Cox Voicemail ## Keep up with your voicemail Check in anytime with voicemail to email, message recording and [other helpful features](https://www.cox.com/residential/support/voice-mail-feature-specifications.html). But first, let's get you set up. - **Activate your voicemail** - First, you'll want to activate your Voice Mail and Readable Voice Mail using this easy start guide or the instructions below. - **Learn how to check your messages** - Get 'em as emails or read 'em on your phone. You choose your voicemail's destiny. - **Customize your mailbox** - Make it work the way you want with notifications, email lists and more. Setup Your Voicemail Get your voicemail up and running - It just takes a few quick seconds. Activating your voicemail 1. Dial your Cox Voice phone number, then dial *298. (If you've enabled Nomorobo, just dial *298. Don't dial your phone number first.) 2. Choose 1 for English or 2 for Spanish 3. Set a 4–8-digit PIN for your account 4. Enter your new PIN and press # 5. Record your name 6. Create a custom recording or select the default greeting Turning on readable voicemail 1. Log in to [Voice Tools](https://phonetools.cox.com) 2. Select Settings 3. Select Voice Mail 4. Click the white circle to the right of Readable Voice Mail to enable it 5. Click the white circle to the right of Voice Mail notification to enable it 6. Enter the email address where you want to send voice mail messages and choose which notification you prefer (options: Audio Message, Transcript or Both) 7. Select "Add" and repeat this up to four times for up to five email addresses 8. Select "Save" See menu options Get to know the phone menu options, so when you dial your Voice Mail, you can dash straight to what you're looking for. - [Option 1](https://www.cox.com/residential/support/voice-mail-personal-options-get-messages-menu.html) - [Option 2](https://www.cox.com/residential/support/voice-mail-personal-options-send-messages-menu.html) - [Option 3](https://www.cox.com/residential/support/voice-mail-personal-options-greetings-menu.html) - [Option 4](https://www.cox.com/residential/support/voice-mail-personal-options-mailbox-settings-menu.html) - [Option 5](https://www.cox.com/residential/support/voice-mail-personal-options-handle-incoming-call-menu.html) - [Option 6](https://www.cox.com/residential/support/voice-mail-personal-options-outgoing-messages-menu.html) Record your greeting Set the greeting that everyone will hear when you don't answer the phone. 1. Dial *298 to pull up your voice mailbox 2. Press 3 to hear the Greetings menu 3. Press 1 to hear, record or turn your greeting on/off There are six other, more personalized greetings you can use. [See how to set them up.](https://www.cox.com/residential/support/setting-up-voice-mail-greetings.html) Check Your Voicemail Keep up with your messages - There are a bunch of ways to check your voicemail. Find which works for you. Check your voicemail There are five ways to check your voicemail: - Home phone - Other lines - Online - Cox Voice Everywhere app - Access number **Checking voicemail on your home phone:** 1. Lift your home phone handset 2. Press star (*) and dial 2-9-8, or call your 10-digit home phone number 3. If asked, enter your PIN and press # **Checking voicemail on other lines:** 1. Call your home phone number 2. When your greeting starts, press *5 3. When asked, enter your PIN and press # **Checking voicemail online:** 1. Go to Voice Tools at [http://phonetools.cox.com](http://phonetools.cox.com) 2. Sign in with your User ID and Password (if you haven't made an account, click "No account? Register now.") 3. Click Voice Mail to see all your messages 4. Choose a message you want to hear **Checking voicemail through the Voice Everywhere app:** 1. Tap Voice Mail at the bottom of the screen to bring up the Voice Mail screen 2. Tap a phone number to see more info about that message 3. Tap the play icon to hear the Voice Mail (volume control is to the right of the play button) 4. You also have these options: - Call Back: call back whoever left the voice mail - Delete: delete the voice mail - Mark Unheard: change the status of a voice mail from heard to unheard **Checking voicemail using an Access Number:** If you can't reach your voicemail box by dialing *298 or your home phone number, try using your regional access number. [Check out our step-by-step guide](https://www.cox.com/residential/support/voice-mail-access-phone-numbers.html). Using playback options | Action | Press | | :--- | ---: | | Pause/resume playback | 8 | | Rewind