One Touch V-mail: Skip the Password

Inquisitive reader Richard writes in to ask, "Is it possible to create a one key fast dial contact to my voice mail ... include my password ... so I wouldn't have to enter it fresh each time I access my voice mail .. ?" Good question Richard, and thanks for writing in.

Yes, in fact, it appears that you can indeed access your messages on your VX8300 using a speed dial, bypassing that pesky password step. Here's how to do it:

1. From the main screen, press OK twice to make a new contact.


2. Name your contact something along the lines of Voicemail.


3. In one of the phone number fields, enter your cell phone's 10-digit cell phone, and don't press SAVE. Instead press Options, choose (3)Add Pause, and (2)2-Sec Pause. Don't press save yet.


4. Now enter your voicemail password and a pound sign (#).


5. To add this contact as a speed dial, press Options again, and choose Speed Dial. Pick an unused Speed Dial number. Now, confirm and save.


6. To listen to your voicemails without typing in your password, simply press and hold your new speed dial number.

The way this works is your speed dial calls your phone, which provides access to your voicemail. Your phone then waits for the password prompt with the 2-second pause, and automatically enters your password and a pound to confirm, just as if you entered it yourself. Remember to be careful with this method, as anybody with access to your VX8300 potentially has access to your voicemail password by looking through your contacts. If you haven't read it already, here's another article about adding shortcuts to make using your VX8300 even easier.

Addendum (8/18/05): If you'd prefer to use the speed dial "1" to call your voicemail without a password, see the anonymous comment below for instructions. Thanks for the contribution, and I encourage other people to write in with tips.