Manage Voicemail, Call Answer Rules, and Call View in Microsoft Teams (Desktop)

Summary

This article provides end users with step-by-step instructions to manage voicemail greetings, customize call answer behavior, and choose how incoming calls appear in the Microsoft Teams desktop app.

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🔍 Symptoms

• Users are unsure how to update their voicemail greeting or out-of-office message

• Calls are not being redirected or handled as expected

• Incoming calls appear in a layout that is difficult to manage or view

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✅ Environment

• Product: Microsoft Teams

• Platform: Desktop App (Windows/macOS)

• Version: Latest version recommended

• User Type: End users, Tech agents

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🧪 Root Cause

Microsoft Teams hides some call settings within nested menus in the app's settings panel. Without navigating to the Calls section, users may miss key voicemail and call handling options. Additionally, the Viewing incoming calls option is not easily discoverable without expanding advanced settings.

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🧰 Resolution Steps

1. Access Voicemail Settings

To manage voicemail settings in Teams:

• Open Microsoft Teams

• Click Settings and more > Settings

• Navigate to the Calls tab

• Click Manage voicemail
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2. Customize Your Voicemail Greeting

• Click Record a greeting to record a new message

• Choose your language and what happens when a call goes to voicemail

• (Optional) Enter a text-to-speech greeting — this will only be used if no recorded greeting is set 

  

3. Set an Out-of-Office Greeting (Optional)

• Under Manage voicemail, locate the Out-of-office greeting section

• Choose when the greeting should play

• Enter a custom out-of-office message in the text box

  

4. Configure Call Answer Rules

To control how voicemail handles incoming calls:

• Still under Manage voicemail, scroll to Choose what happens when the call is redirected to voicemail

• Choose one of the following behaviors:

  • Let the caller record a message

  • Let the caller record a message or be transferred

  • End the call without playing a greeting

  • Play your greeting and then end the call

  • Transfer the call to someone else

If transferring calls, enter the name or number under “Where should they be transferred?”

5. Choose How Incoming Calls Appear

To adjust how Teams displays incoming calls:

• Go to Settings and more (⋯) > Settings > Calls

• Under Call handling and forwarding, scroll to Viewing incoming calls

• Choose Large window or Small window

Only the Large window supports real-time text (RTT) and captions.

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📚 References

• Manage your call settings in Microsoft Teams

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📝 Additional Notes

• To troubleshoot issues with voicemail not triggering, confirm your Teams app is updated and that your call forwarding rules are not conflicting.

• Tech agents assisting others should test with a known-good account to isolate app behavior from account settings.