Voicemail with an Android phone: How does it work? Apps?

[dananielsen]

Sorry to necro this thread, but I just tried setting up a free phone line number to use as a voicemail and it works FANTASTICALLY (as a Canadian user).

The only thing I wanted to add is that you have to download another app to listen to the voicemails called Remote Wave. Now when I click on the voicemail attachments in my email, I can listen to them from my phone using Remote Wave.

This is great. Rogers isn't getting that extra few dollars from me!

 

[Nathanr]

I got it forward properly from my captivate to my free online number, but let's say that number is from out of my local area, will the forwarded number accrue long distance charges for the people leaving me voice mails?

 

[mjschmidt]

I got it forward properly from my captivate to my free online number, but let's say that number is from out of my local area, will the forwarded number accrue long distance charges for the people leaving me voice mails?

I would want to know this also. How does the freephoneline.ca thing work? If it's free, how do they make money? Are they using the data from my recorded phone messages in some way?

 

[bhgandhi1986]

Sorry to necro this thread, but I just tried setting up a free phone line number to use as a voicemail and it works FANTASTICALLY (as a Canadian user).

The only thing I wanted to add is that you have to download another app to listen to the voicemails called Remote Wave. Now when I click on the voicemail attachments in my email, I can listen to them from my phone using Remote Wave.

This is great. Rogers isn't getting that extra few dollars from me!

I've set up the voicemail and it worked for me too. But does anyone know if you forward the calls to your phone if rogers charges you long distance billing? I would hate to have to give out two cell phone numbers (one being used for voicemail and the other to talk with people)

Thanks.

 

[tsagar]

I get the feeling the OP is looking more for an "Answering Machine" type app for his android rather than a "voice mail" app.

Which I dont believe would work properly, because in order for your phone to do that, it would have to answer the phone. I suppose it might work, if the app set the phone to auto answer, auto muted the mic upon answering and was set to record the call. The only thing left would be to dump the recorded message to the SD card and add in a few bells and whistles like new message alerts.

Hmm maybe it is doable. I dont see a huge market for it other than saving a few bucks for voicemail in countrys where its not free with the plan.

Hope this does not come as a blast from the past. The fact is, I just acquired an Android phone.

Mine is a cheap Chinese made phone. However, unlike its much talked about cousins, this one comes with two slots for sim. Both the numbers function at the same. You can now imagine how this discussion becomes relevant again.

Suppose I am engaged on sim 1 and there's a call on sim 2, I would like the second caller to be able to leave a message on the phone and not with the operator. This is especially helpful if you are roaming outside your home country. Roaming charges, as everyone knows, are designed to make users go bankrupt.

Now that two years have elapsed since this thread started, I am hopeing someone would have developed such an app.

Thanks

 

[LinuxGuru1337]

Why is there still no app for this? How simple is this? If the user does not answer the call the app answers the call, plays an audio file, records a new audio file and Caller ID if available and then puts a notification of a missed call on the top bar. Don't forward to the 3rd party, don't forward to a different number to be recorded some place else and retrieved later, don't make an Internet connection and upload the audio, don't go out the SMS network and to send a message back to the phone, don't record via the MIC. Just record the message locally.

It may need to root the phone. And for us Canadians that is no problem. We are victims of costly phone services. We pay large fees for little service. My service provider wants $6/month and will only let me have 3 voice-mail messages at a time.

I found "Auto Call Answer" that almost does this. It will play an MP3 message to tell the caller you can't answer the phone but that is all it does.

I hope someone finds or makes an app to do this.

 

[lolololol]

I too am looking for an answering machine app.

I want the phone to be an answering machine by itself.

I do not want to pay the service provider $5~15 per month for their voicemail service.

I do not want to forward calls to another number that will incur long distance charges.

I do not want freephone.ca or googlevoice or any other service that will require me to give all my friends a new number for them to call - which would also be long distance for them to call.

I totally understand the OP, and I want the same thing. I don't know why people can't understand what it is that we want.

I am replying just to show that there is still interest in developing this type of app, and hopefully someone will reply to this thread when there is one avilable.

 

[xmancool]

Regardless of all the complicated and lousy workarounds everybody's mentioning here, I'm surprised there's no frickin 2+2 app for this. THis is like mobile101. Even my crappy symbian phone had an offline voice-mail/call-recording feature.

No i don't want to pay extra to my operator for voice mail. NO, the one-country service that you love GV/YouMail doesn't work in mine and the rest of the 201 countries. I just want an app that records calls offline automatically if i don't pick up for like 30-40secs. GAWD, is that too much to ask. Android, as a new convert, i'm disappoint.

 

[MathiasS]

I just signed up for youmail on Rogers with no extra charges with this solution from their support site:

1) Cancel carrier's voice mail service.
2) Sign up for youmail online.
3) Download the app from their beta site, not Android Market [you'll need to download it to your phone somehow like usb or dropbox and enable non-Android Market apps]
4) Log in to youmail on the phone (I had to call the youmail registration number to get my pin)
5) Activate forward no answer ( *61*4168001111# )
Activate forward unreachable ( *62*4168001111# )
Activate forward busy ( *67*4168001111# ) if you don't have call waiting
6) Set up one of your MY5 numbers to 4168001111 to avoid charges when messages are being left (yes, they will charge you airtime for forwarding to an outside voice mail)

I don't know about other carriers, but this should work anywhere in Canada for Rogers.

 

[droncadin]

I just signed up for youmail on Rogers with no extra charges with this solution from their support site:

1) Cancel carrier's voice mail service.
2) Sign up for youmail online.
3) Download the app from their beta site, not Android Market [you'll need to download it to your phone somehow like usb or dropbox and enable non-Android Market apps]
4) Log in to youmail on the phone (I had to call the youmail registration number to get my pin)
5) Activate forward no answer ( *61*4168001111# )
Activate forward unreachable ( *62*4168001111# )
Activate forward busy ( *67*4168001111# ) if you don't have call waiting
6) Set up one of your MY5 numbers to 4168001111 to avoid charges when messages are being left (yes, they will charge you airtime for forwarding to an outside voice mail)

I don't know about other carriers, but this should work anywhere in Canada for Rogers.

seems the website isnt allowing any more downloads - too bad, was looking forward to trying this.