TUCoPS :: Phreaking Voice Mail

TUCoPS :: Phreaking Voice Mail :: msu-def.txt
Montana State University voicemail instructions - including the default password scheme!

VOICE MESSAGING GUIDE

Introduction

The easiest way to familiarize yourself with voice messaging is to read this guide and to experiment with the commands as you go along. In this guide, prompts (audible instructions played by the voice mail system) are presented in italics between double quotation marks. For example, "Please enter your password followed by number sign."

Voice messaging is as convenient and easy to use as a telephone answering machine, but it also allows you to:

1. Listen to, record, edit and send messages.

2. Send a message to more than one person.

3. Dial or access another mailbox user by name instead of by mailbox number.

4. Set a date and time for delivery of messages.

5. Play back messages from your desk or home, or nearly anywhere with a touchtone telephone.

6. Instead of memorizing commands, you can listen to voice messaging prompts when using the Meridian Mail. The prompts tell you which commands you can use at any given moment. To interrupt a prompt, press any key. This will stop the prompt and respond to your command.

Methods of Activating Voice Mailboxes

You can customize your mailbox to be activated on your telephone in a number of ways. When you order Meridian Mail, you will complete a Meridian Mail Order Form, which gives you the following choices:

1. Forward No Answer: Your phone rings 2, 4 or 6 times (whichever you choose), then goes into the mailbox so that caller gets your greeting.

Your phone rings 2, 4 or 6 times (whichever you choose), then goes to another number (must be a phone which is staffed full-time and does not have voice mail).

2. Call Forward: Your phone is programmed so that your calls will not automatically go mailbox or another number. You have to manually Call Forward your phone into mailbox (6060). Phone will not ring when somebody calls -- caller will immediately hear your greeting. This is a good choice when you are holding meetings in your office and do not wish to be disturbed by a ringing telephone.

3. Call Transfer, Express Messaging: Another person can transfer a call to your mailbox by using the Call Transfer key (See "Express Messaging").

4. Hunt/Busy:

(a) When you are on the telephone, calls go directly into your mailbox and caller hears "[NAME] is on the phone," followed by your greeting.

(b) When you are on the telephone, calls go directly into your mailbox without the notification that you are on the phone. The caller will hear only your greeting.

(c) When you are on the telephone, calls go directly to another number (must be a phone which is staffed full-time and does not have voice mail).

(d) Caller hears a busy signal and can use Ring Again feature to place call again.

Voice Mail Primer

Frequently used voice mail commands, such as skip backward, play, skip forward, last message, record, next message, call sender, and help can each be accessed by pressing a single digit on your telephone keypad. They are arranged numerically as follows:
1 - Skip backward 2 - Play 3 - Skip forward
4 - Play message 5 - Record 6 - Next Message

# Skip Backward: Allows you to back up a few seconds within a message (if you miss hearing something and want to listen again).
# Play: The command you press to listen to something you have recorded (such as your greeting, voice verification, or a message you have composed to send later).
# Skip Forward: Allows you to move forward a few seconds at a time within a message. Previous message allows you to jump back to the previous message.
# Record: Pressed when you wish to begin recording a message, a greeting, or a personal verification.
# Next Message: Allows you to jump forward to the next message (or to skip messages).

If you wish to speed up the playback of a message or to slow it back down, enter the following key combinations:
# 23 - Speed up playback (up to twice)
# 21 - Slow playback (back to normal speed)

The next row of keys provides access to Message and Mailbox commands, as well as to the call sender command.
7 - Message 8 - Mailbox 9 - Call Sender

# Message: Allows you to access message commands by combining with other keys to form the commands.

# Mailbox Allows you to access mailbox commands (such as options) by combining with other keys to form the commands.

# Call Sender: A single key command, which should be used with discretion. If the person who has left a message for leaves a telephone number at which to call back, log out of voice mail and use that number to return the call. Some people on campus have private extensions, which are not published and not available for general use. Do not use call sender to return a call from an identified telephone number (e.g., "telephone number 406-444-1212"). While such calls originate on the State of Montana Network, they are still external to the MSU switch and the call sender function will not work because it only enters the first four digits of the phone number (4064).

