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Visual Voicemail

Stuarticus
2: Seeker
2: Seeker

Is visual voicemail on the cards for roll out?

 

It still irks me that o2 are the only network to offer this.

 

1 ACCEPTED SOLUTION

Bobbin
13: Advanced Member
Not planned as of yet i'm afraid

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121 REPLIES 121

It shouldn't be an either/or..!  It should be something to bring Vodafone to a level with its competitors..!

The problem is, once you have used visual voice mail as I have you understand just how awful voicemail is without it.  :smileyfrustrated:

 

Come on Vodafone 

 

Pull your fingers out.

I'll just reiterate a comment I made in a previous thread in that I had no idea that vodafone did not have this feature as I assumed all carriers of iPhone would.

 

It really makes a big difference to using the phone. I rarely get voice mail but having to ring the voicemail service and navigate menus is just nasty.

 

I'd switch networks for it.

I'd also like to recommend 'On Voicefeed' as a visual voicemail app on the iphone 4/4S. I've been using it since last year on my 4S and i find it brilliant...it also does a very good job of translating voicemails into voicetexts (obviously not perfect) and you can also have your voicemails delivered to your email as .mp3 attachements. I'd recommend going for the paid version (only a fiver or so a year) as it means no annoying adds and more features. And if you have unlimited landline calls on your plan like i do, then On Voicefeed does not eat up your x-network mins as On Voicefeed uses a 03xxx landline number to store your messages.

 

http://www.lifeisbetteron.com/


@jeffkinn wrote:

Have you tried On Voicefeed - a better experience that Hullomail and allows contacts to be grouped with customised greetings for each group. And a group can be one person.

 

Vodafone will probably never roll out VV - nor will the other networks. Surely a decent signal so you can make and receive calls is more important that built in VV as opposed to an excellent VV app that replaces normal voicemail with a much better experience?


I appreciate the suggestion, I really do. But I'm afraid that On Voicefeed - or any other third-party app - will give me the same problems as HulloMail, in that it is simply not tightly integrated to the phone. I want all my phone stuff in the phone app; if I have an app dedicated to voicemail then that's another app to keep track of notifications for, and I simply don't have space on my homescreen or dock to put it somewhere where I'll see the little red indicator. And no, the notification in Notification Center doesn't cut it either, as that is something I have to remember to go and check. If I saw a notification on the lock screen I'd have to decide between listening right away (thus forgetting or at least interrupting the task I had picked up my phone for in the first place) or leaving it to one side and inevitably forgetting to go find it in Notification Centre or the third screen of icons.

 

With Visual Voicemail I get a red number on my phone icon, and that's on the dock so I see it frequently. I don't have to check the voicemail NOW, I can leave it until later knowing that the constant reminder means I won't forget it. 

 

As to the decent signal - I do get a decent signal, just not at work. And even then, it's still possible to make and take calls, albeit with difficulty. Saying it's between a phone that can make and receive calls and a phone with a decent voicemail experience is oversimplifying; it's about deciding between a poor experience at work coupled with an excellent experience elsewhere, or a merely adequate experience everywhere.

 

I've now bitten the bullet and switched to Vodafone but I'm watching the seven-day cooling off period ticking down as I'm still not sure I've made the right choice. I've already been frustrated by the voicemail menus four times (that's in 24 hours):

 - one was impatience/lack of time; the first time I called it, it asked me to say my name and I didn't want to. Instead of waiting a moment, and so hearing the "press star to skip" prompt, I thought "Sod this, I don't have time for this faffing" and hung up. This wouldn't have happened in a visual UI as I'd have been able to see the skip button. In fact, in the Visual Voicemail interface the "setup greeting" function is behind a button anyway, so you can use the voicemail without ever pressing that button or having to choose not to set a greeting. It's opt-in rather than opt-out; good UI design.

 - one was a bug; it walked me through the setup process twice (this is in addition to my aborted first attempt above)

 - two were the voice prompts being too quick to start, so I missed the questions as I was still bringing the phone back to my ear after having pressed the requested button.

 

Nitpicky? Sure. But if I'm paying a shedload of cash for a gadget I reserve the right to be nitpicky about how it performs.

 

jeffkinn
17: Community Champion
17: Community Champion

You are definately entitled to pick the nits but I would just respectfully caution you to keep things in perspective. Life is all about compromise and to my mind there isnt a lot of compromise here. You can easily keep On voicefeed on your home page and it shows the normal notifications. It also has a notification pop up like a text message or email even when the phone is locked. It will also email you the recording if you want it to so you dont even have to be near the phone to get the message. For me it works well - each to their own.

 

Good luck whatever you decide to do.

Jeffkinn_Sig.png

B19JAD, I'm not sure you could ever say that the iPhone is not fit for the intended purpose.

If the purpose of the phone is to make calls, send texts, browse the internet, receive emails and receive voicemail then it certainly does fit those purposes.

Visual Voicemail is not a purpose. It is a feature. Without that feature it is still possible to receive your voicemail therefore all intended purposes of the iPhone are still catered for.

In the example you mentioned above, Amazon would be required by law to give a refund as they, as the seller, advertised it with that feature. If that feature is removed then it is more than reasonable to expect Amazon to provide a refund.

At no point has Vodafone ever advertised that they support the feature, so they would be in absolutely no way responsible for that feature not being supported.

You could argue that Vodafone should advertise that they don't support this feature, but what company does advertise what they don't support?

I can't make toast in my kettle, but I'm not about to complain to Kenwood because they didn't tell me that before I bought it.

 

I know the above is a terribly old post but you misunderstand the legal definition of ‘fit for purpose’.

 

The not-being-able-to-make-toast-in-a-kettle argument is an interesting one.  It is not one I would use in court! 

 

I have just bought an iPhone 6 on a 24 month Vodafone contract and had no idea that there was no visual voicemail on certain networks. I have no cooling off period because I bought it in store. However I am a lawyer and have insisted on a refund because it is not fit for purpose. I have made a formal complaint. If I do not receive a prompt refund then I will take it to court. I will take out a contract with O2, the network I have only just left.

 

Arguments that VVM does not matter and that you can use apps instead miss the point.   VVM is important for me. If it isn’t for you, that is fine.  

 

I do not ask Vodafone to enable VVM - I just vote with my feet.

jeffkinn
17: Community Champion
17: Community Champion
Even store purchases have a 14 day cooling off period.

Jeffkinn_Sig.png

'Visual Voicemail is not a purpose. It is a feature. Without that feature it is still possible to receive your voicemail therefore all intended purposes of the iPhone are still catered for....

...You could argue that Vodafone should advertise that they don't support this feature, but what company does advertise what they don't support?

I can't make toast in my kettle, but I'm not about to complain to Kenwood because they didn't tell me that before I bought it.'

 

A better analogy would be "the auto power off feature does not work if you plug the kettle in in certain areas of the country, including yours, but we don't tell you that at the point of sale.  And, anyway, you can use a kettle without the auto power off feature, so quit complaining".

 

Not a great argument!

kids
Community Champion (Retired)
Community Champion (Retired)

The Iphone supports Visual Voicemail if the network wishes to optimize if for their customers.

 

This subject has been beaten to death for a loooooooooooooong time on these forums and it has always come down to the same thing, O2 are the only UK network offering VM and it is not one of Apple's  selling features of the iPhone.

 

I bet that the exposure to Vodafone on the side of a couple of racing cars draws more attention than VM would  :smileywink: