the iPhone, you’re ready to graduate to some of its fancier tricks:
voicemail, sending text messages, using aT&T features like Caller
iD and Call Forwarding, and using a Bluetooth headset or car kit.
Visual Voicemail
Without a doubt, Visual Voicemail is one of the iPhone’s big selling points.
On the iPhone, you don’t dial in to check for answering-machine messages
people have left for you. You don’t enter a password. You don’t sit through
some Ambien-addled recorded lady saying, “You have...17...messages. To hear
your messages, press 1. When you have finished, you may hang up...”
Instead, whenever somebody leaves you a message, the phone wakes up,
and a message on the screen lets you know who the message is from. You
also hear a sound, unless you’ve turned that option off (page 245) or turned
on the Silence switch (page 12).
That’s your cue to tap HomeÆPhoneÆVoicemail. There, you see all your messages
in a tidy chronological list. (The list shows the callers’ names if they’re in
your Contacts list, or their numbers otherwise.) You can listen to them in any
order—you’re not forced to listen to your three long-winded friends before discovering
that there’s an urgent message from your boss. It’s a game-changer.
Setup
To access your voicemail, tap Phone on the Home screen, and then tap
Voicemail on the Phone screen.
The very first time you visit this screen, the iPhone prompts you to make up a
numeric password for your voicemail account—don’t worry, you’ll never have
to enter it again—and to record a “Leave me a message” greeting.
You have two options for the outgoing greeting:
Default. If you’re microphone-shy, or if you’re someone famous and you
don’t want stalkers and fans calling just to hear your famous voice, use
this option. It’s a prerecorded, somewhat uptight female voice that says,
“Your call has been forward to an automatic voice message system. 212-
661-7837 is not available.” Beep!
Custom. This option lets you record your own voice saying, for example,
“You’ve reached my iPhone. You may begin drooling at the tone.” Tap
Record, hold the iPhone to your head, say your line, and then tap Stop.
Check how it sounds by tapping Play.
Then just wait for your fans to start leaving you messages!
