Voice mail operation from an analog station
The ESI system will provide accurate and timely messages. Others will become more comfortable leaving you voice messages if you pick-up and respond to your messages promptly.
Personal greetings
Initially, your mailbox has a generic greeting: “You have reached the mailbox for extension [xxx]; dial zero to reach the operator or begin recording at the tone.” You can record up to three different personal greetings in your own voice indicating your availability to return calls.
Examples:
Greeting 1: “Hi, this is [name]. I’m away from my desk or on the phone. Dial zero for the operator, or leave me a detailed message at the tone and I’ll respond to it promptly.”
Greeting 2: “Hi, this is [name]. I’m out of the office. You may dial 1 2 2 for my assistant or, if you prefer, you may leave me a message at the tone — I’ll check in regularly — or, if it’s important, either dial 4 to reach me on my cell phone or dial 2 to leave me an urgent message that will page me automatically.”
Greeting 3: “Hi, this is [name]. I’m away from my desk at the moment. To have me paged, dial 3. To reach the operator, dial zero. Otherwise, leave your name and phone number at the beep so I can return your call.”
Note:
These sample greetings refer to certain features which may not be activated for your extension; consult your System Administrator for additional information, if necessary.
Following is a list of options that you may wish to include in your personal greetings:
| Option | Instruction |
| 0 | To reach the operator |
| 1 | To skip directly to the record tone |
| 2 | To mark this message as urgent (see “Urgent Messages”) |
| 3 | To page (internally) the person for whom the caller is leaving a voice mail message. |
| 4 | To perform off-premises “reach-me.”* |
| 8 | To the main greeting (if your system is using the built-in auto attendant) |
| XXX | [An extension number of another user] |
Note:
Option 3 is available only when personal greeting 3 has been recorded; and option 4 available only when personal greeting 2 has been recorded.
Shortcut:
When leaving a message in another mailbox, press 1 during the personal greeting to advance directly to the record tone without having to listen to the remainder of the greeting.
You can change the personal greetings as often as necessary by recording over a previously recorded personal greeting.
Warning:
Deleting your personal greeting won’t revert to the initial default greeting, but it will turn off your mailbox.
Message waiting indication
If you have new messages, you will hear a short prompt (“You have new messages”), followed by internal dial tone whenever you lift the handset to place a call. You can choose to retrieve your messages then, or place the call.
Note:
The ESI system doesn’t support any visual message-waiting indication on an analog station.
Retrieving messages
You can pick up messages from your station, when away from the office or from another user’s ESI phone.
- Lift the handset, and then dial ∗ followed by your extension number. If calling from the outside, at the main greeting, press and enter your extension number or have the operator transfer you by pressing VOICE MAIL ∗ and then entering your extension number.
- If required, enter your password.
The ESI system will announce the number of new and old messages and will start playback of messages with the oldest new message and continue until all messages and recordings have played.
Voice-prompted instructions will be played at the end of each message. Once you’ve learned these prompts (see the chart, “Functions available during analog station voice mail message retrieval,” below) you can proceed more rapidly by pressing one of the following keys any time during the message or during a prompt.
Functions available during analog station voice mail message retrieval
Note:
Functions tinted gray, below, either change or aren’t available when you’re using an ESI phone (see also the chart showing voice mail functions from an ESI phone).
| Key | Function | Description |
| 1 | Pause | Pauses for one minute or until 1 is pressed again. |
| 2 | Hear time/date | Pauses the message, plays the time/date of when the message was left and resumes. |
| 3 | Reply | Replies to the originator of a message (if from a user in the system). Record your reply at the tone; press 1 to stop. You will be returned to your mailbox and the original message. |
| 4 | Back up (rewind) | When pressed during message playback, rewinds four seconds for each key press. If pressed after the message has finished, it returns you to the beginning of the message. |
| 5 | Access user programming | Accesses user programming menu. |
| 6 | Move | Moves a copy of the message to other users’ mailboxes. You may move the copy with or without an introduction. After the move, the system returns you to your mailbox and the original message. |
| 7 | Delete | Deletes the message from the mailbox (see “Message Recycle Bin”). |
| 8 | Main greeting | Goes to the main greeting (if your system is using the built-in auto attendant). |
| 9 | Save | Saves the message (it will be played as an old message the next time messages are picked up). |
| 9 9 | Save as new | Skips over a new message and leaves it as a new message (i.e., it will be played as a new message the next time you pick up messages). You must press the 9 key twice within two seconds. |
| 0 | Operator | Transfers you to the operator. |
| # | Leave a message | Lets you record a message in one or more mailboxes. At the prompt, enter the desired mailbox number. Press # and then enter up to 65 mailbox numbers, using the phone’s dialpad and programmable feature keys. Mailboxes in a department count toward the maximum of 65. |
| ∗ | To disconnect | Always press before hanging up (if you press it during playback of a message, the message and any other unsaved messages will be saved). |
Retrieving messages from another user’s ESI phone
Press VOICE MAIL ∗ and dial your extension number. Follow the procedures described previously.