The final row of keys on the keypad provides help, access to live assistance, and a stop/exit command. They are arranged as follows:
* - Help 0 - Attendant # - Stop/Exit

Calling Another User

When you call another voice mailbox user and the line is busy or there is no answer, your call will be forwarded to the mailbox and you will hear a greeting. You can then decide whether to call back later or to leave a message after the tone. The recording begins only when you start to speak (unless there is a great deal of background noise), so you can pause to think before you leave a message. When you are finished leaving your message, simply hang up the phone.

Message Notification

Voice Mail notifies you in one of two ways when a new message arrives for you. If you have a message-waiting indicator on your telephone, it will flash, indicating you have messages. If you have a telephone with no message waiting light, you will hear a "stutter" dial tone (sounds like a busy signal) when you pick up the handset. To listen to your messages, log on to voice mail.

Logging On and Off

You must log into voicemail to access your mailbox and to listen to your messages. Your mailbox user number is the same as your telephone number, in most cases. The following instructions are for standard logon. See next Section for AUTO LOGON. Recorded prompts are shown in italics and quotation marks.
To log on from your own telephone:

1. Dial the Meridian Mail access number (6060). "Meridian Mail. Mailbox?"

2. Press #. Voice mail will then assume that your extension number is the same as your mailbox number. "Password?"

3. Enter the password, followed by # (the default password is also your phone number).

4. You are now logged on. Meridian Mail will play a summary of new, urgent and unsent messages. For example: "You have two new voice messages. One old message is still unsent."

5. After the summary, Meridian Mail describes the first new message, providing the following information;

a) The message's number (i.e., message 1, message 2, etc.).

b) The status of the message (new, unsent, etc.).

c) Who the message came from (the person's name, mailbox number, extension number, or an "unknown" location).

d) Whether the message is urgent or private or whether acknowledgement has been requested.

e) The date and time the message was received. Example: "Message 5, new, from [Salvador Smith] or [Mailbox 5533] or [Extension 5533] or [an unknown number], received Thursday at 2:35 p.m."

If there are no new messages, Meridian Mail will describe the first unsent messages. If there are no unsent messages, the first message in your mailbox is described even if you have previously listened to it.

After you have listened to each message, write down any information you need to remember, and then delete the message, by pressing `76'. If you accidentally delete a message you want to keep, you may restore it by pressing 76 again (you will hear a prompt, "message restored." Once you have hung up the phone you cannot restore deleted messages.

WHEN YOU ARE FINISHED, LOG OFF BY PRESSING 83. Using the logoff command (83) is recommended to disconnect you from the system more quickly than by just hanging up the receiver.
To log on from an off-campus telephone:

1. Dial the Meridian Mail access number (994-6060). "Meridian Mail. Mailbox?"

2. Enter your mailbox number (your office phone extension number), followed by your password and a # sign.

3. You are now logged on. Meridian Mail will play a summary of new, urgent and unsent messages. For example: "You have two new voice messages. One old message is still unsent."

4. After the summary, Meridian Mail describes the first new message, providing the following information: The message number (e.g. Message 1, Message 2, etc.), the status of the message (new, sent, etc.), who the message came from (name, extension, or "unknown number"), the urgency of the message, and the date and time it was received.

If there are no new messages, Meridian Mail will describe the first unsent messages. If there are no unsent messages, the first message in your mailbox is described, even if you have already listened to it.

WHEN YOU ARE FINISHED, LOG OFF BY PRESSING 83.
To log on after leaving a message:

1. After you have called another Voice Mail user and have left a message, you can log on to Voice Mail without hanging up.

2. After you have finished recording your message, press #. You are still connected to Voice Mail.

3. Press 81. "Mailbox?"

4. You can now log on to your mailbox as usual.

Auto Logon
This feature is available if you feel secure that others cannot freely get to your phone and access your mailbox. It allows you to logon from your own office phone only without entering a mailbox number and password.

1. On a single line telephone, pick up the handset, enter 6060. On a multi-line telephone, pick up the handset and press the Message Waiting Key. "Meridian Mail. [Status of mailbox]."You are now logged on.

