Outgoing voice-mail greeting
snowtigga
Enthusiast - Level 2

I upgraded my phone today from a Samsung Intensity II to an iPhone 5c.  I finally joined the smartphone revolution.

I've got an iPad 2, an iPad Mini, and several iPod devices so I'm no stranger to Apple but this is the first device that has voice-mail.

I had no idea that my Verizon voice-mail would be terminated and an Apple voice-mail would be instituted which means my greeting went away too.

I had one saved message from several years ago from my daughter when she was about 16 (she's now 22) that I kept re-saving and my greeting was that of my son when he was about 4-5 saying "leave mama a message please" (he's now 15).

Are those accounts simply deleted when a new phone is purchased and activated or are they placed onto a server somewhere as an archive or a backup? I've read that in some cases there is a possibility of two voice-mail accounts still existing.  I had yet to go through the steps to activate the voice-mail on the phone because I'm afraid I'll wipe out something in hopes that maybe it's still there.

It would have even been nice if maybe the Verizon Associate had said "hey, FYI, here's a few things to be aware of if you're upgrading to an iPhone...."

Has anyone gone through this and been able to pull back their "old" voice-mail greeting or saved messages? Or have you just found that you're out of luck and had to move on?

Thanks for any insight or advice,

/Kim

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Re: Outgoing voice-mail greeting
Ann154
Community Leader
Community Leader

The voicemail on Apple devices is handled by Apple.  In the voicemail FAQs on the Verizon Wireless website and in the phone setup you got with the iPhone it is noted that you would lose the access to the voicemail you previously used.  Verizon Wireless does offer a third party option for you to archive your saved voicemail.

Once you activated the iphone, any of your old voicemails are gone.

A little of research prior to purchase would have saved you a lot of trouble either here on the community or elsewhere.

I'm most definitely NOT a VZW employee. If a post answered your question, please mark it as the answer.

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Re: Outgoing voice-mail greeting
GeorgeCT
Contributor - Level 2

Ann154 wrote:

The voicemail on Apple devices is handled by Apple.  In the voicemail FAQs on the Verizon Wireless website and in the phone setup you got with the iPhone it is noted that you would lose the access to the voicemail you previously used.  Verizon Wireless does offer a third party option for you to archive your saved voicemail.

Once you activated the iphone, any of your old voicemails are gone.

A little of research prior to purchase would have saved you a lot of trouble either here on the community or elsewhere.

Wow, I never knew that buying an iPhone would do that to your voice mail (that's kind of sucky).

Is that only with an iPhone?

Does that happen when upgrading to a Blackberry, Windows or Android phone?

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Re: Outgoing voice-mail greeting
Ann154
Community Leader
Community Leader

It only happens when switching to an Apple phone or switching from an Apple phone to another phone type (android, blackberry, windows, or basic).

http://support.verizonwireless.com/support/how_to_use/iphone_vvm.html?lid=sayt&sayt=iphone%20voice*

I'm most definitely NOT a VZW employee. If a post answered your question, please mark it as the answer.

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Re: Outgoing voice-mail greeting
snowtigga
Enthusiast - Level 2

"A little of research prior to purchase would have saved you a lot of trouble either here on the community or elsewhere."

I didn't post my question to have someone give me a scolding on what doing my research could have saved me.

As I said, I had no idea that changing to an Apple iPhone meant that my voice mail would now be served by Apple and that my Verizon voice mail service that I have had for 10+ years would be wiped out as soon as the iPhone was activated. All the i-devices I've had never had voice mail and it never once crossed my mind that the voice mail I've had for ten years would change since it was always a back end thing.

After posting the question, I did some more digging and found the FAQ but I couldn't find any way to come back and delete my question.  I saw the option for the third-party to possibly retrieve the Verizon voice-mail and will look into it since those messages were of great sentimental value to me.

