<messaging, business> Any system for sending, storing and
retrieving audio messages, like a telephone answering
machine.
A voice mailbox is typically associated with a telephone
number or extension. When the number is called and the line
is busy or not answered, the caller hears a message left by
the owner and is given instructions for leaving a message or
other available options, such as paging the individual or
being transferred to an operator. The owner of a mailbox can
change the outgoing message or listen to incoming messages
after entering a PIN. Members of a voice mail system can
generally forward or broadcast messages to other members'
boxes.
The experience of two people trying to reach other by
telephone but always reaching each other's voice mail is
referred to as "(tele)phone tag".
(1996-11-03)
Nearby terms:
vocoder « vocoding « VoD « voice mail » voice-net » Voice over IP » voice recognition
