How to Change Your Skype Voicemail Message

By Shea Laverty

The Voice Messages tab in the Options menu.
i Image courtesy of Skype.

Just like voicemail, Skype's voice-messaging feature redirects incoming calls to a greeting message, then records a message from the caller. Available on the Windows, Mac and Linux versions of Skype, voice messaging is a free service requiring no downloads or plug-ins. Most of the setup takes place within Skype itself, but the initial step requires that you fire up your Web browser and connect to the Skype website.

Step 1

The "Manage Features" section of the website's profile.
i Image courtesy of Skype.

Sign in to your account on the Skype website and click "Voice Messages" under the Manage Features menu. Skype doesn't feature the ability to activate voice messaging from within the program, so this is the only way to activate it.

Step 2

The button for enabling voice messaging on the Skype website.
i Image courtesy of Skype.

Click the button for enabling voice messages. You can tell that it's been enabled when the button turns green and shows a check mark.

Step 3

The Options heading of the Tools menu.
i Image courtesy of Skype.

Open the Skype program and click "Tools," followed by "Options."

Step 4

The "Voice Messages" tab of the Options menu.
i Image courtesy of Skype.

Click the "Calls" button in the menu, followed by "Voice Messages."

Step 5

The Voice Messages options menu.
i Image courtesy of Skype.

Click the "Receive unanswered calls as a voice message" check box. Skype has several options on this menu for when it records voice messages. These include how long Skype should wait before recording a message, if it should record messages while you're already in a call or if you reject an incoming call.

Step 6

The record button.
i Image courtesy of Skype.

Click the red "Record" button and begin recording your message. Wait for the beep, then speak clearly into your microphone. Move close enough to the mic that you don't have to raise your voice too much. Maintain at least 6 to 8 inches of distance, however, so your breathing doesn't create any additional noise.

Step 7

The stop button.
i Image courtesy of Skype.

Click the red "Stop" button when you've finished recording.

Step 8

The play button.
i Image courtesy of Skype.

Click the blue "Play" button to review your recorded greeting. If you don't like it, click the record button once more and try again. You can also click the red reset button next to the record button, to reset Skype to the default voice message greeting.

Step 9

Click "Save" to finalize your voice-messaging settings. If you close the options menu without saving you will lose all of your changes.

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