I see both sides of the coin and I understand both sides of the situation since I work in an industry which supports the user and the business.  The associate who sold us the iPhone had the personality of a brick and I still think that it is a worthwhile gesture to mention to people who are moving from a Verizon device to an iPhone that voice mail will go away.

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Re: Outgoing voice-mail greeting
Ann154
Community Leader
Community Leader

The turnover of the sales reps at the stores can be quite high. As customers we should be educating ourselves to the kinds of devices are available, their features and the plans offered by Verizon Wireless. If everyone spent a little bit more time of researching these kinds of purchases the shock of finding about lost voicemails to the upgrade to the plan changes that have been implemented since the last cell phone purchase two years ago, I think there wouldn't be near the number of people on this community complaining about facts that were readily available to them.

As for that third party option, I highly doubt even they can retrieve the voicemails. They can only access your current voicemail system, and the old stuff is gone.

I'm most definitely NOT a VZW employee. If a post answered your question, please mark it as the answer.

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Re: Outgoing voice-mail greeting
snowtigga
Enthusiast - Level 2

Reiterating - I wasn't looking to be chastised for not doing my research.  I know full well what I should have done before I walked in the store but, again, it honestly never crossed my mind to even think of such a thing because I am a Verizon customer and I walked into a Verizon store to upgrade my Verizon phone on my Verizon service. I've had Nokia phones, LG phones, Samsung phones, Motorola phones and now I have an Apple phone. In my eyes, that's no different than owning a different make of car even if my newest car is an electronic ignition when the rest needed a key.

I would venture to bet that the vast majority of people who have gone from a "dumb" phone to a "smart" phone are uninformed consumers who are trying to keep up with the technology rat race. Of that vast majority, most don't know what their smartphone is capable of doing, and I would guess that even more of those folks had their kids show them how to text, create their contacts, download apps, etc. etc.  I'm not in the vast majority that needs help with everything because I know my way around an i-device but I admit that I didn't go read the FAQ to find out that my voice-mail is now being hosted by Apple because, again, everything I've done with the phones I've had over the last 10+ years with my VERIZON service has been in-house with VERIZON. Suddenly, I'm "outsourced" to Apple for voice-mail.

So, yes, it upsets me that those voice-mails are gone because they were of my kids from a long time ago and I can't get that back.  Yes, I'll get over it and, yes, I fault myself for not somehow making sure I had those saved along with pictures, and texts, and sounds even though I've never once had to do that before with all the phone changes I've done in the past. But yes, it seems ridiculous to me that the "old" voice-mail couldn't be saved off on some server for "X" days when the iPhone gets activated because I've read the posts - I know I'm not the only one who has run into this situation.

As for the high turnover at Verizon, It's not my fault or my problem.  The ones who are there and who want to go the extra mile could certainly do so whether they have been working there a month or 10 years. Not saying they're obligated to go the extra mile but in an age where excellent (I'd even take good sometimes) Customer Service is such a rarity, it would have definitely been a nice thing to see.

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Re: Outgoing voice-mail greeting
Lacie_Shipman1

Snowtigga,

      Because it is a new system with the iPhone. You won't be able to get that voicemail setting back. If you go back to your old phone you will have them but because the voicemail is set up different on the iPhone it is impossible to get your old greeting or your saved message from your previous phones.

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Re: Outgoing voice-mail greeting
Ann154
Community Leader
Community Leader

Lacie_Shipman1 wrote:

Snowtigga,

      Because it is a new system with the iPhone. You won't be able to get that voicemail setting back. If you go back to your old phone you will have them but because the voicemail is set up different on the iPhone it is impossible to get your old greeting or your saved message from your previous phones.

Even if the OP reactivated their previous non-iphone, they will have to set-up their voicemail again just like a new customer. They won't have access to anything from the previous Verizon Wireless voicemail inbox nor the Apple voicemail inbox.

I'm most definitely NOT a VZW employee. If a post answered your question, please mark it as the answer.

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