Direct-access voicemail with a visual interface is known as visual voicemail. Rather than the sequential listening required by conventional voicemail, such an interface provides a list of messages for playback, which may include a message transcription.

In this blog, I have discussed visual voicemail, its importance, and steps to set up a visual voicemail easily on Android and iPhone.

Visual voicemail allows you to view and listen to your voicemail messages (that you have received) in any order on your devices. You can navigate through your texts, choose those you would like to listen to, and delete those directly from your computer screen.

Visual voicemail gives us the ability to do the following:

• Messages can be sent and listened to in any sequence.
• Visually scroll through the texts.
• You can save, archive, or delete messages by touching the screen.
• Obtain message transcriptions
• Send voice messages as an email attachment or as a text message.

The masterpiece reinvention by Steve Jobs and YouMail

Apple's iPhone was the first mobile phone to promote this feature in 2007. YouMail was the first third-party, multi-platform cell phone-based visual voicemail service in 2007. The voicemail cloud storage was implied rather than the mobile carrier's network and made it accessible from any email or web browser.

Android voicemail 

The operating system of Android comes with a native VVM feature that allows you to display voicemail messages as text. You have to click or swipe over to voicemails by moving into the device dialer. You can see your voicemails.

Once you open each documented voicemail, you can see a Play button (to listen to the message), and the message's transcribed text. If you have an older version of Android, there may be a possibility that your service provider doesn't offer this feature, so you are open to downloading a third-party application.

iOS voicemail

Open the dialer app and press the voicemail icon in the bottom right-hand corner to access your iPhone's built-in visual voicemail. Either you'll be required to set up your visual voicemail inbox or be linked to an automatic voicemail system that only accepts audio messages. If the latter happens and your carrier does not have visual voicemail, your safest choice is to download a third-party app.

Android – Google Voice

Google Voice provides you with a phone number for calling, messaging, and voicemail. The voicemail system's most important feature is that it transcribes reasonably well. You can also get the transcripts sent to you by email. For people who make many international calls, Google Voice is beneficial for those who frequently make international calls.

It all begins with a voice message to text conversion. Getting a stenographer on standby to translate each call on your answering machine into text is akin to converting voicemail to text. The voicemail invention to text technology is comparable to the alphabetic invention. The ability to convert voicemail to text makes the language more tangible. Text messages are, in a sense, tangible.

How do I activate Visual Voicemail Setup on an iPhone?

If your carrier supports Visual Voicemail, follow these measures to set it up:

• To access voicemail, open the Phone app and select the Voicemail tab.
• Set Up Now should be selected.
• After that, tap Done to create a voicemail address.
• To double-check your password, type it in again, then tap Done.
• Choose between Custom and Default. You can record a new greeting if you choose Custom.

How do I activate visual voicemail on Android?

We assumed the device to be Samsung in this case. There is less variation in the steps in Android, however.

• From the home screen, swipe up.
• Choose the Voicemail application from the drop-down menu.
• Enable access to the Phone, SMS, and Contacts. This is mandatory and definitely needed for Visual Voicemail Setup.
• Accept the Visual Voicemail Terms and Conditions after reviewing them.
• Once you get acquainted with the Visual Voicemail interface, select Continue.

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I can't imagine going back to regular voicemail after years of using visual voicemail on my computer for the following reasons:

• To find a particular message, quickly scroll through your messages. Most conventional voicemail systems require you to listen to each message in your mailbox in order, beginning with the oldest. Visual voicemails allow you to quickly scan a message.
• The ability to send yourself or someone else voice messages via email or text. This is useful if you want to send a particular message to someone without having to describe it to them. Sure, simple (non-visual) voicemail will forward messages, but it's probably more complicated.
• You don't have to listen to the messages to get what you need from them if you use transcription. The message above is an excellent example: a quick glance revealed that it was about a pending meeting, and I just needed to read the first three lines.
• There's no need to dial a phone number to receive your calls. It might sound ridiculous, but I used to despise having to do this and would put it off until my inbox was completely full. That is no longer the case.

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The robocall nuisance is growing parallel to this pandemic and other prevalent cyber threats (such as sim swapping). Many third-party applications resolve this problem, such as YouMail.

Please note that we can't speak on behalf of any third party primarily due to liability and insurance issues. However, the best is to read or check the reviews and research online on the unique features offered by the product. You can always contact our BDMs or consultants at Efani; they would be more than happy to secure your online presence and number against sim swapping threats.