This morning, I unexpectedly ran into a frustrating reality. The functionality within Alexa that once enabled me to retrieve voicemails from my phone when it wasn’t on has now disappeared. The alternative workarounds? “They all seem to come with a fee!”
For years, I could check my Verizon voicemail through Alexa. That option is now gone. Not having a landline, I started looking for alternatives using Copilot to do some cursory research. Here’s what I found:
- Remote Access: You can still dial your own Verizon number from any phone, press pound, and enter your PIN before pressing pound again. This works even if your Verizon phone is off. “But it requires another phone!”
- Voicemail-to-Text: It appears that Verizon offers this as a paid add on. From what I understand, it transcribes voicemails and can send them as texts. “Not helpful when phone is off.”
- One Talk Voicemail-to-Email: A business-focused service that supposedly delivers voicemail audio files directly to your inbox. Again, from what I’m reading, “It costs extra!”
Third-Party Apps: From what I’ve gathered, too, services like YouMail or Google Voice can capture voicemail and forward it to email. “Sometimes at lower costs?”
When I asked Copilot whether Microsoft Teams could be a workaround, the answer was mixed. Copilot says Teams has its own voicemail, but it doesn’t connect to Verizon’s system unless you’re on Verizon Mobile for Microsoft Teams (VMMT), which is a business service.
Of course, Copilot points out that you can technically dial into Verizon voicemail from Teams if your account has outbound calling enabled, but that requires a Teams Phone license plus a Calling Plan. In other words, “More fees!”
Copilot also says that the new Microsoft 365 Premium (consumer) doesn’t include outbound calling minutes. I kind of figured that would be the case since Microsoft killed off Skype back in May.
It’s pretty clear to me: what used to be included is now going to be increasingly carved up into add-ons. Accessibility features like voicemail-to-email are going to be treated as premium, even though they should be baseline. And why would Verizon, Microsoft, Amazon, and others in the industry be giving less for more? More than likely, “So you have to leave your nosey little smart phone on at all times.”
However, if that’s the way they want to play it, I can work with that, too. Airplaine Mode is still available. I’ll simply switch it on when I want total piece and quiet, above and beyond what do not disturb can offer “Until They Kill that Feature as Well”.
