Voicemail Basic Functions

The first time you call into the voice mail system, you will be asked to set up your mailbox. Detailed voice instructions will guide you through each of these steps. Don’t worry if you miss hearing an instruction — each one will be repeated.

1.  Dial 3-9999 to access the voice mail system or dial your own telephone number to reach your personal voicemail box.
The prompts will lead you through the following steps.

2.  Press * (star).

3.  Dial your personal 5-digit mailbox account number.
Your 5-digit mailbox account number the last 5-digits of your 7-digit telephone number.

4.  Enter your starter password.
The starter password for all new accounts is “BostonU”

5.  Wait for the prompt that begins “Since this is the first time you’re accessing your mailbox account”

6.  Record your name.
The system will prompt you to press 1 to record your name.  Simply state your name when prompted and press # (pound) — don’t include any other message at this point.

7.  Record your personal greeting.
The system will prompt you to press 1 to record your personal greeting.  Callers will hear this recording when you don’t answer. Record your greeting when prompted and press # (pound).

8.  Create a pass code.
Your pass code must be a minimum of six digits and can not contain common or repeating sequences of numbers.  Choose a number you won’t forget.

9.  Your account is now set up and you will be returned to the main menu.

10.  Record your busy greeting. (Optional)
Callers will hear this recording when you are on the phone. For example, “This is Dan Jones. I’m currently on the line. Please leave your name, number, and a detailed message, and I’ll return your call as soon as possible. To speak to someone immediately, press zero now.”  From the main menu, press 9, 1, 3.  The system will prompt you to press 1 to record your busy greeting.   Record your greeting when prompted and press # (pound).

Accessing Voicemail from your Cisco VoIP phone

To access your voicemail from your desk phone or another phone on-campus:

1. Press the message button or dial 3-9999.
2. When prompted, enter your six-digit Voice Mail PIN and press #.

Accessing  Voicemail from off Campus

You can call Voicemail from off-campus. To access your voicemail:

1. Dial 617-353-9999 to call Voicemail or dial your own telephone number to reach your personal voicemail box.
2. Hit *
3. Enter your campus 5-digit extension followed by #.
4. When prompted, enter your six-digit Voice Mail PIN and press #.

You can check new and saved messages in your voicemail mailbox by phone. You can save or delete messages during message playback or after you listen to an entire message.

1. Call the voicemail system and and log in using the Calling Voicemail steps above.
   • Voicemail system number: 3-9999 on-campus or 617-353-9999 off-campus
2. NEW messages will start to play automatically.
3. Follow the prompts to listen to and manage your messages.

Email delivery of voicemail messages is the new standard for the updated voicemail system.

To turn off this option, please contact the IT Help Center by email ithelp@bu.edu or calling (617) 353-HELP (4357) .

Unified Messaging for Office 365 accounts

• Voicemail message status will sync across all devices for faculty and staff using a Boston University Office 365 email account. A status change on one device will carry over to all other devices using the same account.
• Saving emailed voice messages to a different folder within your email inbox will remove them from your voicemail inbox

SMTP Email delivery of voicemail message for non-Office 365 accounts

• Voicemail messages will be delivered as email messages with a copy sent to your voice mailbox.
• You will need to access your voice mailbox through the telephone or Web Inbox to delete messages.
• If you would like to only receive messages as email, please contact the IT Help Center by email ithelp@bu.edu or calling (617) 353-HELP (4357)

To record a new greeting to replace your current greeting:

1. Call the voicemail system and log in with your 5 digit extension and PIN
   • Voicemail system number: 3-9999 on-campus or 617-353-9999 off-campus
2. At the Main menu, press “4” for Setup Options, then press “1” for Greetings.
3. After Voicemail plays your current greeting, follow the prompts to re-record it.
   • To pause or resume recording, press 8. To end recording, press #.

When you turn on your alternate greeting, you can set a date and time for it to turn off or you can leave it on indefinitely. To activate or deactivate your alternate greeting:

1. Call the voicemail system and log in with your 5 digit extension and PIN
   • Voicemail system number: 3-9999 on-campus or 617-353-9999 off-campus
2. At the Main menu, press “4” for Setup Options, then press “1” for Greetings.
3. Press # to skip hearing your current greeting.
4. Follow the prompts to turn your alternate greeting on or off.
5. If you turned on your alternate greeting, follow the prompts to set when you want it turned off or to leave it on indefinitely.

When you turn on a personal greeting, you specify how long you want it available for use. Voicemail will play the greeting in the applicable situation until the date and time that you specified, and then the greeting is automatically turned off. For example, you can set your alternate greeting to stop playing on the day that you return from a vacation.

You can also set a greeting to play indefinitely, which is useful when you turn on the busy or closed greeting.

You select from one of the following sources to specify what callers hear when a greeting is on:

Action	Description
Re-record This Greeting	Voicemail plays a greeting that you record. *Note: Recording a greeting does not turn it on.
System Greeting	Voicemail plays a prerecorded greeting along with your recorded name (for example, “Sorry, <your name> is not available”). If you do not have a recorded name, Voicemail uses text-to-speech to read your display name instead. When a greeting is on but not recorded, Voicemail plays a prerecorded system greeting.

You can turn off a greeting at any time. When a greeting is off, Voicemail no longer plays it, though the recording is not erased.