2. Meridian Mail will play a summary of new, urgent and unsent messages.

To log on to your Mailbox from an on-campus phone with Auto Logon:

3. Lift the handset and enter 6060, or press the Message Waiting Key on a multi-line telephone.

4. Enter 81 for the logon prompts.

Password
The default password is the telephone extension or mailbox number. You will need to know this if you log on from a phone other than your own. You can change your password as frequently as you like, provided that you do not repeat your most recent nine passwords. It is highly recommended that you change your default password within 24 hours of first logging on. To change your password:

1. Logon and Press 84. "Password change. Please enter your new password, followed by number sign."

2. Enter the new password (from 4 to 16 numbers), followed by #. "Please enter your new password again, followed by number sign."

3. Enter your new password a second time, followed by #. "To confirm the change, please enter your old password, followed by the number sign."

4. Enter your old password, followed by #. "Your password has been changed."

If you forget your password, contact Telephone Services (Ext. 0) to have it changed back to the default.

Personal Verification
The Personal Verification is a recording you make of your name which is played back when you leave a message for somebody or when somebody calls your mailbox using Express Messaging (see below). It identifies you by name rather than by your mailbox number. A personal verification is more pleasant to hear than a mailbox number, and it also prevents mistakes when somebody dials the wrong mailbox number, since it identifies the mailbox by name. To add or change the personal verification:

1. Press 89. You will hear "The Personal Verification is [NAME],

OR
"There is no name for Personal Verification of mailbox [NUMBER]."

2. Press 5 to begin recording. At the tone, state your name (and your phone number, if you wish).

3. Press # to stop recording and hear the verification.

Greetings

People who call your mailbox may hear one of three greetings. If they are calling from off campus they will hear an external greeting; if they are calling from on campus they will hear your internal greeting. If you record only one greeting (either internal or external), that greeting will be heard both by external and internal callers. If you have left a Temporary Absence Greeting, both internal and external callers will hear that greeting and will know that you are temporarily unavailable to take calls.
A suggested greeting might be:

"Hello, this is [NAME]. I'm in today, but am presently unable to take your call. If you leave your name, number and a message after you hear the tone, I'll return your call as soon as I can. If you need immediate personal assistance, press zero."
To record external, internal or temporary absence greetings:

1. Press 82. "For your external greeting, press 1. For your internal greeting, press 2. For your temporary absence greeting, press 3." Enter the appropriate number.

2. Press 5. At the tone, begin to record your greeting.

3. When you have finished speaking, press #. "Recording stopped."

4. Wait for the prompt to enter the expiration date and time for your Temporary Absence Greeting if that is what you are recording.

5. To listen to your greeting, press 2. "Start of greeting. [GREETING] End of greeting."

6. If you are satisfied with the greeting, press 4 to go to another command or hang up.

7. If you are not satisfied with the greeting, press 76 to erase it. "Greeting deleted."

8. Press 5 to begin recording, # when finished.

Customer Operator (Also known as "Revert")

When you place your order for Meridian Mail, you may specify a telephone extension number, which will enable a caller to reach live assistance. This is called the "Custom Operator" or "Revert Number". In your greeting, you will let callers know that they can reach assistance by entering "0". You can change the number that is entered at any time through the system options (please contact your Telephone Coordinator to submit the proper work requests). To use this feature you must be logged on to Meridian Mail. CAUTION: If you change the custom operator number, be sure that it is to a number that does not contain a mailbox. The custom operator number must always access a live attendant.
Playing Messages

After logging on to Meridian Mail, you can play part or all of any messages as many times as you like. You can move backward and forward through your mailbox. After listening to a message, it should be deleted by pressing "76". Messages that have been played are automatically purged from your mailbox approximately 5-7 days following the first playback. Messages that have not been listened to are not subject to automatic purging.
Call Sender

After listening to a message, you may want to speak immediately with the person who left the message. If the message is from an on-campus location, you can call the sender immediately by using the Call Sender command:

1. After listening to the message, press 9. "Calling [Sender's extension number or name]."

2. Talk to the sender or leave a message, then hang up when you are finished.

When using multiple line telephones, your connection to Meridian Mail may be placed on hold for 30 seconds when you use Call Sender. This allows you to talk to the sender and return to your mailbox without logging on again. Just press the flashing line on your multi-line set (as if you were taking it off hold).

