With the iOS 17, along with features like multiple timers and safari widgets, Apple also introduced Live voicemail. Live Voicemail will use speech recognition to transcribe audio to text in real time so you can read the message that the caller is leaving in real-time. If it’s important, you can pick up the call and continue the conversation. Here’s how you can enable and use the Live Voicemail on your iPhone.
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How to Enable and Use Live Voicemail on iPhone
Live Voicemail is available in the US only as of now and should be enabled by default. However, here’s how you can make sure live voicemail is enabled and use it.
Note: We have covered how to access Live Voicemail outside of the US below.
1. First, make sure that iPhone is running iOS 17 or above. Then open Settings app > Phone > Live Voicemail.
2. Here, make sure the Live Voicemail feature is enabled.
3. Now when you receive a call, you should see the Voicemail icon above the green call pickup icon. Tap on it.
4. This will start the voicemail and announce to the other person on the call that the call has been forwarded to Voicemail. They can leave their message after the beep to send the voicemail. Meanwhile, you will see a Waiting… text until the person on the call starts speaking.
5. As this is a live voicemail, you will see a transcription of the audio message in text format on your screen live.
6. If it’s important, you also have the option to pick up the call and continue the conversation.
7. Once they have sent the voicemail and ended the call, you can check all the previous voicemails from the Phone app. Open the Phone app on your iPhone and then tap on the Voicemail icon at the bottom right corner.
8. Here, you should see all the contacts that have sent you voicemails before along with the date and time.
9. Tap on a voicemail to open it. Here you can see the entire transcription of the voicemail.
10. Also, you can play the entire audio version of the voicemail. By default, it plays from speakerphone. By tapping the speaker icon, you can play the audio on the speakers too.
11. Along with that, you can also choose to call the person, delete the voicemail, or share it right from this page.
How to Use Voicemail With Focus Modes
With the above method, you have to manually enable voicemail for the other person to leave you a voicemail. However, you can also enable a focus mode that blocks the calls like DND or Work mode, which will automatically send the receiving calls to the voicemail.
If the voicemail is activated automatically, then you will not be able to check the transcription of the voicemail live as everything happens in the background without notifying you. Once you disable the focus mode, you can check the notifications and the voicemails in the Phone app.
To use voicemail with the Focus Mode, you need to set up and enable the focus mode that blocks the call. Here’s how you can do that.
1. Open the Settings app and select the Focus option.
2. Here select the focus mode in which you want to mute calls or create a new focus mode by clicking on the Plus icon at the top right corner.
3. On the Focus mode customization page, tap on Choose People or the People. Then make sure you have selected the Allow Notifications From. This will forward all the calls to voicemail automatically.
4. In case, you want to allow calls from some contacts without muting them, then tap on the Add people option and select the contacts that you want to let the call even when focus mode is turned on.
5. Finally, you just need to enable the said focus mode for the phone to automatically block the calls and send them to the voicemail. You can do that by swiping down the control center, tapping on the Focus option, and selecting the Focus mode.
Now all the calls you receive until you turn off the focus mode will be redirected to voicemails immediately. Later you can check the voicemails from the Phone app just like we discussed above.
How to Enable Live Voicemail Outside of the US
Live Voicemail is only available in the US. But there is an easy way to use Live Voicemail in any country. However, it will only work if your carrier supports voicemail. Though most carriers do support it around the world, there are many carriers that won’t. If your carrier does not support voicemail, you will still be able to access the Live Voicemail option, but the feature will not work in usage. That being said, here’s how you can enable Live Voicemail outside of the US and check if it is working or not.
1. Open the Settings app > General and then open Language and Region.
2. Here set English as your preferred language by tapping on the Add Language button. You can skip the step if English is already your preferred language.
3. Once done, select the Region option and set the United States as your region. This does not change payments to US dollars or act as a VPN. Rather you will be access US-only features on your iPhone.
4. Now make sure Live Voicemail is enabled by opening Settings app > Phone > Live Voicemail.
5. Now let’s test if your carrier supports the voicemail feature or not. To do that, call your iPhone from any other device. Then tap on the Voicemail option above the green call pickup icon.
6. If you can listen to robo voice saying to send a voicemail after the beep on the other phone, then your carrier supports the voicemail feature. Or else the feature isn’t supported by your carrier, so you can change the language and region back to your preferred settings.
Live Voicemail on iPhone
It’s fun to use voicemails again thanks to Live Voicemail. However, in our experience, speech-to-text conversion isn’t completely reliable just like on the Google Pixel’s Call Screening. Also, you can only read what the other person on the call is saying, but cannot reply unless you pick up the call.
On the call screen, you do have the option to reply and Google Assistant will speak on your behalf. While this is a good start, there is still room for improvement in the later updates.
Also, check out, How to Set Photo for Incoming Calls on iPhone.
