Plan requirement
| Subscription | Any plan |
| Access | Admin |
Voicemail turns a missed call into a ticket with a recording, which is what stops phone being the channel where things vanish.
Set it up
- Open Admin Center, then Channels, then Talk and email, then Talk.
- On the Lines tab, edit the number and open its Voicemail tab.
- Check that Voicemail is on. It is on by default, so the real work here is the next step.
- Choose the Greeting (voicemail on).
- On the Talk Settings tab, set the thresholds that send callers there: Maximum queue size and Maximum queue wait time.
- Call the number and leave a message to confirm a ticket appears.
Callers also reach voicemail when no agents are available, and by pressing 1 where your greeting offers it. That option is not automatic: it comes from the default Available agents greeting, which invites the caller to press 1 to leave a message. Replace that greeting with one of your own and the shortcut goes with it. Out of hours is handled by the business hours on the Routing tab, which follow your Support schedule.
Write the greeting carefully
Three things: that you are not available, when you will get back to them, and what to say. Asking for a name, number and order reference means the agent can often resolve it without a second call.
Keep it short. Callers who wanted a person are already slightly disappointed.
How long a caller waits first
A call is offered to one agent for 30 seconds before it moves to the next. Multiply that by the number of agents it tries and you have the wait a caller sits through before your queue thresholds send them to voicemail.
That 30 seconds is only adjustable on Talk Enterprise, through the call offering time limit. On every other plan it is fixed, so the levers you do have are the queue size and wait time above.
Voicemail should not be the normal experience
It is a safety net for out of hours and unexpected peaks. If most callers reach it during working hours, that is a staffing signal rather than a configuration one.
Answer them like tickets
A voicemail becomes a ticket with the recording attached, and it sits in the queue like anything else. That means it can be routed, measured, and left too long.
Agree how quickly voicemails are returned. Somebody who left a message expects a call back sooner than an email would be answered.
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