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What's required
to use voice mail?
Any faculty or staff member
with a phone line in a Harvard facility can use the voice mail system. In situations
where two or more co-workers share a phone line, we can set up multiple private
mailboxes on the same line.
Where a faculty or staff
member does not have a Harvard phone line, we can set up a voice mail box that
allows that individual to use the system.
Know
your service options
Faculty and staff can choose
from two basic levels of voice mail service - Standard and Expanded -- summarized
in the table below. Standard service will meet the needs of most individuals.
Expanded service is for users who receive more messages or longer messages or
who need to save their messages for a longer period of time.
Click on highlighted links
below to learn more about a service feature. Click here for voice
mail pricing information.
The Harvard voice mail system
offers flexible capabilities. If neither of these service options meets your
needs, your Customer Service analyst can recommend an alternative service plan
with custom pricing.
| Feature |
Standard
Service |
Expanded
Service |
| Greeting
length |
45
seconds |
3
minutes |
| Maximum
message length |
1
min. 40 secs. |
6
minutes |
| Total
messages you can store |
25 |
60 |
| Days
new messages are kept |
14
|
20
|
| Days
archived messages are kept |
10 |
21 |
| Outcalling
notification |
Yes |
Yes |
| Home/Guest/Secretary
mailbox |
Yes |
Yes |
| Number
of Group Distribution lists |
5 |
15 |
| Number
of destinations per list |
25 |
25 |
| Reply
to extension feature (8-8) |
Yes |
Yes |
Departments
In addition to the individual services
described above, departments can request specialized mailboxes or create a versatile
voice mail application to manage incoming calls and outgoing voice messages.
Click here for details on voice mail solutions for departments.
Signing up for
service
Faculty/staff requests for voice mail
service should be submitted by the designated telephone contact person for your
department. This ensures that the cost of service will be billed to your department's
33-digit billing code. The contact is also responsible for managing the design
and setup of department voice mail applications.
If you don't know the name of your contact
person, call Customer Service at (617) 495-8590 for the main campus or 432-1507
for the Longwood Medical Campus. We can provide you with the contact's name.
Taking
over an existing mailbox
IMPORTANT NOTE: If you are taking
over an existing voice mailbox from a previous owner, we recommend that your
department telephone contact ask for that mailbox to be deleted and re-installed.
In fact, to encourage this step, we waive the setup fees for users taking over
a mailbox from a previous owner.
Why? Every user customizes his/her voice
mailbox; for example, by recording a personal greeting, setting up passwords,
group distribution lists, and setting up an outcalling notification schedule.
In addition, the voice mail system's "spell-by-name" feature uses the mailbox
owner's name to route calls to that individual's mailbox.
All these attributes remain in place
when you take over the mailbox. Experience shows that this can result in a lot
of confusion and miscommunication. By asking for the mailbox to be deleted and
re-installed, you have the opportunity to customize the features to reflect
your preferences and work routines.
Setting
up your voice mailbox
After you sign up for voice mail service,
you will be sent an informational packet to your campus address, via mail. This
package includes your 5-digit voice mailbox number, a temporary password that
allows you to log in for the first time, and a printed Voice Mail User Guide.
You will need this information to initialize (set up) your voice mailbox. Follow
the steps below.
If you are calling from your campus phone:
- Dial 5-8168
- Listen for the prompt and then enter
your temporary password
If you are dialing from any other campus
phone or an off-campus phone:
- Dial 5-8168 from a campus phone or
617-(617) 495-8168 from any other TouchTone phone
- Press # to indicate you are a subscriber
- Enter your 5-digit mailbox number
- Enter your temporary password
During the setup process, you will be
prompted to:
- Change your temporary password and
select a password that only you will know
- Record your name for use by the automated
system
- Record a personal greeting that your
callers will hear.
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