the Inbox. Here's how:
- Navigate to the Google Voice site and log in (if necessary).
- Click the Inbox link to display the Inbox.
- Check the checkbox on the left in every voicemail you want to mark as read.
- Click the Unread button in the Show section above the Inbox. All of the voicemails you've marked as read disappear from the Inbox.
You can also delete voicemails. To do that, simply check the checkbox that appears on the left in the voicemail you want to delete and click the Delete button. Google Voice dumps that message in the Trash.
Sending Voicemail Notifications to a Different Email Address
By default, when you get a voicemail, Google Voice sends a notification to your registered email account and a text message to any mobile phone you've connected to your account. You can change the email address that receives email notifications.
Before you can change the email address, though, you need to tell Google Voice about the new email address. To do that, follow these steps:
- Navigate to the Google Voice site and log in (if necessary).
- Click the Settings link. Clicking the Settings link opens the Settings page.
- Click the SMS & Voicemail tab. The tab SMS & Voicemail page appears.
- Click the Add a New Email Address link. Doing so opens the page you can see in Figure 5.4.
Figure 5.4 Adding additional emails.
- Enter the new email address in the Add an Additional Email Address box.
- Click the Save button. Google Voice sends a confirmation email to your new email address.
- Click the link in the email from Google. Your browser opens. In the web page that appears, Google Accounts asks you for your password.
- Enter your password.
- Click the Verify button. Google Accounts displays an Associated Email Address Verified message, "Your new email address has been associated with your Google Voice account."
)
After you've told Google Voice about a particular email account, here's how you can have notifications sent there:
- Navigate to the Google Voice site and log in (if necessary).
- Click the Settings link. Clicking the Settings link opens the Settings page.
- Click the SMS & Voicemail tab. Clicking this tab displays the page you see in Figure 5.5.
Figure 5.5 The SMS & Voicemail tab.
- Select a new email address to send notifications to from the drop-down list box in the Voicemail Notifications section.
- Click the Save Changes button. Your new email address is now set up.
)