Making Good Use of the iPhone’s Custom Greeting Feature

Due to my 2 Week Challenge, today I was playing catch-up on one of my favorite technology news podcasts called Buzz out Loud, a wonderful podcast at CNet giving a daily dose of technology related news in a fun and relaxed atmosphere. During Show #831, the hosts pleaded for the capability of a cellular voicemail system that would allow you to “decline” your incoming calls while on the road and let the caller know you are currently driving. Once you have safely arrived at your destination you would then return the call. This is a great idea, and got me thinking…

[UPDATE Oct.20] Thank you to the Buzz Out Loud Show for mentioning this post and idea! Listen Here Show #834

Since I have an iPhone I was trying to see if there was a way I could do this with my phone! The fact is, it IS POSSIBLE!

The iPhone has a feature within the “Voicemail” menu of the phone which allows you to quickly record a message at the push of a button. It then gives you the capability to save that custom greeting as a secondary message that is easily selectable. When selected, this new custom greeting is immediately available when a caller receives your voicemail message. This is a wonderful feature of the visual voicemail system that allows you to make your voicemail greetings quickly and easily, without having to stumble through the horrible traditional call-in voicemail setup configurations. ie: Press “1″ for… Press “2″ for…

The major downfall to this idea is that you must remember to deselect the custom greeting, and return it to the default greeting once you are done driving! Although the worst that would happen is, your callers would receive the message that you are “driving” until you change it back! “Good grief he sure does drive a lot!”

Another drawback to this theory is that the default message (your “primary” message) will be the Carrier Default message set up with AT&T or whomever your carrier may be.

Hopefully this has shed light on another useful possibility with your iPhone as it has for me!

HOW TO

If you are uncertain how to record custom outgoing voicemail messages from your iPhone, allow me to show you!

1. From your iPhone’s Main Screen Select the Phone Menu