Voice mail?

[infantrytrophy]

Short version of question: Is there a good voice mail app for the Razr?

Background for question:
I have been spoiled by the voicemail feature in my wife's iPhone 4s (Verizon). When a voicemail is present, tapping on the voicemail icon or tapping on the contact that appears in the notification screen will instantly access the voicemail. This bypasses Verizon's voicemail system (accessed by *86, listening to menu, entering password).

With an Android or other phone, however, you must trudge through Verizon's clumsy standard voicemail service.

Is there an app (dare I wish a free app?) to speed up and streamline voicemail access? I truly do not want to pay Verizon $2.99 per month for their "Visual Voicemail".

Thanks.

 

[jpcalhoun]

Short version of question: Is there a good voice mail app for the Razr?

Background for question:
I have been spoiled by the voicemail feature in my wife's iPhone 4s (Verizon). When a voicemail is present, tapping on the voicemail icon or tapping on the contact that appears in the notification screen will instantly access the voicemail. This bypasses Verizon's voicemail system (accessed by *86, listening to menu, entering password).

With an Android or other phone, however, you must trudge through Verizon's clumsy standard voicemail service.

Is there an app (dare I wish a free app?) to speed up and streamline voicemail access? I truly do not want to pay Verizon $2.99 per month for their "Visual Voicemail".

Thanks.

I don't know about a different app but you can do this: go to menu>settings>call settings>voice mail. Enter *86 then a ","and your the password for your voicemail. When you activate your voicemail either by long pressing the "1" key on your keypad within the phone app or when you long press the the voicemail notification icon in the pull down notification bar, it will dial voicemail and your password so you don't have to enter it.

 

[Zandar]

Google Voice. It's 100% free. Visual voicemail, fully integrates into Android, multiple voicemail messages by user, group, etc., spam filtering, SMS texting (unlimited over 1x/3G/4G/WiFi), and it can all be done from your phone or any computer when signed into your Google account. Probably in the top ten (arguably the best) apps on Android period.

 

[FoxKat]

I use YouMail, also an app is available. YouMail is incredible and does generally the same things that Google Voice does, but has some very powerful unique features. One of the coolest things it does is answer my phone with the caller's name, so for instance... "Hello, Steve...Phillip is not available at the moment..." It really freaks people out and I get a lot of messages asking how my voicemail knew their name and greeted them by name. You can also create custom greetings for your contacts so they actually hear your voice answering and greeting them with their name and personal message. That feature alone blows people away.

The app allows you to listen to the voicemails on the run, using data so no phone connection time used, and they are stored on your phone for retrieval anytime. They can also be saved as MP3 files for archiving.

There are also custom greetings that are available for things like telemarketers where it tells them that your phone doesn't accept solicitation calls and to take you off their list. There are answer greetings for collectors, and for those people you NEVER want to hear from again, you can actually have the phone voicemail answer with a recording of the phone company's out of service message...three beep tones followed by "We're sorry, the number you have reached is out of service. Please check the number and dial again." That one wards off just about everybody. You can even upload greetings that can be downloaded from the web in MP3 format and get really creative.

 

[SallyC]

That sounds very cool, FoxKat. Thanks for all the information. I'd never heard of it.

 

[FoxKat]

That sounds very cool, FoxKat. Thanks for all the information. I'd never heard of it.

Very cool, indeed! I love putting unique greetings on each of the people on my contact list, so that when they call they feel more appreciated (or less-depending on who it is! LOL). Just like Google Voice, you can group phone numbers into types, for instance all the telemarketers I have grouped into a DNA list so when they call, DNA pops up on my phone and I simply hit ignore. Then the call goes to the Youmail greeting for telemarketers which plays them a message in a very official-sounding voice that says;

"The phone number you've reached does not accept telemarketing calls. This notice serves as a warning that this number is on the Cellular Do Not Call list and you are hereby advised to remove this number from your calling list immediately. Any additional calls received from this number will be reported to the Pennsylvania Office of the Attorney General's Bureau of Consumer Protection for investigation and potential levying of fines."

I can tell you, the telemarketing calls to my cell phone have all but stopped.

