Wiktel Services

Step 1: Prepare your name, message and pass code.
Think of a four digit pass code for your mail box using the numbers 0-9 on your telephone key pad.

Think of a name for your mailbox (usually your name): "Jane and Tom Doe".

Write down a message for your mail box. Make the message simple and short, and be respectable. Your message will leave a lasting impression on people, either of a positive, professional person, or a crude, clumsy, klutz. Remember, people other than your closest buddies will have to listen to the message. Example: "This is Jane and Tom Doe, we are not available at this time. Please leave a detailed message after the tone, including your name and phone number. We will get back to you as soon as possible." Example without a name: "We are not available at this time. Please leave a detailed message after the tone, including your name and phone number. We will get back to you as soon as possible."

Put all of this information on the form below to set up your mailbox.

Step 2: Set up your mail box.

(1) lift up your handset and get dial tone.

(2) Press 333
You should hear "Hello mailbox < and your telephone number >."Please enter your pass code."

(3) Enter 1234 from your keypad for this first time.
You should hear "Hello, I will be helping you to set up your personal voice mailbox by entering a pass code, recording a greeting for callers, and recording a name for your mailbox. I will tell you which keys to press. Let's begin by changing your pass code to one you have selected. Your new pass code can be one to four digits in length. Please enter it now."

(4) Enter the pass code you decided upon. __ __ __ __
You should hear "Your pass code has been changed to __ __ __ __ . To discard your pass code and enter a new pass code press 3, or to save your pass code and continue press 9."

(5) Press 9 when correct.
You should hear "Now let's record a greeting for your callers. Be sure to say your name and request that your caller leave a detailed message, including their name and a phone number. Please record your greeting after the tone. Press the Pound Key (#) when finished."

(6) Record your greeting:
______________________________________________________.

You will again have the opportunity to listen to, re-record, or go on. Press 9 when you are
ready to go on. HINTS: Be in a quiet place so no noise is picked up. Be aware of your breathing. Try to breath in just before the tone sounds so your breathing is not recorded. Remember to push the # key about a second after your last word. Long periods of silence can cause you to lose the first part of a caller's message. Practice your message so that it is smooth and friendly. Listen to it, and do it over again until you get it right. If your voice is not very phone friendly, get someone with a very nice phone voice to put your message on for you. Your personal success, and the success of your business, is very much affected by the sound of the voice which answers your phone.

Next you will hear: "Finally we are going to record a name for your voice mail box. Record your first and last name if this is a mailbox for personal use, or a title such as customer service center if the box is for other uses."

(7) Record your name or department.
After listening to and re-recording to your satisfaction, press 9 to continue. HINTS: Be as careful recording your name as you were recording your message. Be sure to press the # key right after saying your name so there is no confusing pause. (The name part of your voice mail box will only be heard when you call your own mail box, or when you use the special voice mail features available from Wikstrom Telephone Company, like Auto-attendant boxes. Only the message will be heard by callers for basic residential calls.)

Step 3: Turn your voice mail box on.
First decide how many times you want your phone to ring before it transfers to voice mail.
Either 4 or 5 times is a good number for residential usage. If it takes you longer to get to the
phone, you may want to set it higher.

(1) Pick up your handset and listen for dial tone.
Dial *92 (or 1192), then after the special dial tone sounds press the number of rings you want (2-9)
followed by the number 333. [example: *92 <tone> 5 333 ]

(2) One the voice processing machine answers ("Hello mailbox ……" etc.), hang up immediately after the message starts playing.
Your voice mail box is now set up to answer whenever your phone rings more than the designated number of times. If you need more time to answer the phone when you are home, turn your voice mail box off as explained below, then go through step 3 again, increasing the number of rings prior to transfer. (Don’t forget the single digit number of rings before pressing 333.)

To Retrieve your messages, or change your mail box setup.
Whenever you have messages, you will hear an intermittent dial tone (stutter dial tone). If you have a message waiting light on your phone, it will be flashing.

Pick up your handset and listen for dial tone. Dial 333. Follow the instructions given by the voice mail system. You may retrieve your messages, or change your mailbox setup. When finished, pressing 9 to exit the system before hanging up uses system resources better than just hanging up (you will hear “thank you for calling, good bye”).

To Retrieve your messages from another telephone.
Dial your number. As soon as you begin to hear your message press the star key (*). Then
follow the instructions given by the voice mail machine.

To turn off your voice mail box.
Pick up your handset and listen for dial tone. Dial *93 (or 1193). Hang up after hearing the special tone.

Transferring to voice mail when you are busy.
If you would prefer to have messages go to voice mail when you are on the phone, rather than use call waiting:
Pick up your handset and listen for dial tone. Press *90 (or 1190). Listen for the special tone. Then Dial 333.
Wait until you hear the Wikstrom Voice Processing System answering.
Hang up.
To deactivate this feature. Get dial tone. Press *91 (or 1191). Hang up after hearing the special tone.

If you do not have a touch tone phone.
Touch tone service is free from the Wikstrom Telephone Company. But you must have a touch tone phone to use the voice mail system. Call the Wikstrom Telephone Company to arrange for a touch tone phone. But be sure to consider getting a call waiting light and digital display of digital features on the phone if you get a new one. Call 436-2922.

