Set up and check voicemail

Voicemail answers calls to your Spark mobile or landline when you can't. Callers can listen to your greeting and leave a message in your mailbox.

To listen to your messages you'll need your mailbox number and a PIN. Your mailbox number is your phone number with area code, but without the zero at the front. For example, if your phone number is 04 123 4567 your mailbox number is 41234567. You'll choose a PIN when you first set up your voicemail.

When you're in the voicemail menu, voice prompts will guide you in what to do. If you're not sure what to do next, wait for the menu to replay. You can press 0 at any time to get help.

Your mailbox can hold up to 237MB, which is around 1000 messages. Each message can be up to five minutes long. Once your mailbox is full callers won't be able to leave any more messages. It's a good idea to clear them regularly, including your deleted messages.

New, saved and deleted messages are automatically deleted permanently after one year. Once they are permanently deleted you can't access them anymore. So it's a good idea to save a copy of any important messages that you may want to keep longer than a year. Read below for how to do this.

1. Call into the voicemail menu from the type of phone you have:
   • Mobile: Either 122, 083210, +64 83 083210 or long press 1 on your keypad
   • Wireless landline: 122
   • Fibre landline: 083210#
   • Copper landline: 083210
2. Follow the voice prompts to set up your mailbox.
   
3. Enter a PIN.
   
4. Record your mailbox name. You'll hear your mailbox name when you call in to check your messages. It may also be played when you leave a message for someone else.
   
5. Record a personal greeting to welcome callers and invite them to leave a message.
   

Keep your PIN secret to make sure your mailbox is secure. You'll need to enter it whenever you check your mailbox from a different phone.

You can change your personal greeting, mailbox name or PIN as often as you like. To do this, call your mailbox, press 3 (personal options) from the main menu and follow the voice prompts.

If you have voicemail on a mobile you can also use the Spark Voicemail app. In the app you can have your voicemail messages transcribed into text or listen to the audio.

Find out more about the Spark Voicemail app

Tips for setting up the app:

• You'll be asked to give the app permission to do things like access your contacts so they can be linked to your messages and send push notifications so you know when you’ve got a new message. Giving permission for these features means the app will be able to work as it should.
• Sometimes notifications may not be received for various reasons such as, the mobile is on power save mode. Go to Preferences and select Receive SMS notifications to ensure you never miss a message.
• Sometimes messages do not transcribe correctly for reasons such as, the caller was on a speaker phone or there's background noise. If you prefer, you can turn off the display of transcriptions and just press the play button to listen to the message. Turn off transcriptions displaying by going to Preferences and click on Show voicemail transcription to move the slider to the left.  For Apple users there are options to turn off transcription preview and voicemail transcription.

If you have a landline you'll hear an interrupted dialtone (a series of fast beeps) when you pick up the phone. Some phones also have a message waiting indicator light.

On a mobile you'll see a voicemail icon on your notifications.

You can also opt to have an SMS message sent to your Spark mobile when there's a new message. Charges may apply for these message alerts and for checking your landline mailbox from your mobile.

To set up message alerts:

1. Call into your voicemail.
2. Press 3 for personal options.
   
3. Press 3 for message waiting notifications, ringing options or call forward options.
   
4. Press 2 to set up message notifications to a Spark mobile.
5. Follow the voice prompts.  

1. Call into the voicemail menu from the type of phone you have:
   • Mobile: Either 122, 083210, +64 083 83210 or long press 1 on your keypad
   • Wireless landline: 122
   • Fibre landline: 083210#
   • Copper landline: 083210
2. Your new messages will play automatically.
   
3. Press 1 to listen to a message again.
   
4. Press 2 to save a message.
   
5. Press 3 to delete a message.
   

If you don't delete a message before it completes playback, or within 1 second of it finishing, it will automatically save. When you listen to your saved messages they'll play in order from newest to oldest.

Remember, new and saved messages are automatically permanently deleted after one year and deleted messages are automatically permanently deleted after 60 days. Once messages are permanently deleted you can’t retrieve them, so it’s a good idea to save a copy of any important messages that you may want to keep longer than a year. Read below for how to do this. 

Listen to your messages from a different phone in New Zealand

Call charges apply if you're calling from a payphone, a mobile or a business landline.