Again, Call Sender should be used with discretion. If the person who has left a message for leaves a telephone number at which to call back, log out of voice mail and use that number to return the call. Some people on campus have private extensions, which are not published and not available for general use.

Call Sender cannot be used to return a call to a number outside of the MSU telephone switch, even if the number is identified as coming from the State Network (e.g., if the call comes from Helena, or the University of Montana). The feature will only enter the first four digits of the number, so if the call comes from 406-444-1212, Meridian Mail only enters 4064, and you will get a wrong number!
Replying To Messages

When another Meridian Mail user sends you a message, you can reply to the message (without calling the sender) by using the Reply command. By using this feature, the sender's mailbox will be entered so that you can leave a message. You can also reply to a message that was sent to you and others by using the "Reply All" command.

To use the "Reply to Sender" command:

1. After hearing the message, press 71. "Reply to [sender's mailbox number of name]. To begin recording, press 5. To end recording, press #."

2. When you are ready to begin speaking, press 5, wait for the tone and speak.

3. When you have finished speaking, press #. "Recording topped."

4. Send the message by pressing 79. "Message sent."

To reply to the sender and all recipients

1. After listening to the message, press 74. "Reply all. To [Meridian Mail prompt states the first name on the list only]."

2. To begin recording, press 5. To end recording, press #."

3. If you want to hear the list of people who will receive your reply, press 72. "[Description of message, including all mailbox numbers or names].

4. When you are ready to record your reply, press 5. Wait for the tone, then begin speaking.

5. When you have finished speaking, press #. "Recording stopped."

6. To send the message, press 79. "Message sent."

Express Messaging

Express messaging allows you to send a message without logging on to your mailbox, and without actually calling the recipient. To use Express Messaging:

1. Enter the Express Messaging access number, 6061 (off campus, 994-6061). "Express Messaging. To mailbox?"

2. Enter the mailbox number of the person for whom you want to leave the message, followed by #. "[Name or mailbox number]. Please leave a message after the tone.

3. Leave your message after you hear the tone. Hang up when finished.

Transferring A Call Using Express Messaging:

1. Use your phone's transfer feature to transfer the call to the Express Messaging access number (6061). "Express Messaging. To mailbox?"

2. Enter the mailbox number of the person for whom the caller wants to leave a message, followed by #.

3. Complete the call transfer as quickly as possible so that the caller can hear the prompt and tone to record a message.

Composing A Message

Instead of calling someone and waiting for Meridian Mail to take your message, you can use the Compose command to create and then send messages. While express messaging is faster for sending a message to one person, the Compose command is very useful when you want to send the message to more than one person.
To use the Compose Command:

1. Press 75. "Compose. Enter a list of mailboxes."

2. Enter the first mailbox number or distribution list number (see instructions for preparing Distribution Lists), followed by #. "[Name or mailbox/list number]." To remove a mailbox number or distribution list number from the list of recipients, press 0# after entering it. "Address [mailbox number] cancelled."

3. Enter the next mailbox or distribution list number, followed by #, and continue doing so until all numbers have been entered followed by #. Press # a final time to indicate the last number has been entered. "To begin recording, press 5. To end recording, press number sign."

4. Press 5, wait for the tone, and speak.

5. When you are finished speaking, press #. "Recording stopped."

6. To send the message, press 79. "Message sent."

7. If you don't want to deliver the message now, log off. The message will be saved so that you can send it later by pressing 79.

If for any reason your message can't be delivered, a "Non-delivery Notification" is sent to your mailbox.

Name Addressing
Name addressing lets you address messages by spelling out the person's name on your telephone keypad when you do not know their mailbox number. It can be used when you are composing a message, when you are adding recipients to a personal distribution list, and when using Express Messaging.

1. Press 75 "Enter a list of mailboxes."

2. Enter "11" and spell the last name, followed immediately by the first name. For example, to reach Bob Quinn, enter quinnbob (78466262) (Q+7).

3. Meridian Mail will announce a match as soon as it finds it. You can stop entering digits as soon as you hear the announcement. If you have entered the complete name or if you don't know it, press #. If there are 5 or fewer names matching what you have entered, the names are announced and a number is given to identify each name. To choose one of these persons, enter the corresponding number. If more than 5 matches are found, the system will prompt you for the name again. "Name found. [name and number].

