Comments on: How to Save Voicemail Forever on Your Mac

By: Richard K Miller

Richard K Miller — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 18:24:46 +0000

PGL, if you can call in and hear the voicemails, you should be able to record them using this process. This process will work for recording any phone call, including to your voicemail box.

By: PGL

PGL — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 14:19:18 +0000

Hi Richard,

My voicemail messages are within Skype, through my Skype Online number. Because I’ve listened to them on my iPhone, I believe they are saved locally on the iPhone (I’m not able to listen to them on my computer). The new version of Skype is a mess with iOS5 – it doesn’t even ring in – and so I need to go back to the previous version. I’d like to save my important voicemail messages before doing so… once I uninstall, I believe it will delete the messages. Thankfully, I synced my phone right before I upgraded Skype and so restoring the previous version will be easy. Will the process you’ve described here work for Skype voicemails as well? Thank you!

By: Julie D

Julie D — Sat, 18 Feb 2012 05:08:12 +0000

Richard:
I was having trouble figuring out how to open my messages when calling through Skype so I figured out this work-around. Maybe it will work for others. (I was so happy as I had been trying to save these messages of my daughter for about 2 years.) The only issue I seem to have and don’t understand is that even once I get the messages into iTunes, I still have to have Soundflower running in order to hear the messages play. If someone else can figure out how to play without Soundflower running, that would be good to know.

Saving Visual Voicemail to iTunes:

1) Open Visual Voice Mail on Android in programs.
2) Highlight message you wish to save.
3) Under “Options”, select Forward by Email.
4) Choose Yahoo Mail and type in email address. Message file will be sent.
5) Open Yahoo Mail on computer.
6) Download file.
7) Open Soundflower and iTunes apps.
Open downloaded file. It should open in the Audacity application.
9) Listen to message to determine a name for the file.
10) Go to file at top of the page and select “Export”
a) under Save As type file name
b) Save to desktop
c) Save in MP3 format
d) Hit Save
11) This will open a Metadata screen
a) Under Artist – type in caller name
b) Under Title – type in name of file
c) Under Year – type in the year of the message
d) Hit OK twice. Message will be saved in MP3 format on desktop.
12) Open MP3 file with iTunes.
13) In iTunes, the message will begin playing under Recently Added
14) Input the date and time of the message if you choose(you can find that
information on the selected message on the Android)
15) Create a playlist named Voicemail and move the message to that
folder and minimize iTunes.
16) Open the Voicemail Folder on the desktop (or wherever filed). Drag the
MP3 file into the Voicemail Folder for storage.
17) Highlight the Audacity app with the message still open.
18) Hit File – Save Project As
a) In the screen which opens, name the file again as you did the MP3 file.
b) In the save location, choose Voicemail Folder
c) Hit save.
d) The file will then be renamed and you can close it.
19) On the Visual Voice Mail on the Android, you may then erase the message.
20) Repeat for further messages. When you return to Yahoo Mail, create a folder for Voicemail and save the last message worked on in that folder.

By: Joe Ryan

Joe Ryan — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 02:41:54 +0000

thanks for the help was greatly appreciated…

By: Tricia

Tricia — Sat, 19 Nov 2011 19:34:11 +0000

Skype wasn’t working for me because of extensive dialpad issues, so I used Google and was SO RELIEVED to finally get the voicemails saved.

Follow instructions #1 and 3 above to set up Audacity and Soundflower.

In place of step #2:

(I believe I have both Google Talk and Google Voice installed — not sure which I’m technically using. Also, I’m in the “New Look” for Gmail, by the way.)

Scroll over the “Chat” button on the left side of your screen in Gmail. Click the little arrow that pops up on the right next to Chat and click on “Chat Settings” at the bottom.

On the screen that pops up, I have both microphone and speakers set to Soundflower (2ch).

Substitute Google for Skype in Step 5 — Click “Call Phone” on the left side of the screen in Gmail to get the Google dialpad.

I think that’s all I did differently. Let me know if this works!

By: Google Voice User

Google Voice User — Sat, 19 Nov 2011 04:20:49 +0000

Since Google Voice calls are free (for all US domestic calls), and Skype costs money to use when calling a phone instead of a Skype user, anyone know how to get this working to Google Voice?

By: Shawn Beatty

Shawn Beatty — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 04:31:32 +0000

Thanks for posting this!
I too was having troubles with Skype dialpad, but after upgrading to a newer version of Skype (5.3.0), everything seemed to work fine.
It seemed like I got a lot of background noise from the internal microphone? (laptop fan humming) but I was able to filter out the background noise using audacity. Maybe there is a better way to record without the noise… Tried muting skype which didn’t seem to do anything different, and turning off internal mic, which killed the audio completely.

Great tip! Glad I saved my $30 for rush processing and audio recording by doing it myself.

By: paul rich

paul rich — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 13:01:37 +0000

this was unbelievably easy to follow and helpful. thank you so much

By: dana

dana — Sat, 15 Oct 2011 14:09:06 +0000

dear richard
thank you so so much. i had a voicemail from my grandma who passed away and i could not figure out how to save it when i switched phones. thanks to your instructions i can have it forever. god bless
dana

By: Tricia

Tricia — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 04:25:27 +0000

Thank you for posting the instructions!