The ones I like best are the number not in service messages. I actually uploaded a bunch for others to use on the YouMail server. I went hunting for old recordings of the not in service notices and found some pretty cool ones.

 

[infantrytrophy]

Thanks to JPC, Zandar and FoxKat - good information. I tried YouMail - so far it's great. There are as many custom settings as you would need, including email and text notifications of new voicemails. You can sign up for the optional (paid) transcription service if you want. This is far superior to Verizon's clumsy standard voicemail, and **free** certainly beats paying $2.99/month to Verizon for their Visual Voicemail.

But wait - there's more! :biggrin: The voicemail files are downloaded using wi-fi or cellular data connections, so you don't burn cell phone minutes to listen to voicemails. Works for me.

Now on to my next learning project - how to get text message service without signing up for Verizon's $10/month text messaging. I have an old, inexpensive cell phone plan that does not include text messages. :frown: It would be nice to have a text message service that did not require the other party to use a specific app.

 

[Zandar]

Thanks to JPC, Zandar and FoxKat - good information. I tried YouMail - so far it's great. There are as many custom settings as you would need, including email and text notifications of new voicemails. You can sign up for the optional (paid) transcription service if you want. This is far superior to Verizon's clumsy standard voicemail, and **free** certainly beats paying $2.99/month to Verizon for their Visual Voicemail.

But wait - there's more! :biggrin: The voicemail files are downloaded using wi-fi or cellular data connections, so you don't burn cell phone minutes to listen to voicemails. Works for me.

Now on to my next learning project - how to get text message service without signing up for Verizon's $10/month text messaging. I have an old, inexpensive cell phone plan that does not include text messages. :frown: It would be nice to have a text message service that did not require the other party to use a specific app.

I'll say it one more time: Google Voice. Seriously.

Sliced from my RAZR

 

[FoxKat]

I'll say it one more time: Google Voice. Seriously.

Sliced from my RAZR

Or....Textfree. I use it and love it, plus you get a separate private text-only phone number at no cost so you give the number out to anyone and you never have to worry about them texting to your cell number and costing you money. If someone accidentally calls your TextFree number it sends you a text with the phone number of who called.

You even get to choose the phone number from a list of phone numbers provided to you based on the area code you enter. There's no additional cost to change the number.

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[Jungle King 76]

Agree with zandar.... Google voice does everything that foxkat mentioned above with personal greetings and what not but it also transcribes your voicemails for free so you don't even have to listen. Miss a call in a meeting, no needed to wait to listen, you can read it.

Also, you get to set up a separate phone number so if I don't want to give out my regular Verizon number to someone ( like when I sell something on craigslist) I just give them my Google voice number and it still rings to my cell phone. When I make a call I decide if I want the person I am calling to see my Verizon number or my Google voice number.

It also allows texting which does not count toward your texting limits. So Google voice does everything the op is looking for in one free app.

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[infantrytrophy]

Agree with zandar.... Google voice does everything that foxkat mentioned above with personal greetings and what not but it also transcribes your voicemails for free so you don't even have to listen. Miss a call in a meeting, no needed to wait to listen, you can read it.

Also, you get to set up a separate phone number so if I don't want to give out my regular Verizon number to someone ( like when I sell something on craigslist) I just give them my Google voice number and it still rings to my cell phone. When I make a call I decide if I want the person I am calling to see my Verizon number or my Google voice number.

It also allows texting which does not count toward your texting limits. So Google voice does everything the op is looking for in one free app.

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Thanks to Zandar and Jungle King.

Progress report: I tested YouMail for an hour or so. Worked great, no problems. Then I uninstalled YouMail and de-activated the call forwarding of missed/unanswered calls so that I could try Google Voice.

Google Voice was apparently already installed, so I tried to set it up - registered, received a number, etc. There was a problem with Google verifying my phone number and reading the phone settings - it has been "reading settings" for the last 20 minutes. Looks like I'll have to power down the phone and try again tomorrow. I was able to make calls from my desktop computer through Google Voice, though. Looks like it will be a good service if I can get it working on the cell phone. If not, I'll just go back to YouMail and call it a success.

