Voicemail set up in the past
Remember answering machines? Those bulky gadgets you connected to your phone to record messages on cassette tapes whenever you couldn’t take a call. It seems like such a long time ago – the days of having to physically jot down caller’s info and messages just to keep track of missed calls.
Today, technology has come a long way with digital voicemail, which don’t require any additional hardware. Voicemail systems come with a ton of features today, including caller ID, call forwarding, and so on.
And if you’re an Optus customer, you’re not only going to benefit from great coverage that spans across 98.5 percent of the population. You’ll also have access to a feature-packed voicemail system that can be set up easily on your mobile phone in a matter of minutes.
In this post, we’ll walk you through the process of setting up voicemail on the Optus Network, as well as changing your voicemail options. Read on to find out.
Setting up voicemail on Optus Network
There are 3 ways to set up your Optus voicemail on your mobile phone. You can activate your Optus voicemail using your My Optus app, My Account, or over the phone. We believe the fastest way to get your Optus voicemail set up is by doing it over the phone because you’ll have to access your mailbox there anyway, but we’ll cover all three options so you can decide what works best for you.
3 ways to set up your Optus voicemail on your mobile phone
Before setting up your voicemail, you’ll have to activate it. There are 3 ways to do so with Optus:
- My Optus app
Open your My Optus app and log in. Tap the Service tab at the bottom of the screen > click Settings > tap Voicemail and call diversions > select when you want calls to be diverted to voicemail (choose between All Calls, Busy, No Answer, Off/No Coverage) > select Voicemail. - My Account
Log in to your Optus My Account online. Select your service > click Settings > choose Call diversions > choose Your voicemail is on > click Save. - Phone call
Dial 1509 and tap send to call. When prompted, choose Voicemail > choose Activate.
After activating your voicemail, you’ll receive an SMS with your default PIN to access your voicemail. Use that default PIN to set up your voicemail box via call – here’s how:
- Dial 321 on your mobile and hit send to place the call. Record your personalised greeting, which your callers will hear when they are diverted to voicemail > change your default PIN to one of your own, which can be up to 9 digits > complete the voicemail tutorial.
Now that your voicemail is set up, you can dial 321 to access it whenever you need to.
How to change voicemail options on Optus
You can make a number of changes to your Optus voicemail settings to suit your needs. We’ll cover the most useful options, but there will be many more which you can explore after getting the hang of your voicemail system.
- Change user greeting
If you’d like to record a new voicemail greeting, dial 321 on your mobile phone and hit send to place the call. When prompted, press 3 to change your voicemail greeting. If you’d like to access and explore the many other options Optus makes available, press 8 instead. - Change how you get notified about new voicemails
The recommended way to receive your voicemail notifications is through SMS Me, which notifies you of new voicemails via text messages at no cost. You can change this in your voicemail options by pressing 8 after calling 321.
However, there are other options for receiving notifications:
- Missed call service
With this option enabled, you’ll receive an audio recording of the voicemail via MMS so you can listen to it right away. Turn it on/off by sending the word ON or OFF via SMS to 159. You can also do this by calling 159 and following the prompts, or going into your Settings menu in My Account online. This is also a free service within Australia. - Optus Voice to Text
With this option enabled, your actual voicemail will be converted to a text message and sent to you via SMS. Turn it on/off by sending the word ON or OFF via SMS to 7746. You can also turn it on/off in the Settings menu in My Account online. This service comes at an additional monthly charge. - Optus Voice to MMS
With this option enabled, your voice mail will be sent to you as an audio file via MMS. To turn this option on/off, log in to My Account online, select the relevant service, and go to Settings > Call Diversions > Voicemail Settings > select Send voicemails as messages > Choose Optus Voice to MMS > click Save. This service comes at an additional monthly charge.
Summing up
Remember when we used to sit down twice a day with a pen and paper and run through the voicemails we had in our inbox? Times have changed. Voicemail today is really a secondary method of communication for most, behind the more convenient, polite and less intrusive text / SMS system.
Favoured by older Australians, voicemail still serves a purpose for the few times you’re making a legitimate call (as opposed to the seemingly never ending volume of spam calls which flood the mobile networks) and have to run to something else immediately.
When you’re changing your Optus voicemail message, remember to include some alternative methods of getting hold of you and to clearly state your preference. Not everyone will leave you a voicemail these days – cover your bases.