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 a menu with a standard voice messaging box for each user.

Know your service options

Faculty and staff can choose from basic and enhanced voice mail service.

Click on highlighted links below to learn more about the offerings and voice mail pricing.

The Harvard voice mail system offers flexible capabilities. If neither of these service options meets your needs, your Customer Care analyst can recommend an alternative service plan with custom pricing.

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 Care at (617) 495-4900 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.