 

[Zandar]

Thanks to Zandar and Jungle King.

Progress report: I tested YouMail for an hour or so. Worked great, no problems. Then I uninstalled YouMail and de-activated the call forwarding of missed/unanswered calls so that I could try Google Voice.

Google Voice was apparently already installed, so I tried to set it up - registered, received a number, etc. There was a problem with Google verifying my phone number and reading the phone settings - it has been "reading settings" for the last 20 minutes. Looks like I'll have to power down the phone and try again tomorrow. I was able to make calls from my desktop computer through Google Voice, though. Looks like it will be a good service if I can get it working on the cell phone. If not, I'll just go back to YouMail and call it a success.

This happens, sometimes; but it'll usually set up your voicemail even if it looks like it didn't. Test it out to see if it worked.

Sliced from my RAZR

 

[FoxKat]

Thanks to Zandar and Jungle King.

Progress report: I tested YouMail for an hour or so. Worked great, no problems. Then I uninstalled YouMail and de-activated the call forwarding of missed/unanswered calls so that I could try Google Voice.

Google Voice was apparently already installed, so I tried to set it up - registered, received a number, etc. There was a problem with Google verifying my phone number and reading the phone settings - it has been "reading settings" for the last 20 minutes. Looks like I'll have to power down the phone and try again tomorrow. I was able to make calls from my desktop computer through Google Voice, though. Looks like it will be a good service if I can get it working on the cell phone. If not, I'll just go back to YouMail and call it a success.

There are lots of differences between YouMail and Google Voice, and Google Voice does have some neat added call features if you add a Google Voice phone number, but there's one major difference in the greetings that I prefer YouMail for.

Google Voice answers calls that you didn't set up custom greetings for with a generic message that says something along the lines of "The Google Voice subscriber you are trying to reach is not available ..." YouMail has Smart Greeting which uses the Caller ID to greet the caller with their real first name. It also says your name as the one they are trying to reach so it's far more personalized for every caller even if you don't know them.

Let this not be a battle of the posters but instead simply an informative thread providing the pros and cons of each option. I do like Google Voice but it is far more intensive than I wanted for a simple voicemail substitute. YouMail fit the bill nicely for a small footprint solution. I may migrate to Google Voice but I feel the learning curve for Google Voice is longer than that of YouMail so initially I am more inclines to refer people to that option at least initially.





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[Zandar]

There are lots of differences between YouMail and Google Voice, and Google Voice does have some neat added call features if you add a Google Voice phone number, but there's one major difference in the greetings that I prefer YouMail for.

Google Voice answers calls that you didn't set up custom greetings for with a generic message that says something along the lines of "The Google Voice subscriber you are trying to reach is not available ..." YouMail has Smart Greeting which uses the Caller ID to greet the caller with their real first name. It also says your name as the one they are trying to reach so it's far more personalized for every caller even if you don't know them.

Let this not be a battle of the posters but instead simply an informative thread providing the pros and cons of each option. I do like Google Voice but it is far more intensive than I wanted for a simple voicemail substitute. YouMail fit the bill nicely for a small footprint solution. I may migrate to Google Voice but I feel the learning curve for Google Voice is longer than that of YouMail so initially I am more inclines to refer people to that option at least initially.





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No offense intended; sorry if I came off gruff. The beauty of Android is that there are a lot of solutions out there.

Sliced from my RAZR

 

[FoxKat]

No offense intended; sorry if I came off gruff. The beauty of Android is that there are a lot of solutions out there.

Sliced from my RAZR

Cool. Just didn't want it to escalate and I've seen some pretty docile posts get caught up in a flaming war for no good reason (not that there ever was a good reason to flame, mind you). I checked out Google Voice tonight upon your suggestion and watched all the short videos. I gotta say it's definitely headed in the right direction. I do like quire a bit of it but as I said before the learning curve is a good bit longer at least for me.

This is the same reason I recommended TextFree. It's simple and stands alone making it a quick solution for just that purpose.

I will spend some time on the website for Google Voice tomorrow and may come away having an even stronger positive opinion then.



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