Setting it up

At the very least, you should choose a pin code for your answerphone. Some networks set a default pin, which means that anyone who knows the default can get access to your messages. Other networks don't set a pin, so that you can only access your answerphone from your mobile, which may not always be convenient.

You may also want to record a personal greeting so that people know they've reached the right place. For more information about how to do this, see the Answerphone By Network pages.

How do I know I have a message?

Orange and One2one are able to switch on an icon to tell you that there is a message waiting, normally a small tape spool icon, or an envelope-and-sound symbol. Some Vodafone and Cellnet handsets support this as well. See your handset user guide for details.

If your phone is on a Cellnet or Vodafone, you may find that the answerphone system rings you to tell you that you have messages waiting. You can change this so that you get an SMS message instead, even if it cannot switch the special icon on or off. See the Answerphone By Network page for more information.

How do I listen to my messages?

You call your answerphone number, and follow the voice prompts. To make this easier, there is information about the main networks' answerphone systems on the Answerphone By Network pages.

What calls go to answerphone?

By default, any call that does not reach you goes to your answerphone service. You can control this by setting or removing diverts to the answerphone number. See the diverts page for more details of diverts, and the GSM codes page for how to set and amend diverts.

On many networks, there is an autodivert to answerphone set by default: if you set a divert, the answerphone divert is overwritten, and if you cancel all diverts, the divert to answerphone is reinstated. Some people find this useful. Others don't.

If you ring Customer Services and ask for the autodivert to be cancelled, they may arrange for you to have full control of the diverts. You then set (or cancel) diverts to your answerphone number as you would set any other divert. See the Answerphone By Network pages for the number to divert to. Be careful not to ask Customer Services to disable your answerphone itself (unless that's what you want).

Some networks do not let you cancel the automatic divert to Answerphone. Unfortunately, this is usually the case with networks that don't permit call diversion, so the alternative of diverting to a non-existent number is not available either.

Rejecting an incoming call

When your phone is ringing, and you are not in a position to talk to that caller, most handsets allow you to send the call to your answerphone by briefly pressing the [END] button. Press and hold the [END] button to reject the call altogether, sometimes giving the caller the Number Unobtainable tone (depending on the handset you are using).

See also : [ Answerphone By Network ] : [Wildfire ] : [Message Services ]

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