How to Leave a Pre-Recorded Voicemail on Answering Machines

A detected answering machine does not have to be a wasted call. Instead of hanging up, VICIdial can play a pre-recorded message and leave a voicemail, often called a voicemail drop (Voicemail drop). It takes two settings and one recording. Here is the whole process.

Step 1: turn on answering machine detection

Voicemail drops ride on top of answering machine detection (AMD (answering machine detection)), so the campaign needs AMD active first. Remember that AMD only works on auto-dial methods. It does not work in the MANUAL or INBOUND_MAN dial method (Dial method), so make sure your campaign uses an auto-dial mode before you go further.

Step 2: record your message

You need an audio prompt to leave. The quick way is to dial 8168 from a VICIdial-attached phone and follow the prompts; the PIN it asks for is 4321. When you finish, the system reads back a prompt ID starting at 85100001. Write that ID down. Record the message twice in a row so that if the machine clips the start, the listener still hears the full message once. Keep the audio in GSM 8k-8bit mono or WAV PCM 8k-16bit mono. If text to speech (TTS (text to speech)) is enabled, you can use a TTS prompt instead of recording.

Step 3: set AMD send to vm exten to Y

On the campaign, switch the AMD send to vm exten field to Y. This tells VICIdial to send a detected machine to the voicemail extension that plays your message, rather than dropping the call. Without this set to Y, a detected machine is simply hung up.

Step 4: fill in the Answering Machine Message field

Put your prompt into the Answering Machine Message field. You can type the prompt ID directly, for example 85100008, or pick a file with the audio chooser link next to the field. A simple built-in choice for testing is vm-goodbye, but for production you want your own recording. Once a machine is detected, this is the message that plays.

The call flow

sequenceDiagram
  participant D as Dialer
  participant C as Called party
  participant V as VM extension
  D->>C: Place call
  C->>D: Answer
  D->>D: AMD runs
  D->>V: Machine detected send to vm exten
  V->>C: Play recorded message twice
  V->>D: Disposition the call

Optional guardrails

Two settings are worth knowing. The Voicemail Message Daily Limit caps how many times a message plays to one lead (Lead) in a single day; past the limit the call is hung up instead of playing again, and it applies even when an agent manually sends a call to a message. If your detection is borderline, the Wait For Silence Options can hold the message until the line goes quiet, which gives some extra machine confirmation. A standard value waits for two seconds of silence twice with a thirty-second cap.

After a run, check the resulting disposition (Disposition) on these calls to confirm machines were handled as drops and not misrouted. If real people are getting the message, your AMD needs tuning.

A few compliance reminders

Leaving recorded messages on consumer phones carries rules that vary by region, so keep your message identifying who is calling and how to opt out where that applies. Voicemail drops do not exempt you from your normal calling-hours and consent obligations. Treat the recording as part of your campaign script and review it the same way.

On the dialing side, remember that AMD adds a short processing delay to every answered call, since the engine has to listen before deciding. That tradeoff is usually worth it when you are dropping messages at scale, but it is worth knowing so your pacing expectations are realistic. If your only goal is to dodge most machines without leaving a message, a tighter dial timeout is sometimes a simpler path than full detection.

Finally, test before you go live. Place a few calls to your own voicemail and confirm the message plays cleanly, starts after the beep, and repeats once. Five minutes of testing saves a batch of half-played messages.

For the wider mechanism, read our AMD and CPD complete guide, and learn exactly what the message box accepts in the Answering Machine Message field.

Want voicemail drops set up and tuned for you? See VICIfast pricing.