How to set up Basic Visual Voicemail

I have BASIC Visual Voicemail on my plan. I have checked this out on the features page of the my plan. But when I go to the Voice Mail app, it tells me that there will be a charge. I stopped in a VZW store (not a reseller) and they told me there was a charge for this on my bill. I have basic voice mail and want basic visual voicemail, but only seem to be able to set up Visual Voicemail. Is there anyone who can tell me how to set up BASIC Visual Voicemail?

Accepted answers

Verizon_Support

QuintK,

I am sorry for any confusion around the different voicemail options. Currently basic visual voicemail is not available on the Galaxy S4. This may change over time as the phone updates. Please keep an eye out for any software updates on your device to update to the most recent capabilities.

LindseyT_VZW

Follow us on Twitter @VZWSupport

All comments

Ann154

Which phone model do you have?

On smartphones, the Voicemail application is meant to be used with the Visual Voicemail system. For basic voicemail, you can either dial *86 and enter your password, long press the 1 key on the dialer to call voicemail, or save *86 to your contacts under a label called voicemail. There are a few other methods to access the voicemail system, but those are the main options.

SuzyQ

Based on your earlier post: "Free" Visual Voicemail - Visual Voicemail is an enhanced, and for a fee, voicemail service through Verizon. You need to accept the charges, and if you have a free trial as part of a promo, then the charges will not show up on the bill until a month later, or three months, or whatever the promo period is.

If you'd rather not pay at all, I recommend looking at You Mail (free version) or Google Voicemail - both offer more than Verizon's Basic Voicemail, and many of the features of Visual Voicemail, and they are free services. They do take a bit of setup, but I enjoy getting transcripts of my voice messages emailed to me, and I like the option of being able to download an mp3 of the voicemail. Call screening, Ditchmail (from You Mail) and other features are all free. Check them out.

dg43

There is a BASIC Visual Voicemail which if free. I finally found someone at a Verizon store who understood. It is confusing to set up because you go through the Visual Voicemail setup, then decline at the last step when it says there is a charge. It gives you notifications and a list of the voicemails but does not transcribe them. Apparently it is new when you update your operating system.

SuzyQ

As it turns out, there are 5 (yeah, FIVE) different versions of voicemail service with Verizon, and the way they are named is quite confusing.

Here's a summary:

Voice Mail Comparisons | Verizon Wireless

And yes, there is a Basic Visual Voicemail option that is free, and is included on smartphone plans for some phones. I don't know why they make things so confusing....

QuintK

dg43, how do I do this? From the phone, or via the website?

SuzyQ

QuintK - if you log on to your verizonwireless.com My Verizon account, and go to Change Features on the left side menu, scroll down to Voice mail option, what do you see? I have choices for thses:

Verizon Wireless Multiline.png

unknown

SuzyQ wrote:

As it turns out, there are 5 (yeah, FIVE) different versions of voicemail service with Verizon, and the way they are named is quite confusing.

Here's a summary:

Voice Mail Comparisons | Verizon Wireless

And yes, there is a Basic Visual Voicemail option that is free, and is included on smartphone plans for some phones. I don't know why they make things so confusing....

I think phones that get upgraded to handle VoLTE get the Basic visual voice mail upgrade. My LG G2 did. It removed basic voice mail and replaced it with basic visual voicemail.

dg43

SuzyQ: Thanks for the comparison chart. It sure would have been nice to have this when I was talking to the Verizonwireless customer service people on the toll-free call or at one of their own stores. Only at the second Verizonwireless store did someone even recognize the phrase Basic Visual Voicemail and how to get it.

dg43

First, you have to set it up on the website as SuzyQ shows below. Then, on your phone, you have to activate Visual Voicemail. Go through the steps until it asks you if you want to be charged $2.99 per month. Press the decline button and it will set up free Basic Visual Voicemail.