The best visual voicemail apps

Gone are the days of calling your voicemail to enter a PIN and hear your messages. Well, you still can technically check your voicemail this way, but when visual voicemail is an option, why choose something else?

When you use visual voicemail through an app or your phone provider or manufacturer, you can see all your voicemails at once. Sometimes you can even see a transcript of the call so you know what the message is about before you even open it. Being able to see all your voicemails makes it much easier to maintain your messages and not end up with 20 messages that you just haven’t had time to delete.

What to look for in a visual voicemail app

If you do not have the ability to use a proprietary visual voicemail app through your phone’s manufacturer or provider, download a third-party app instead. While all the options on this list are researched and pretty amazing, here’s all you need to look for if you deviate from the list and search on your own:

• Ease of use: The best visual voicemail apps are easy to navigate. Even if you only get a few voice messages each month, the app should be simple enough to use so you are not afraid to check your voicemail. An ideal user interface for a visual voicemail app shows everything you need to see on the home screen so you can see your voicemails as soon as the app opens. It will also make any other settings you may want to access easy to find.
• Special features: There are some special features that come with a visual voicemail app that you may not see if you use your phone’s built-in voicemail service. One feature that most visual voicemail apps have in common is the ability to transcribe audio from a voicemail to text, so you can quickly skim a voicemail and select the important parts without having to listen to it. Some voicemail apps, such as Google Voice, also allow you to search past transcripts. You can also customize your voicemail greeting and, depending on the app, even personalize greetings for individuals. Voicemail apps will often also incorporate some form of spam blocking feature, but not always, so be sure to check if this is an important feature for you.
• Customer support: Sometimes you get an answering machine with important information about a doctor’s appointment or a job interview that you want to save. In the event that something goes wrong with the app – such as all your voicemails being deleted or not being transcribed correctly – you want to make sure that there is excellent customer service at the other end of the app.
• Cost: Since there are some amazing free options out there, you should not have to pay anything for a visual voicemail app. That said, some visual voicemail apps offer paid subscriptions that come with extra features. If you end up needing more transcribed voicemails than the free plan offers, more personal greetings or voicemails for more than one number, a paid subscription would be worth it.

How about visual answering machine through an operator or telephone manufacturer?

Before testing visual voicemail apps, make sure your phone does not already have a built-in feature for you. Through your phone’s provider or manufacturer, you may already have this smart feature on your phone just waiting to be activated.

Do a quick search on your phone for “Visual Answering Machine” and see if there is already an app installed on your phone. If anything pops up, it’s from your phone’s manufacturer; the two largest manufacturers with visual voicemail built-in are Samsung and Apple. Setting up visual voicemail via your phone’s manufacturer is pretty straightforward, and you should be able to intuitively follow the on-screen steps.

If your phone does not have a built-in, proprietary visual voicemail app, there is still an option for an app from your phone provider. Several phone companies have developed a visual voicemail app that you can download from the app store and use if you are a customer. Here are some of the most popular options out there right now:

For all the above apps, there is no iOS version. This is probably because Apple has its own visual voicemail app, which it wants people to use if they have an iPhone.

If you can not find a visual voicemail app through your phone’s provider or manufacturer, do not despair! There are plenty of other great options for you to check out.

Customize Voicemail Greetings: Voxist

Voxist is the go-to visual voicemail app for people who want a hassle-free transition from their old voicemail. Once you download the app, enter your existing phone number, create an account, and then simply follow the instructions to connect your phone number and complete the setup of your new visual answering machine.

With a free Voxist subscription, you get 10 voicemails a month transcribed into text so you can read them instead of having to listen to voicemail. You can also connect a single email account and create a personal greeting.

To get more out of Voxist, you can choose to pay for a monthly subscription. Voxist Premium ($ 4.99 per month) gives you 30 transcripts and five personal greetings each month. Or you can get Voxist Pro ($ 9.99 per month) to get 100 transcripts each month and unlimited personal greetings for everyone on your contact list. Voxist Pro also allows you to read your voicemails in over 70 different languages.

There is also no limit to the number of voicemails you can store in Voxist. Although there are only a certain number of transcripts available per month, you can receive and save as many voicemails as you want.

Great for blocking spam calls: YouMail

Today, it seems that robocalls and spam calls are much more frequent, and it does not seem to matter how many numbers you block because there are always more. YouMail is an app with two main purposes – visual voicemail and blocking spam calls – and it’s an excellent choice for those who constantly have to deal with both.

The app’s built-in call blocking is updated every hour with new spam numbers to help recognize and block them if they call you. You can also manually block others from your contacts if you need it, like an ex who will not leave you alone or an insurance agent who does not seem to understand that you no longer need their services .

The free, ad-supported version of YouMail blocks the worst robo calls, marks calls as spam when recognized, transcribes your voicemails into text, and lets you record personal greetings for everyone. You only have access to the free version of self-service support, so if you think you can take advantage of live chat and email support, you’ll have to upgrade to the Plus plan for $ 5.99 per person. month.

In addition to the extra customer support, the Plus plan promises to block all unwanted robo calls, send transcripts to you via email or text message if prompted, and show zero ads. This paid plan also helps capture spam calls while they are taking place and even sometimes plays ‘Number Disconnected’ tones, resulting in your number being removed from call lists.

Good for another track: Google Voice

If you want to give a different phone number to resellers, service providers or others than the family, the Google Voice app is for you. All you need is an existing Google Account and you’re well on your way. Once you have set up your account, you will be able to create a unique number for use with Google Voice.

You can also use your existing phone number with the app, even though porting your existing phone number costs $ 20. Plus, transferring your current phone number to Google Voice essentially means switching phone service providers. The Google Guide to Porting an Existing Number states that your service provider cancels your phone service after porting is complete.

Google Voice automatically transcribes your voicemail into text and even lets you listen to messages while they are left for you. Calls, text messages and voicemails that go through your Google Voice number are backed up so you can easily search through your history.

You can also block annoying spam callers through the app if they have not already been detected and blocked by Google. So if you are planning to travel internationally in a little while, Google Voice is also great for making cheap international calls.

As with many other Google services, you can use Google Voice across platforms. This means that you could primarily use Google Voice on your smartphone, but then also check your voicemails through a web browser on any computer.