What is Shared Voicemail?
Shared voicemail boxes are voicemail boxes not tied to any individual user. They provide a single destination where patients and callers can leave messages for an entire department or function at your practice.
When to Use a Shared Voicemail Box
For departments — a "Front Desk," "Billing," or "New Patients" voicemail box that the whole team monitors.
After-hours — a general mailbox for patient calls that arrive outside office hours (e.g., "After-Hours").
Overflow — a fallback destination when the front desk ring group times out and no one is available to pick up (for example, during a busy hygiene block).
Create a Shared Voicemail Box
Click Add Shared Voicemail in the top-right corner.
Enter a Name for the voicemail box (e.g., "Front Desk Voicemail," "Billing," or "After-Hours")
Optionally set an Extension Number to make the box directly dialable.
Optionally set a PIN (4–10 digits) for phone access.
Click Create.
Set a Voicemail Greeting
A voicemail greeting is the audio message callers hear when they reach a voicemail box. If no custom greeting is set, the system plays a default announcement. Customizing the greeting lets you welcome callers in your own voice, set expectations about response time, or provide alternate contact options.
Greetings are managed on the detail page of the mailbox they belong to. Each mailbox has a single greeting slot (the "unavailable" greeting). Uploading a new greeting replaces the previous one.
Recording a Greeting
Open the user or shared voicemail box detail page.
Locate the Unavailable Greeting control.
Click Record, then Start recording.
Speak your message. The timer shows elapsed time — keep it under 90 seconds.
Click Stop when done.
Review the recording with the inline player. Click Use recording to save, or Discard to try again.
Recording requires microphone access in your browser. Your browser will prompt for permission the first time.
Uploading a Greeting
Open the user or shared voicemail box detail page.
Locate the Unavailable Greeting control.
Click Upload, then drop an audio file onto the drop zone or click to browse.
The file uploads and becomes the active greeting immediately.
Accepted formats: WAV, MP3, M4A, OGG, or WebM. Maximum file size: 5 MB. Maximum duration: 90 seconds. Files are converted to telephony-quality audio server-side.
Replacing or Removing a Greeting
Replace — upload or record a new greeting. It takes effect immediately.
Remove — click Remove next to the active greeting. The mailbox falls back to the system default announcement on the next call.
Tips
Keep greetings short and clear — 15–30 seconds is usually enough.
State the name of the person or team being reached so the caller knows they dialed the right number.
Mention any alternate contacts or expected response time if relevant.
Record in a quiet room. Background noise is amplified over the phone network.
Settings
Extension — makes the shared voicemail box directly dialable.
PIN — for remote voicemail access. When empty, the first team member to dial in from an account device sets it.
Unavailable Greeting — a custom audio message callers hear (e.g., "You've reached the Front Desk at [Practice Name]"). When none is set, a default system announcement plays.
Email — an email address that receives new voicemail notifications (e.g., your office manager's inbox or a shared team inbox).
Include AI Summary — adds an AI-generated summary to the email, useful for quickly triaging patient requests like appointment changes or billing questions.
Include Full Transcript — includes the full text transcript, helpful for documenting patient requests.
Attach Voicemail Audio — attaches the recording as an MP3.
Delete After Email — deletes voicemail messages after the email is sent (only available when Attach Voicemail Audio is enabled).
Using a Shared Voicemail Box with Ring Groups
Set a shared voicemail box as the timeout destination for a ring group. Open the ring group's detail page, set Timeout Behavior to Voicemail, then select the target shared voicemail box.
For example, route your "Front Desk" ring group to a "Front Desk Voicemail" box when calls go unanswered during a busy patient check-in period.
Using a Shared Voicemail Box on Devices
Add a Shared voicemail button to a button template, pick which box the key watches (e.g., Billing or Front Desk), then bind the template to the deskphones at the front desk or operatory stations that should have it. Once deployed, pressing the key dials the shared voicemail box. On supported phone models, the key also lights up when the box has new messages — handy for the office manager to spot a new patient voicemail at a glance.
Clearing and Deleting Messages in a Shared Voicemail Box
Clearing — click the eraser icon in the list table to delete all voicemail messages in a box without deleting the box itself. This permanently removes all messages.
Deleting — click the trash icon in the list table to delete the box and all its messages. This action cannot be undone.
Voicemail Access
Users and shared voicemail boxes can be accessed from any device on the account by dialing a short code.
Star Codes
Code | What it does |
*99 | Access your own voicemail from your registered device |
*98 | Access any mailbox by extension — a user's personal mailbox or a shared box |
*99 is the quickest path when you're on your own device. Use *98 when you're on a shared device or accessing a shared voicemail box.
First-Time Access (Setting a PIN)
If the mailbox does not yet have a PIN, the system prompts you to set one — but only when it trusts the device you're calling from:
Personal mailboxes — only a device registered to the owner can set the PIN.
Shared voicemail boxes — any device registered to the same account can set the PIN.
If the mailbox has no PIN and you're not calling from a trusted device, you'll hear "this mailbox is not configured for phone access, please contact your administrator."
Dial *99 (or *98 for a shared box).
Press 1 to set a PIN.
Enter the new PIN (4–10 digits), then #.
Re-enter to confirm, then #.
Normal Access
Dial *99 or *98.
Enter your PIN, then #.
The system announces how many new and old messages are waiting, then begins playback.
You have up to three PIN attempts per call. After three wrong entries the call disconnects.
Keys While Listening
Key | Action |
1 or 5 | Replay the current message |
4 | Previous message |
6 | Next message |
7 | Delete the current message |
9 | Save (mark read and keep) |
* | Skip the envelope or cancel the current audio |
0 | Mailbox options menu |
# | Exit the mailbox |
Mailbox Options Menu (Key 0)
Key | Action |
1 | Record your "unavailable" greeting |
5 | Change your PIN |
# | Exit the mailbox |
Changing Your PIN
While in your mailbox, press 0 to open the options menu.
Press 5 for "change password".
Enter the new PIN (4–10 digits) and #.
Re-enter to confirm.
For Administrators
You can pre-set a user's or shared box's PIN from the admin portal when creating or editing the mailbox.
When you leave the PIN field empty, the first trusted caller sets it from their device.
For shared voicemail boxes, any account device can set the PIN on first access — share that PIN with the team out-of-band.