Skype Voicemail

Skype Voicemail answers phone calls or PC-to-PC calls for you when you are away from your PC, when you are offline, or when you simply don’t want to take a call.

The caller can leave you a message, and you can listen to the message on your PC within the Skype application.

An additional use of Skype Voicemail is that you are able to send someone a voice message without actually calling them. You right-click your contact in Skype, choose the “Send Voicemail” option, then Skype records your message and sends it to the contact. This is useful if you don’t want to disturb the other person or if you don’t wish to start a conversation with the person at this time.

Skype Voicemail Prerequisites

To use Skype Voicemail:

• You need a PC with broadband internet access.
• You need Skype installed on the PC (this is a free download and you can see how to install it on our Skype page).
• Either you or the other person need a Skype Voicemail subscription or a SkypeIn number. If you want to take messages from normal phones, get a SkypeIn number – Voicemail comes free with that. To see pricing for a SkypeIn number, and to buy if you wish, click here. To see pricing for a Skype Voicemail subscription, and to buy if you wish (not needed if you buy a SkypeIn number) click here.

Setting up Skype Voicemail

Once you have everything as described in the list above, follow these steps to start sending and receiving voicemail messages on your PC:

• In Skype, go to Tools > Voicemail… on the main Skype menu.
• Make sure the box Send unanswered calls to Skype Voicemail is checked.
• Click the Advanced settings link to the right of the “Send unanswered calls to Skype Voicemail” checkbox to tell Skype when you want Voicemail answering to take calls for you.
• Click OK in the Advanced Settings window and in the main Options window.
• If you wish to have Skype Voicemail sent to your Outlook inbox, click here for further instructions.

Skype Voicemail features

After you have followed the steps above, this is what Skype will now allow you to do:

• If you don’t answer a call within the number of seconds specified in the Advanced Settings dialog above, the caller will hear a recorded message and will be able to leave a message for you.
• If a call comes in and you click the Hang Up button, the caller will hear a recorded message (same message as above) and will be able to leave a message for you
• If your PC is switched off, or if you are not logged into Skype when a caller tries to call you, the caller will hear a recorded message (same message as above) and will be able to leave a message for you
• If you make a call to someone else and they are unavailable, you will be able to leave a message for them (even if they haven’t purchased a Skype Voicemail subscription themselves).
• If you want to leave someone a message, even if they are available (i.e. you don’t want to talk to them right now but you do want to send them a voice message), you can right-click their contact details in Skype and choose the Send Voicemail option.
• If you want to record your own message (rather than use the standard Skype recorded message), you can do so via Tools > Voicemail…. (Click the Record button near the bottom of the window).

Integration with Outlook

Skylook is a powerful software integration with Skype & Microsoft Outlook which is developed by the creators of VodBurner. Skylook offers you these additional voicemail features if you use Outlook 2000/2002/XP/2003/2007. To find out more, click on the links:

• Voicemail messages in your Outlook inbox.
• Automatically forward Voicemails to any email address.
• Convert Voicemails to MP3 for manual forwarding and permanent storage.
• Manage follow-up for Voicemails.

Alternatives

Skylook offers an alternative that has some advantages and disadvantages in comparison to Skype Voicemail.

This alternative is an answering machine built into Outlook. Depending on what you want to achieve, you may find that the Skylook Answering Machine is a better fit for you, or you may find that you can make use of both Skype Voicemail and the Skylook Answering Machine.