By: Richard K Miller

Richard K Miller — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 04:12:15 +0000

Thanks Tricia! Great idea to try Google Talk instead of Skype.

By: Tricia

Tricia — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 02:49:03 +0000

After extensive issues with the Skype dialpad, I tried Google Talk. I downloaded it for free and used pretty much the same steps listed above, substituting Google Talk for Skype. Google Talk has free calls (at least right now) in the US, and it worked perfectly!

Let me know if you have any questions — I know how important voicemails can be!

By: avgjoe

avgjoe — Mon, 27 Jun 2011 01:54:27 +0000

I tried to save my wife’s phone messages to her new MacBook Air so that she could upgrade to an iPhone without losing all her old message. My Skype couldn’t connect to Verizon voicemail correctly due to Skype DTFM issues (touch tone issues). I eventually had to use a paid service instead. So, for those who hit the same brick wall, consider http://www.savethatcall.com. It ended up costing me just a couple bucks which was worth it after wasting 3 hours trying to get around Skype’s DTFM problems.

By: Richard K Miller

Richard K Miller — Sat, 04 Jun 2011 23:21:56 +0000

Hi Julie, I was in the middle of a move and wasn’t able to answer this sooner. Hopefully you figured it out?

By: Julie D

Julie D — Sun, 01 May 2011 19:18:14 +0000

Hi there!
Please help! My mailbox is full of my daughter’s messages and I can’t accept any more. I have followed the directions on saving voicemail on my Mac but haven’t quite figured it out. I downloaded Audacity, Soundflower and Skype.
On your instructions for Audacity, I cannot find anywhere to select Soundflower as the recording device. I don’t know if this is my problem or not.
When I call my cell phone from Skype and the greeting begins playing, I am unsure how to put in the sequence to access my voicemail. If I do it on the Skype keypad, it says it is not a valid phone number. On my phone (Verizon Droid) at that point, it just shows the incoming phone number, but the phone is no longer active. If I answer before the greeting, I don’t think I would be able to access voicemail as I would just be talking to myself through Skype, correct???
I truly appreciate any help you can give me. I’ve been trying to figure out how to save these voicemails for months! Grrr! Thanks and have a nice week!

By: PDH

PDH — Sat, 19 Mar 2011 01:44:17 +0000

I had this problem initially too. I hope you solved it (and I know it was a while ago), but just in case anyone else is having this problem… Initially the soundflower folder was locked. Eventually I just went in through Finder and changed the options under “Get Info” so that everyone could read & write. I was then able to open the folder and then the program.

By: clobird

clobird — Wed, 16 Mar 2011 17:31:36 +0000

Hi there,

So, I am sure I am doing something wrong, but seem to have done everything you’ve said, step-by-step, and the audio doesn’t seem to be recording. It’s moving, but doesn’t seem to be picking up the audio from Skype. No squiggles, just a flat line down the center. Any ideas on what I could be doing incorrectly? Thanks!

By: Buck

Buck — Mon, 14 Feb 2011 22:41:19 +0000

Thanks a bunch. I feel you need to have more details in the process through your step by step on how to open soundflowerbed. It’s pretty important in the process. I figured it out on my computer and hope this works for everyone. Go to the upper level search icon(magnifying glass) click on it. Type soundflowerbed. It should come up in writing. Click on it. The black flower should appear in the upper left corner by the wifi signal. Click on it built- in output. Should work. Also everything else you listed is amazing and has really helped me out. Thanks again.

By: Richard K Miller

Richard K Miller — Sat, 12 Feb 2011 20:46:04 +0000

This has happened to me too, and I believe it’s a matter of the quality of the Skype connection not allowing the tones to be heard. Some things that have helped me are 1. to mute Skype; 2. try using the number keys on my keyboard, or (alternatively) try using the number keys on the Skype interface with the mouse; 3. make sure that when you’re entering your password, the key presses (and tones) are nice and long; 4. make sure there’s adequate space (silence) between each digit in your password, especially if your password includes repeated digits.

By: Susan

Susan — Sat, 12 Feb 2011 17:45:07 +0000

Richard,
I am able to get up to step 5 and call my cell phone from Skype and then key in my password for voicemail but it does not pick up the voicemail. The message is that the password is not valid. The password works fine on the cell phone just not from Skype.
Do you have any suggestions?

By: aybaggsch

aybaggsch — Mon, 07 Feb 2011 04:11:23 +0000

Thanks for the great tips and instructions! I was able to save my vm messages before switching to the iphone and save a few bucks along the way.
Keep sharing!

By: Chuck

Chuck — Wed, 26 Jan 2011 04:17:37 +0000

Please let us know what you did to solve SKYPE not picking up the voicemail commands. Thanks!

By: Chuck

Chuck — Wed, 26 Jan 2011 01:28:39 +0000

Ditto Danjerous…would love to know what you did.

By: Tricia

Tricia — Sun, 28 Nov 2010 20:55:12 +0000

Danjarous — I’m having this problem, too. What did you end up doing?

By: Richard K Miller

Richard K Miller — Thu, 11 Nov 2010 16:08:34 +0000

@Danjarous, glad you got it figured out! I was going to say, it sometimes helps if I mute Skype when I’m pressing the dial pad buttons, or if I hang up and call back.

By: Danjarous

Danjarous — Tue, 26 Oct 2010 00:14:25 +0000

Figured it out! Thanks for your efforts Richard!