four sections | 7 | | Hear previous message | *7 | | Fast-forward four seconds | 9 | | Play message time and date | 5 | | Set message as unheard | 6 | Save deleted messages Deleted messages are saved until you hang up. To keep a deleted message, simply: 1. Wait until the automated voice reaches the Saved Messages section 2. Listen for the message you want to recover 3. When you hear it choose to re-save that message Customize Your Voicemail Make your mailbox more you Personalize your voicemail with group mailboxes, friendly reminders and more. Setup notifications You can get a phone notification and/or email: - Any time you get a voicemail - Only when you get messages while you're at work, on vacation or on weekends - Only when you get messages with an urgent or normal stamp **How to set up phone notifications:** 1. Using your home phone, dial *298 2. Press 44 from the Main Menu to go to the Notifications Menu 3. Set up notifications on one or more of the following: - Your phone (press 12) - Your pager (press 13) - Your email (press 15) 4. Follow the automated voice instructions Read the step-by-step guide: - [Phone notifications](https://www.cox.com/residential/support/getting-a-call-when-voice-mail-arrives.html) - [Email notifications](https://www.cox.com/residential/support/email-me-when-a-voice-mail-arrives.html) (online setup) Schedule reminders These are pre-recorded messages you can send to your home phone at any time you choose. You can use them for: - Appointments - Wake-up calls - Birthdays - Anniversaries - Medication reminders **How to set up reminders:** 1. Press 71 on the Main Menu 2. Choose an option: - Schedule and record a one-time reminder (press 11) - Schedule and record a daily, weekly or weekend reminder (press 12) - Edit a reminder (press 2) Use automatic callback After you've listened to a message, call that person back by simply dialing 2, then 1. Organize group mailboxes With a group mailbox, you can have one primary mailbox and as many as four sub-mailboxes—all on one phone line. The primary owner of the group mailbox can: - Set up the primary mailbox, along with any of the four sub-mailboxes (or they can let other family members set up their own sub-mailbox) - Set up the primary group mailbox greeting, which tells callers that a message can be left for any of the mailboxes in the group by pressing that mailbox's number (for example, you could say, "You've reached the Jones family. Press 1 for Bob, 2 for Lisa or 3 for Jim.") Each mailbox has its own: - Business times - Voice prompts in either English or Spanish - Distribution lists - Message notifications - Greetings - Message playback options - PIN - Recorded name Don't have a group mailbox? [Contact us](https://www.cox.com/residential/contactus.html) to add one to your account. **How to set up a group mailbox:** 1. Dial *298 or your home phone number 2. You should hear a list of all available mailboxes 3. Enter the number for the sub-mailbox you want to set up 4. When asked for the temporary password, enter 269266 5. Press 1 for English or 2 for Spanish 6. Enter a new four-to-eight-digit PIN for the sub-mailbox 7. Record a name for the sub-mailbox 8. Record a greeting for the sub-mailbox 9. Repeat these steps for each sub-mailbox Create distribution lists With distribution lists, you can send messages to a few friends at once. **How to create a distribution list:** 1. On the Main Menu, press 4 to go to Settings 2. Press 1 3. Follow the instructions Customize your voice mailbox It's easy to customize your greeting, notifications and more. Just go to your voicemail box menu, then adjust away using the shortcuts below: | Action | Press | | :--- | ---: | | Change your mailbox PIN | 4, 3, 1 | | Re-record your name | 3, 6 | | Go back to the Main Menu | *1 | | Go back or cancel | *3 | | Record or edit your greeting | 3 | | Change your message notification settings | 4, 4 | | Edit business hours | 4, 6 | | Confirm deleting a message | 4, 9 | Cox Voicemail FAQs ### What languages are translated by Readable voicemail? English and Spanish. Other languages show an error message, but the voicemail will still be attached in the email notification. ### Will all words from the voicemail translate, and if not, how can I tell? In the email version, if there are any words that couldn't be translated, you'll see three periods—an ellipsis—after the last translated word. You may also see question marks next to words the transcription didn't understand. ### How do I listen to the audio version in my email? Double-click