4. Press #. "To begin recording, press 5. To end recording, press #."

Forwarding Messages

You may receive a message that you want someone else to hear. You can forward the message exactly as it is, or you can record an introduction that the recipient hears prior to hearing the forwarded message.

1. After listening to the message, press 73. "Forwarding message [number]. Enter a list of mailboxes."

2. Enter the first mailbox number, followed by #. "[Name or mailbox number]." To remove a mailbox number from the list of recipients, press 0# after entering it. "ddress [mailbox number] cancelled."

3. Enter the next mailbox number, followed by #, or simply press # to tell Meridian Mail that you have entered the last mailbox number. "To begin recording, press 5. To end recording, press number sign."

4. If you aren't recording an introduction, press 79 to send the message. If you are recording an introduction, press 5, listen for the tone, then begin speaking.

5. When you have finished speaking, press #. "Recording stopped."

6. If you are ready to forward the message, press 79. "Message sent."

Help

You can get help at any time while using Meridian Mail. Because the help command is "context" sensitive, when you ask for help from a specific area, you are given help in that area.
To get general help

1. If you are in the process of entering mailbox numbers or recording a message, press # to stop that activity.

2. Press # to hear the commands you may use.

3. Enter the required command.

To get message command help:

1. If you are in the process of entering mailbox numbers or recording a message, press # to stop that activity.

2. Press 7# to hear a listing of the available message commands.

3. Enter the required command.

To get mailbox command help:

1. If you are in the process of entering mailbox numbers or recording a message, press # to stop that activity.

2. Press 8* to hear the list of available mailbox commands.

3. Enter the required command.

Tagging Messages

When you create messages, you can tag them by using the Message Options command. This will let the messages be handled in a special way.
# Acknowledge: You will receive a notification when each recipient hears your message.
# Private: Message cannot be forwarded.
# Timed Delivery: The message is sent at the date and time you specify.
# Urgent: The message is announced when the recipient logs in.
To tag a message before sending:

1. Press 70. "Message options. For urgent delivery, press 1. For private, press 4. For acknowledge, press 5. For timed delivery, press 6."

2. Press the chosen option number.

3. To send the message, press 79.

Message tagging shortcut:

1. To tag a message without waiting for the prompt, enter the full number of the tag. For example, if the message is urgent and private, enter 701.

2. To tag a Private message, enter 704.

Timed delivery

1. Press 70.

2. Press 6. "Delivery [month or day]."

3. Enter the month or day, whichever was requested, followed by #. The month is entered in number format: 1 for January to 12 for December. To specify the current month or day, press only #. "Delivery [day or month]."

4. Enter the day or month, whichever was requested, followed by #. To specify the current day or month, press only #. "Delivery time."

5. Enter the hour or minutes, followed by #. The hour is entered as a numeral from 1-24. For minutes, the digits 01-59 are entered. For example, within the 24-hour format, to designate 2:01 in the afternoon, enter 1401. To specify the current time, press #. "Your message has been tagged for timed delivery [date] [time]."

Distribution Lists

A personal distribution list is a list of often-used mailbox numbers. You can create up to nine personal distribution lists, each containing a maximum of 99 entries.
To create a personal distribution list:

1. Press 85. "Distribution list. Enter the distribution list number, followed by number sign."

2. Enter a number from 1 to 9 that you haven't already used to identify a personal distribution list, followed by "Distribution list [number]."

3. Press 5. "Compose distribution list."

4. Enter mailbox numbers or distribution list numbers, followed by #.

5. When the list is complete, press #. "End of list. To review the distribution list, press 2."

Review your personal distribution lists frequently and keep them up to date. If changes need to be made, delete the list by pressing 76, then create a new list.

To check the contents of a personal distribution list:

1. Press 85. "Distribution list. Enter the distribution list number, followed by number sign."

2. Enter the number, followed by #. "Distribution list [number]."

3. Press 2. "Distribution list [number]. [Names or mailboxes]. End of distribution list."

To use personal distribution list:

1. When you would normally enter a sequence of mailbox numbers, enter the distribution list number, followed by #.

2. Distribution lists, mailbox numbers and names can be used in any order.

3. To cancel a list from the address, enter 0# immediately after entering it.