1. Dial your own phone number.
2. When you hear the greeting, press *.
3. Enter your PIN and press #.

Alternatively, you can dial 083210. If the phone you're calling from also has voicemail, press ** when you reach the main menu. You'll then be prompted for your mailbox number and PIN.

Listen to your messages from overseas

International call charges apply.

1. Dial the international access code of the country you're calling from.
   
2. Dial +64 83 083210.
3. Enter your mailbox number. This is your area code and phone number with the the zero dropped off the start.
   
4. Enter your PIN.
   
5. Follow the voice prompts.  

The default number of rings before a call goes to voicemail on a landline is seven. You can change this if it doesn't suit you.

1. Call into your voicemail.
   
2. Select 3 for personal options.
   
3. Press 3 for message waiting notifications, ringing options or call forward options.
4. Press 5 to choose the number of rings.
   
5. Enter the number of rings between 0 and 9, or press #. If you choose 0, calls will go straight to your voicemail without ringing first. If you choose # calls won't go to voicemail at all. The phone will ring until you answer or the caller hangs up.
6. Follow the voice prompts.

Your PIN is between four and 10 digits long. It can't start with a zero, have digits in the same order as your phone number, or be an easy to guess sequence like 12345 or 2333333. Keep your PIN secret so your mailbox is secure.

Change your PIN

1. Call into your voicemail.
2. Press 3 for personal options.
   
3. Press 2 for PIN set up options.
4. Press 1 to change your PIN.
   
5. Follow the voice prompts.
   

Forgot your PIN?

You'll need to talk to Spark to get it reset.

Message us

Book a call

Skip PIN

You can choose whether you want your mailbox to be protected with a PIN when calling from your own phone. Skip PIN is on by default.

To turn Skip PIN on or off:

1. Call into your voicemail.
   
2. Press 3 for personal options.
   
3. Press 2 for PIN set up options.
   
4. Press 3 for Skip PIN.
   
5. Press 1 to turn Skip PIN on or off.
   

You'll still need to enter your PIN when calling your mailbox from a different phone or from overseas.

Your greeting is what callers hear when they reach your voicemail. It can be up to two minutes long. You can record your own personalised greeting or use a system-generated one.

You can also choose to have different greetings for when you haven't answered and when your phone is busy.

To change your greeting:

1. Call into your voicemail.
2. Press 3 for personal options.
   
3. Press 1 for greetings or mailbox name.
   
4. Choose what you want to do:
   • Press 1 to record a personal greeting
   • Press 2 for a temporary greeting
   • Press 3 to use a system-generated greeting
   • Press 4 to set up a greeting when your phone is busy
5. Follow the voice prompts.

Your mailbox name may be played when you leave a message for someone else.

To change your mailbox name:

1. Call into your voicemail.
2. Press 3 for personal options.
3. Press 1 for greetings or mailbox name.
4. Press 3 to record your mailbox name.
5. Follow the voice prompts.

You can copy a message that's important to you, then save it in a safe place like a cloud back-up or computer. 

Voicemail on your mobile

You can save a copy of a voicemail message using the Spark Voicemail app.

Get the Spark Voicemail app

1. Open the Spark Voicemail app.
2. Open the voicemail message you want to copy.
3. Select share.
4. Select audio or transcription.
5. Choose the app you want to share the file to. For example, email, Messenger, SMS.
6. The file will be sent to your chosen app as a .wav file. You can then save the file to a safe location such as a cloud back-up or computer.

Voicemail on your landline

There are a couple of ways you can save a copy of voicemail messages from your landline.

1. Use a recording device
   Record your message then store the recording somewhere safe, such as your cloud back-up or computer.
2. Forward the message to a Spark mobile
   If you or a loved one has a Spark mobile phone, you can forward the message to the mobile phone’s voicemail inbox by pressing 5. Then, on the mobile phone, open the Spark Voicemail app and use the ‘Share’ option to save the message somewhere safe, such as a cloud back-up, a computer or your email.

You can request any personal information that Spark holds about you, including voicemail messages. We can send a copy of your voicemail messages to your email. Or, we can post them to you on a CD or a USB drive.