To get a message waiting light. (all prices subject to change)
This service is only available if you get telephone access from Wikstrom

Since basic voice mail is free to Wikstrom customers, you will get a message waiting light indication whenever you have voice mail messages for no extra charge, in addition to the stutter dial tone. You do need a phone with a message waiting indicator on it, however, or have a message waiting indicator light attached to your phone. (In the not too distant future, the message waiting light will also be programmed to let you know about e-mail messages.)

Call our service center to order a message waiting indicator light for your phone ($ 30, including shipping/handling), or get a phone with a message waiting indicator built in. A new phone with message waiting light will be $1.80 per month(+$25 down). If you get a new phone, you should get a phone with both the message waiting light, and the digital display features (caller ID etc.), since all of these features are free from Wikstrom. A full featured phone can be rented for only $2.40 per month(+$30 down). (Rented phones include full maintenance of phone and house wiring from Wikstrom.) To upgrade your current leased phone, you must pay an upgrade fee of $ 45 (or more if applicable), plus the additional monthly amount. Or just continue to rent your current phone as an extension for 60 cents per month (basic phone). Call 436-2922.

Remember, of course, that the intermittent (“stutter”) dial tone will work on your present phone. The blinking light adds a visual notice that you have a message.

Distribution Lists
You can make a message in the voice mail machine, and have it delivered to several other mail boxes.

Teacher Example: Teacher should check to see that parents are using their voice mail boxes. If they are not, messages should not be sent to those boxes, so that the parents are not confused by the stutter dial tone. The teacher should create a distribution list with all of the telephone numbers of the students or their parents on the list. Follow the instructions from the voice mail machine after calling in to 333 to change your options.

The teacher can then create a message and have it delivered to all mail boxes which are in use. Follow the instructions of the voice mail machine for "make new message" by pressing 6 at the main menu. You will be prompted to "Enter a mailbox number to deliver the message to, or press the star (*) key followed by a distribution list number." Press the star (*) key and then the number you assigned to the distribution list for your students. Record the message after the tone, pressing the pound key (#) as soon as the message is ended. Then continue following instructions to deliver the message. The message will go to all of the mailboxes on the list, and will turn on stutter dial tone, and a message waiting light on phones equipped for the message waiting light. HINTS: The message should contain basic information. Example: "This is Jane Doe, 1st grade teacher at the Middle River School. The assignment for March 21st is as follows: English…, read pages 100-120, do exercises on page 121. Math…, read pages 210 through 212… Do the odd problems on page 213 except for 19, 21, and 23. Science…, read pages 98 through 110... Do problems 4, 8, 11, and 15."

Remember to write out the message before creating it. Be professional. Check your gasps for breath. State the message clearly and slowly enough so that it can be understood. Check it and redo it until it is right. Be sure your voice is positive and cheerful. Do not scold, warn, or complain. Take negatives out of your messages. Remember that the whole world might hear the message at some point. Use words frugally, with the message no longer than absolutely necessary. Wordy messages are boring, frustrating, unprofessional, and are often disregarded.

Sending a Voice Mail Message without Calling another party
Follow the same instructions as for a distribution list, except send it to one mail box (local telephone number), rather than to a distribution list. [This only works for local 7 digit numbers]. When you want to send a message, but do not want to talk with someone, this is the time wise way to do so. HINT: Don't send voice mail messages when an e-mail message, fax, or letter are more appropriate. Use these rules of thumb. (1) If the other person has to write down what you have to say, send it in writing - e-mail, fax, or letter. If the person can listen to the message without writing it down, use voice mail. (2) If you are sending instructions on what to do, send it in writing. By writing it, you will use discipline to do a better job of laying out the instructions. There will be less chance to get it wrong.

Don't abuse the system. Unnecessarily excessive use of voice mail options may result in charges being assessed for their use.

Call Routing Options
When setting up or changing your user options select "edit call routing options" at the appropriate point in the instructions from the voice mail machine. Put the number in that you want the call re-routed to.

Then change your message to let your caller know about the call routing option. Example: "This is Jane Doe, I am not available at this time. If you want to reach my assistant, John Roe, press 1. Otherwise leave your name and telephone number, along with a detailed message after the tone and I will get back to you.".

In this example if the caller presses 1 on their touch tone pad, the call will be transferred to
John Roe's telephone number as you programmed under call routing options. Otherwise a message will be taken. However, a call can only be made to a local number. Special arrangements must be made with the service center in order to transfer to a long distance number. HINT: Always tell your caller what the option is before telling them what number to press. This is especially important if you have more than one number to press. And always have the call routing options at the beginning of the message, not at the end. Otherwise the message will start recording before the caller has a chance to press a touch tone key, and the routing will not take place.

Notification
You can have your pager (or another number) notified when you have a voice message in your mail box. Arrangements must be made with the service center to send notification to a number. There is no charge to notify a Wikstrom phone, or a Unicel pager or phone. But any other long distance number will require additional charges. When set up, follow instructions to select user options, the notification plan, then press 2 to activate or de-activate notification.

Other Advanced Features
There are many additional advanced features available, such as auto-attendant boxes (mail boxes which answer the phone and direct calls). There are modest monthly charges for some of these advanced features. If you have a business or enterprise where these features might be useful, contact our service center to make arrangements to obtain these services.

Voice Mail Setup