Spark Voicemail Upgrade - Caller Name Gone?

Forums › Spark New Zealand (including Skinny and BigPipe) › Spark Voicemail Upgrade - Caller Name Gone?

MikeAqua

7773 posts

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#279712 3-Nov-2020 09:16

Spark VM notification SMS messages (messages ad missed calls) used to display the caller's name if they were in your contacts folder. This no longer happens. You just get the contacts number in the SMS.

Is this meant to be the case or is something wrong.

Is there a way to turn VM off altogether? It's no use to me and frankly just a waste of time to delete them all. If I miss a call from someone I call them back. So much easier. My VM message currently says "Whatever you do don't leave a message". But of course people do...

Mike

antonknee

1133 posts

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#2596800 3-Nov-2020 09:31

If I recall correctly, the missed call/notification text was sent from the number that called you? But yes this does seem to have changed.

Why not call and ask for voicemail to be switched off - so it just rings out? I had this set up on both my old Spark personal line and my old Spark business line.

MikeAqua

7773 posts

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#2596830 3-Nov-2020 10:22

antonknee:

If I recall correctly, the missed call/notification text was sent from the number that called you? But yes this does seem to have changed.

Yeah, not really an upgrade from a user perspective.

I actually found the missed call notification useful for calls I missed when out of coverage (happens a lot).

I could access the notification SMS in Carplay, and because it was from the contact I could call them with a single tap. Now, all the messages come from 083210, so there are more steps.

Mike

Geektastic

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#2600288 9-Nov-2020 08:58

Was anything actually improved in the upgrade?

MikeAqua

7773 posts

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#2600304 9-Nov-2020 09:18

Geektastic: Was anything actually improved in the upgrade?

From a user perspective, not as far as I can tell. I would say it has gone backward, because I get less info in notifications.

Mike

Yoban

447 posts

Ultimate Geek

#2600340 9-Nov-2020 09:50

I thought mentioned in the SMS I got about the pending upgrade that as a result I would be able to use a new voicemail app - Visual Voicemail (https://www.spark.co.nz/shop/mobile-plans/visual-voicemail.html)

allan

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#2600428 9-Nov-2020 11:56

Another issue encountered is that having listened to a message, it now gets automatically saved, rather than staying as a new message and requesting you to delete/save. Anyone know if this can be configured to behave as it used to? Have checked all user settings and called Spark, who didn't know and "will call back" (still waiting).

The use case in this scenario is a shared voicemail box that a number of people need to check and last person in chain deletes it. Now not appearing as a new message once the first person has listened.

muppet

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#2600435 9-Nov-2020 12:29

Geektastic: Was anything actually improved in the upgrade?

You can instantly listen to the new message in the app. And if you're in a meeting you can read the (often hilarious) transcript to get a "flavour" of what the message is about.

I think it's much better.

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chevrolux

4962 posts

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#2600462 9-Nov-2020 13:23

MikeAqua:

Geektastic: Was anything actually improved in the upgrade?

From a user perspective, not as far as I can tell. I would say it has gone backward, because I get less info in notifications.

Apart from Visual Voicemail... but yea, nothing much lol...

dfnt

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#2613168 30-Nov-2020 11:42

Just noticed this too, I just get a text from 083210 about a VM or missed call

I preferred the old way where the text was received from the number that called, and they had a direct dial number straight to the VM if they left one.

So I take it this feature has been lost in the "upgrade"?

cthombor

81 posts

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Lifetime subscriber

#2626692 25-Dec-2020 12:29

As at 15 December 2020, Spark released another downgrade to its free voicemail service -- it no longer reveals the callback number in either the txt notification of a voicemail message nor (AFAIK) in any affordance available through calling their free voicemail service on 083210.

I think my choices are: 1) change my pre-pay provider; 2) pay Spark another $1 every 28 days; 3) subscribe to a third-party voicemail service; 4) go to the trouble and annoyance of matching-times on the missed-calls log in my phone with the timestamps on the missed-call notification txts (in the hope that the txt is promptly delivered); or 5) not call back anyone whose voice I don't recognise, unless they reveal their callback number in their voice message. So annoying. But I *do* have choices ;-)

NzBeagle

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#2626706 25-Dec-2020 14:47

If possible in your scenario, installing the app works better than anything they previously offered. Don't even need to listen anymore.

richms

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#2626709 25-Dec-2020 15:11

MikeAqua:

Is there a way to turn VM off altogether? It's no use to me and frankly just a waste of time to delete them all. If I miss a call from someone I call them back. So much easier. My VM message currently says "Whatever you do don't leave a message". But of course people do...

I went off at someone from a financial place that kept leaving messages despite my message saying not to and to send me a SMS or email instead. They said it is their company policy that they have to leave a message that doesnt identify who they are and just asked for a call back on a number about "an important financial matter" for "privacy reasons" so I just ignored them assuming that it was spam since no caller ID, no dealings with a place that would be calling me and the fact that the 0800 number they wanted me to call was not on google anywhere.

Richard rich.ms