How to Download Voicemail Messages

Have you ever received a really special voicemail message?  Maybe it was a heart-warming message from your child, a special greeting from one of your favorite family members or a memorable voice message from a loved one who passed away.  So how do you get it off your phone and have the ability to listen whenever you think of them, without the risk of accidentally deleting it?

Plenty of people are now using Google Voice to download voicemail messages. The popular service enables you to permanently store all voicemail data in a cloud or forward it to your email for equally permanent storage. However, if you still rely on your carrier’s standard voice system there are a number of options available to still permanently save your messages.

Carriers Are More Trouble Than They Are Worth

Using your carrier’s standard voice messaging procedure to save these messages can be a pain in the butt! Although, if you have an iPhone, you can use the phone’s voicemail app to store your messages via iTunes to your computer, but the audio files are stored in unreadable configuration which requires some skills to understand.  The same can be said of Android users. If your smartphone and its provider do not offer a premium visual voicemail service, your voice messages will always be stored on your carrier’s server and not in your phone’s memory and can be deleted at any time. So, what can you do to save voice messages permanently? Well, you would be amazed at how easy it is actually, just take a look below for step by step instructions on how you can store your voicemail:

Record using a Skype plugin

If you want to record a loved one’s voicemail message greeting, all you have to do is dial the number of your loved one from your Skype account and install an audio recorder program on your computer. The most popularly used programs are Pamela or g-recorder, use either one of them and record your conversation and store it on your computer.

Direct audio transfer to computer

If you want to download a voicemail left for you by a loved one or anybody else and you don’t want to delete them, all you need to do is get a 3.5mm male to male cable (you can use your phone’s cable) to store all your voice mails on your computer. Once all files have been transferred, proceed to install a sound recorded program on your computer. You can either use Windows sound recorder, GarageBand (for Mac users) or Audacity.

Save to phone with an app

As a last resort, you can use different voice recorder applications. For example, Call Recorder is for Android users or Voice Record Pro for IOS users. You can use these applications to record your calls and toggle them on or off for selected recording. Then just call your own voicemail and toggle the voicemail and toggle the record button when the message starts to play. However, these applications can be hard to find and not necessarily work with your smartphone due to several legal issues pertaining to recording telephonic conversations, but, it is still worth a shot.

Make it easy on yourself

While the methods above will help you to save a message that’s already been recorded, you can avoid this hassle in the future by switching from your carriers default voicemail system to third-party voice system. Whether it’s your carrier’s premium monthly service or a free service such as Google Voice.  Of course if your phone is destroyed by liquid, dust, dirt or sand, the methods above wouldn’t apply.  In the end, it’s about preserving the memories that are important to you.  Sometimes protecting your phone with a dust plug is a simple way to save you from heartaches and worries.