the .wav file attached to the email message. It'll open and start playing on its own. ### Is the voice message available in formats other than .wav? Not at this time. For now, they're only available as .wav files. ### If I delete the email with the audio file, will that delete the voicemail on my phone? Nope, the voicemail on your phone can only be deleted through your voicemail box, whether you use your home phone, your cell phone or the Voice Everywhere app. We recommend deleting audio files after you listen to them. They're pretty big and can take up a good amount of storage. ### Does Readable Voice Mail have a character limit? Readable Voice Mail can transcribe up to 90 seconds of each voicemail. You can call your Voice Mail number or play the .wav file to listen to the entire message. ### I checked the box to receive text or audio but did not get the email. What happened? Check your spam folder to see if the email landed there. Also, add the donotreply-voicemail@coxmail.com address to your approved sender list (your whitelist) to keep emails from going to your spam folder. ### Can I send a transcription to any email address or to several email addresses at once? Yep. The email address can be your Cox.net address or any other valid email address and you can send a transcription to up to five email addresses at a time. ### How accurate is the voice mail-to-text transcription? The transcription is pretty accurate, but it is an automated program, so there are a few things that could affect its accuracy, such as background noise and the caller's accent. Also, names and nouns may not translate accurately. But if the message has a lot of words the transcription engine doesn't recognize, you'll receive the full audio file instead. ### How do I know who called if the system incorrectly transcribes the caller's name? You can still listen to the audio version attached to the email message, or just listen to the voicemail over the phone. ### Will profanity be transcribed in the email attachment? Some words may be transcribed, but the system filters out most profanity. ### Will I be notified if the voicemail transcription fails? Yep. If the audio version doesn't convert, you may also see this error message: Unconverted Message — An unconverted message is a message that couldn't be converted due to the voice message being in an unsupported language or of a poor audio content. ERROR: This person called and left you a message. To hear it, call your Voice Mail. ### Will automated voicemail messages be transcribed? No. Automated recordings sent to voice mail won't be transcribed. ### Can I receive the transcribed text as an SMS? No. The transcribed version of the audio file is converted into a written word format and sent as an email. ### Why are voicemails in Spanish not getting transcribed? Voicemail left in Spanish may not get transcribed for a few reasons: - The message isn't clear and/or has too much background noise - The message has a combination of Spanish and English words - The message isn't spoken with a clear Mexican Spanish or Central American Spanish dialect Note: The system doesn't understand some slang, accents or pronunciations. If the system can't accurately transcribe the Spanish message, it'll only send the .wav file. Related topics - [Features and settings](https://www.cox.com/residential/phone/learn/voice-features-and-settings.html) - [Phone equipment](https://www.cox.com/residential/phone/learn/voice-equipment.html) - [Spam blocker](https://www.cox.com/residential/phone/learn/spam-blocker.html) - [How to turn off voicemail](https://www.cox.com/residential/support/turning-off-voice-mail.html) - [Troubleshoot voicemail](https://www.cox.com/residential/support/troubleshooting-voice-mail.html) - [Shop Voice plans](https://www.cox.com/residential/phone.html) About Voice See [Cox Digital Telephone service details](https://www.cox.com/residential/phone/learn/voicemail.html#aboutVoiceService). See important [Cox Digital Telephone Power Outage](https://www.cox.com/aboutus/policies/phone-modem-battery-policy.html) usage information. *Call anyone, anytime in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, China, Hong Kong, India, Norway, the European Union (Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Republic of Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom) and U.S. territories (Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands, North Marianas/Guam, American Samoa). Includes calls to Mexico that terminate on mobile phones for no additional charge.