Visual Voicemail with Verizon (not the premium)

[tgrsnpr]

Yesterday I finally decided to do the visual voicemail on my Google Pixel XL. I was reading somewhere (I can't remember where) that the basic visual voicemail for the Pixel (4th tab on the the phone app) is free, however, when I did activate it it said visual voicemail is disabled and tells me to please contact customer service. How do I get this working without paying the premium fee from Verizon?

 

[therealasd]

What I did was open the My Verizon app (you can get it from the Play Store if you don't already have it) and log into your VZW account.

Once you're in, pull out the left side meny and tap Account, then tapp Add-Ons. Select the line you want to have VVM on.

Move to the Essential Services section. This is where the VVM options are. Now, I opted for Premium because I like the text transcription, but Basic VVM is an option as well. If you tap View, it should explain the service and give you the option to add it to your account. There are a couple confirmation steps and that really should be all you need to do. It might take 10-15 minutes to activate and appear on the account.

Once I did that, I went to my Phone app, went to Settings, selected Calls, and tapped Voicemail. Toggle the switch to turn Visual Voicemail on and it worked for me. The 4th menu showed up in my app and was good to go.

If things continue to be wonky for you, I'd call them and see if they can help you through. It worked pretty seamlessly for me when I activated it.

Hope that helps.

 

[tgrsnpr]

What I did was open the My Verizon app (you can get it from the Play Store if you don't already have it) and log into your VZW account.

Once you're in, pull out the left side meny and tap Account, then tapp Add-Ons. Select the line you want to have VVM on.

Move to the Essential Services section. This is where the VVM options are. Now, I opted for Premium because I like the text transcription, but Basic VVM is an option as well. If you tap View, it should explain the service and give you the option to add it to your account. There are a couple confirmation steps and that really should be all you need to do. It might take 10-15 minutes to activate and appear on the account.

Once I did that, I went to my Phone app, went to Settings, selected Calls, and tapped Voicemail. Toggle the switch to turn Visual Voicemail on and it worked for me. The 4th menu showed up in my app and was good to go.

If things continue to be wonky for you, I'd call them and see if they can help you through. It worked pretty seamlessly for me when I activated it.

Hope that helps.

I'm stuck at the part on the add-ons. I can't seem to find it anywhere. I tried logging into the main account on the phone but it just keeps giving me an error.

 

[therealasd]

Maybe you need to call Verizon? Wish I had more information for you. What I outlined is exactly what I did and it worked. Like I just posted in the other thread, something has to be amiss with Verizon's services, imo.

 

[tgrsnpr]

Thanks. I will contact them.

 

[therealasd]

Here are some screenshots I just took in my My Verizon app, so you can at least see what I'm seeing, step by step:

 

[tgrsnpr]

Thanks for the screenshots! It does appear that you have more options on your phone when you tapped on account. I only have the first 3 options. I think its because my line isn't the primary and it will not allow me to switch to the primary line to do this. I will try this with the primary phone and see if this works.

By the way, is your phone from Verizon or from Google?

 

[therealasd]

Google.

And I'm the controller of the account; administrator and billpayer, so I have full control. If there are separate user logins on the account, you might have to log in on the primary to do it.

 

[Jay Sacks]

I thought you need to use a Google phone number to get free visual voicemail from Google.

 

[fed123]

I did the trial run and liked it but don't think it is worth the cost. Sure enough visual voice mail disappeared. I don't think there is a free version of it. I went through the settings above and it is premium or plain voice mail.

 

[tgrsnpr]

I was able to get this to work using the primary person's phone. It is exactly how therealasd explained. The basic visual voicemail is free but it does not transcribe the messages for you. But its easier than calling and listening to all the options. All you have to do is press the play button on each of the messages you want to hear.

 

[therealasd]

I did the trial run and liked it but don't think it is worth the cost. Sure enough visual voice mail disappeared. I don't think there is a free version of it. I went through the settings above and it is premium or plain voice mail.

Are you sure you don't still have the Basic VVM activated? I have Premium, and when I go into the My Verizon account section, it only lists Basic, since I am already paying for the Premium. If Basic isn't listed but Premium is, it might mean you were auto-downgraded to Basic and you still have VVM.

I thought you need to use a Google phone number to get free visual voicemail from Google.

You only need a Google Voice number if you are using Google Voice (or Hangouts) to run your voicemail. In that case, When your calls go to voicemail, it forwards out to your GV number to record and store the message, then notifies you through those apps. However, Verizon offers its own Visual Voicemail, either premium with text transcription or free without, that is activated through your VZW account like I explained above. This method allows you to check and store voicemails through your Phone app, rather than through a second one.