If your request requires a CD, USB drive or physical delivery, we may charge you a fee to cover these costs. We will discuss this with you before going ahead.

Request a copy of your personal information

You can leave a message in someone else's mailbox, or for a group of mailboxes using a distribution list. You can send the message straight away or schedule it to send up to 15 days in the future.

Send a message

1. Call into your voicemail.
2. Press 2 to send a message.
3. Enter the mailbox or distribution list number you want the message to go to.
4. Record your message.

If you want to schedule the message you just recorded to go out later:

1. Press 4 for delivery options.
2. Press 4 for future delivery.
3. To deliver it today press #.
4. To deliver it on a specific date:
   • Enter two digits for the day followed by two digits for the month. For example, 26 January would be 2601. Then press #.
   • Enter the time you want it delivered, followed by 1 for AM or 2 for PM. For example, 2:35pm would be 2352. Then press #.

In the delivery options menu you can also add whether the message is private or urgent, or request a confirmation.

Set up a distribution list

You can have up to 20 distribution lists with a maximum of 99 recipients.

To set up a distribution list:

1. Call into your voicemail.
2. Press 3 for personal options.
3. Press 5 for distribution lists.
4. Press 1 to add a new distribution list.
5. Follow the voice prompts.

If you've deleted a message by mistake:

1. Call into your voicemail.
   
2. Press 4 for deleted messages.
   
3. Your deleted messages will play in order from oldest to newest. If you have a lot of messages to play through, press 99 to skip to the end of each message.
   
4. Press 2 to save a message.
   
5. Press 3 to permanently delete a message.  

Remember, new and saved messages are automatically permanently deleted after one year and deleted messages are automatically permanently deleted after 60 days. Once messages are permanently deleted you can’t retrieve them, so it’s a good idea to save a copy of any important messages that you may want to keep longer than a year. 

Transfer to an Operator lets you set up the option for callers to go through to another number.

For example, your greeting could say “Sorry, I’m unavailable right now, but please press 0 to go through to my mobile. Otherwise leave me a message after the tone."

Set up Transfer to an Operator

1. Call into your voicemail.
   
2. Press 3 for personal options.
   
3. Press 7 for additional settings.
4. If you haven't already set up an operator number, press 1 to add an operator number.
   
5. Press 2 to set up your operator schedule.
6. Select the day to change schedule hours for:
   • Press 1 for Monday
   • Press 2 for Tuesday
   • Press 3 for Wednesday
   • Press 4 for Thursday
   • Press 5 for Friday
   • Press 6 for Saturday
   • Press 7 for Sunday
7. Once you've selected the day:
   • Enter start time between 0000 and 1159, then press 1 for AM or 2 for PM.
   • Enter end time of at least 15 minutes after start time, between 0000 and 1159, then press 1 for AM or 2 for PM.
8. To use these times, press 1.
9. To change these times, press 2.
10. To use the same time periods for another day, select the day:
    • Press 1 for Monday
    • Press 2 for Tuesday
    • Press 3 for Wednesday
    • Press 4 for Thursday
    • Press 5 for Friday
    • Press 6 for Saturday
    • Press 7 for Sunday
11. Repeat for all the days you want set up for these times.
12. Once you've set up all your days and times, press # to confirm your changes.

Important things to know

• The operator number needs to be added before the schedule can be set up. The schedule then needs to be added before the operator number will work.
• Transfer to an Operator is available on your landline or pay monthly mobile. If the option isn't available on your mailbox, contact us and ask us to enable operator assistance on your voicemail. Message us
• Calls can't be forwarded to international or 0800 numbers.
• Call charges for calls forwarded from your voicemail will be billed to the same account your voicemail is on.

Leave a message in your own mailbox

1. Dial 08320 0000 from your own phone.
2. Leave a message.

Voicemail shortcuts

New and saved messages last 365 days. After that, they delete automatically.

Deleted messages stay in your deleted messages folder for 60 days. After that they delete automatically.

Occasionally, messages might last longer in voicemail. For example, if the platform’s storage capacity is extended while updates are carried out. But normally, the above timeframes apply.

If you have important voicemail messages you don't want to lose, it’s a good idea to make copies and save them somewhere safe. See Save copies of important messages above for more information on how to do this.