How to silence voicemails? A call for help from the Cisco community!?!

[AlexDM]

I can't find any info in the online manuals for a Cisco IP handset, so would appreciate some help.

We have a psychology service. When a client calls and the receptionist is busy, the client can leave a voicemail.

Problem is, the caller's voice can be heard by other clients in the waiting area (near reception). This is obviously a privacy concern.

How can we make it so that voicemails are not broadcast like this?

We currently have a Uniden phone but intend to replace it with a Cisco IP 8841.

Perhaps the same outcome can be achieved by attaching a headset?

I'd appreciate some help from the Cisco community!!!

[b.winter]

What you mean with "the caller's voice can be heard..."? You mean, when the receptionist calls the voicemail to listen to it?

[AlexDM]

Hi b.winter. I mean, as the caller leaves their voicemail, as the voicemail is recording, the voice comes over the speaker, and so it can be heard by everyone within earshot of the speaker. We do not want this to happen. I can't find anything about this in the Cisco manual (nor could I find it in the Uniden manual for the existing phone system).

[b.winter]

I don't understand the technical problem.

If I land on the VM system, how should somebody else hear the VM system recording the call? I mean, it's not like the VM system has a loudspeaker or any audio output device attached...
Somebody else only can hear, what I am saying. And this cannot be prevented, if I am in public and people are next to me.

[AlexDM]

Hi b.winter. With the Uniden phone, the phone broadcasts over the speaker (where anyone within earshot can hear) the ringtone and the caller's voice as they leave a voicemail. I guess what you are saying is this is not something that occurs with a Cisco IP phone. If that is the case, then that would indeed solve the problem. But I cannot find anything in the Cisco manuals to support the assertion that voicemail recording is not broadcast over the speaker, that the "VM system" is separate from the speaker. Can you please point me to something that describes how voicemail recording works on a Cisco IP phone?

[Roger Kallberg]

When someone leaves a message on voice mail it is not played in parallel on a Cisco phone. The phone is not even in the loop when a message is left, that is between the caller, CUCM and CUC (aka the voice mail system).

[AlexDM]

Hi Roger. Thank you for the assertion. We are thinking to purchase a Cisco IP phone for use with our Telstra modem, which is connected to NBN. Will we need to do anything special with regards to "CUCM and CUC (aka the voice mail system)"? Can you please refer me to some Cisco or other documentation to support the idea that "When someone leaves a message on voice mail it is not played in parallel on a Cisco phone"? I do get that you and b.winter are asserting this. I just want to double confirm it before we actually purchase a Cisco IP phone. 

[Roger Kallberg]

Sounds like you do not use Cisco Communication Manager nor Cisco Unity Connection. If so you need to have MPP software on the Cisco phone to use it with a 3:rd party SIP phone system. I have no experience with that, so I cannot help you with regards to that.

[Deepak Kumar R]

Hello @AlexDM If the third party (non cisco) phone is playing the voice messages via speaker then isn't a problem with the phone itself ? However, there are other alternatives to retrieve voice messages. Have you tried the Cisco Unity Web Inbox ? It is a web interface that lets you to play and manage voice messages on a computer.  Check out the below end user guide. https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/td/docs/voice_ip_comm/connection/12x/quick_start/guide/b_12xcucqsginbox.html

[AlexDM]

Thanks Deepak. The Uniden phone is past its use by date. So we are looking to replace it. I want to ensure the Cisco IP phone will not have the issue of broadcasting voice as it is being recorded. I'm happy you have referred me to an alternative solution to potentially solve this with the original phone, but actually, we are going to replace it. I'm just trying to confirm the Cisco IP phone will not have the same problem. I am now wondering if I am going to have troubles setting up the Cisco IP phone for use with Telstra, given the references to CUCM and CUC and now Cisco Unity Web inbox. I'd like to just buy a phone and plug it in (like we did with the original phone, but without the broadcasting of voice during the recording of voicemail).

[Deepak Kumar R]

Hello @AlexDM The cisco phone will have a speaker button and a handset. If you press the speaker button and then click on the Voicemail button then voice messages will play on speaker, because that is the option selected by the user. So you need to ensure the end user / front desk executive is using the handset while retrieving the voice message. The other option is buy a compatible headset for that IP phone.

[b.winter]

As @Roger Kallberg tried to explain:
When talking about a setup with all Cisco, the caller is directly connected to the VM system. Like you would be if you call a normal cell-phone number and you reach the voicemail of this cellphone.
So the voice is flowing between the caller and the voicemail-system. Caller <--> Voicemail

But it seems, the system you are using has some kind of "special" config / features, where the caller's voice is not only flowing to the voicemail system, but also flowing to a phone.

So, you have to check with someone, if this behaviour can be disabled. But this is not a question to be asked in a CISCO forum, because your telephony system is not Cisco.

And honestly, I couldn't give you the promise, if this problem is resolved when you plug in a Cisco phone instead (without even knowing, if a Cisco phone even works at all with that telephony system).

What I'm trying to say is:
You have to get in touch with someone, who admins / knows your telephony system.

[Nithin Eluvathingal]

If I understood your problem correctly, For the client sitting on the waiting area not to hear the communication try to reduce the handset volume. to a level no  one hear  except the receptionist. And never use a speaker option.

Other option will be a head set. 

If you keep the volume of the handset high its normal  that the communications can be heard by other person who is near.

Even on our  mobile phone, if the  headset volumes are high the communication can be heard by a near by person and its normal.