We tested Visual Voicemail, and here’s what we think

Community Manager

04-24-2024

No time to listen to voicemail? Now you can save time with Visual Voicemail! We tested this paid feature, available on iPhone and Android devices, which allows voicemails to be displayed as a list so you can deal with them faster. Is it worth the cost? Read on to find out.

What we love about Visual Voicemail

Although the feature looks different on an iPhone (part of the Telephone app) and on an Android (a separate app to download), the way you use it is very similar on both devices. We tested both versions and were particularly impressed with these perks:

You don’t need to listen to the greeting and instructions that you hear with standard Voicemail.
You can see all your messages at once. New messages are highlighted.
It’s almost impossible to miss a new message. On iPhone, a dot on the Voicemail icon shows the number of messages you haven’t listened to. On Android, a coloured dot shows that new messages are waiting. And in both cases, you can get a notification whenever there's a new message.
What we love most is that you can listen to your messages in any order. Managing your voicemails is as easy as managing your emails!
Navigating in the message is a cinch. Simply drag the playhead to the right to move forward or to the left to go backwards. Very useful when you need to take notes as you listen (press pause, and there you go!).
After or even during playback, you can call the person back by simply pressing the phone icon (on Android).
Simply press a button to delete or share a message, even while you’re listening to it.
Visual Voicemail doesn’t override standard Voicemail.

Good to know

Here are a few things to keep in mind:

Visual Voicemail is a paid add-on. You can add it to your mobile plan for $5 a month.
To use the feature, you must have a compatible device. If you have an iPhone, the minimum operating system requirement is iOS 8. If you have an Android, check the list of compatible devices.
Visual Voicemail uses mobile data, even when your device is connected to a Wi-Fi network. Depending on your usage and the amount of data included in your plan, you may want to track how much data you’re using.