iOS17 LIVE Voicemail

Turn Live Voicemail into conversations

Apple Live Voicemail is enabled by default and empowers contacts to screen calls and pick up as you leave a message. Here's how to use it to get more calls answered.
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A Live Voicemail crash course

Live Voicemail encourages contacts to screen calls for context
iPhone screens showing how live voicemail looks
What is it?
Voicemails are transcribed in real time, and iPhone users can choose to accept your call as you leave your message.
What does it mean?
Businesses must factor call screening into their outreach strategy to leverage live voicemail as a key path to live conversations.
How prominent is it?
Live Voicemail is a default feature since IOS 17's September '23 release. Adoption is strong at over 75% and continues to grow.

Live Voicemail strategy

3 key considerations for sales leaders and reps
With Apple's ~57% US smartphone market share, call screening has gone mainstream. If you use the phone to build pipeline (especially if you're using dialing software) here's what you need to know to avoid declines in call answer rates and maximize live conversations.
PhoneBurner sales outreach product

Outreach technology

Your choice in dialing software is more important than ever. With rising adoption of Live Voicemail, users relying on multi-line and voice-detection technology are finding themselves at a major disadvantage in getting calls answered. With efficient, scalable 1-to-1 communications at our core, PhoneBurner can help you adapt and capitalize.

Resource: The Drawbacks of Multi-line Dialing Explained

Agent calling leads

Lead strategy

Cold and untargeted lists are far more likely to screen and block your calls and damage your number reputation. The path to high answer rates is targeted, consent-based lists and human-centric processes that respect the value of every lead. Spray-and-pray is yesterday. Let us help you maximize the value of your hard earned leads.

Resource: Lead Strategy Best Practices
Agent using the voicemail disposition button

Voicemail strategy

Voicemails used to be the “backup plan” when calls went unanswered. Now, they’re a golden opportunity to get a live answer. Every part of your voicemail strategy, from your script, to potential scenarios is ready for a revisit. Our team can help you adapt your strategy for Live Voicemail, and beyond.

Resource: Live Voicemail Scripts & Best Practices
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Move over multi-line; the future is 1-to-1

How do you manage Live Voicemail without an agent present? Live voicemail gives businesses engaging in 1-to-1 outreach a second opportunity to earn a live engagement, while those calling multiple numbers and relying on voice detection face a serious challenge. Is your software helping you have more live conversations, or getting in the way?
How different dialers stack up:
PhoneBurner
Auto/Predictive/
Multi-line
Click-to-call
Reach a high volume of contacts, efficiently
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Reduce speed-to-lead with smart lead distribution
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A live agent is on the line ready to interact with iOS 17 Live Voicemail
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Connected calls begin without a beep, pause, or delay
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Fewer hangups and higher quality conversations
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Eliminates abandoned calls
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Eliminates risk of TSR penalties due to dropped calls
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Reduced risk of "short duration" calls and associated spam flags
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Reduced risk of number blocking and associated spam flags
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iOS 17 Live Voicemail and dialing FAQs

Frequently asked questions

It's available now! iOS 17 officially released on September 18, 2023 with live voicemail enabled by default. Adoption has been strong, and continues to grow across Apple devices.

According to Apple, iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, iPhone XR, iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro, iPhone 11 Pro Max, iPhone 12, iPhone 12 Mini, iPhone 12 Pro, iPhone 12 Pro Max, iPhone 13, iPhone 13 Mini, iPhone 13 Pro, iPhone 13 Pro Max, iPhone SE (2nd gen and later), iPhone 14 (including Plus), and iPhone 14 Pro get iOS 17.

Android has a similar call screening feature, however, adoption is lower as it is not enabled by default. This may change as Apple's update brings Live Voicemail deeper into the mainstream. The call experience to landline phones is unchanged.

More Apple customers let voicemail pick up so they can screen the call for context. When this happens, your message is transcribed on the contact’s phone in real-time. If they Accept, you’ll be connected to your contact to begin your conversation. The exact experience may differ based on a number of conditions, including: whether you are an existing contact, whether you are blocked by the contact or flagged as spam, and the status of the contact’s phone (e.g. locked or active).

When receiving a call on your iOS 17 device, you can expect to see a Caller ID along with certain options that include: Accept, Block, Message, or Send to Voicemail. If the caller begins to leave a message, you'll see the message transcribed live along with an option to answer the call. The exact options presented to you depend on a number of factors including: whether the caller is one of your contacts (or previously blocked), whether the number is flagged for spam, and the status of your phone (e.g. locked or active).

Multi-line dialers call 3, 5, 10, or more numbers at once, and uses voice detection technology to transfer answered calls to an agent. How can manage Live Voicemail to get a call answered, if you're not yet on the line? Yeah, we don't know either.

This is one more reason to adopt a 1-to-1 software like PhoneBurner. After 15 years and over 1 billion phone calls, we're redefining how efficient and scalable human-centric 1-to-1 communications can be.

You're already ready for Live Voicemail!

Because you initiate every call and are always live on the line, you're in the perfect position to maximize human connections and leverage Live Voicemail to engage more contacts in quality live conversations. We're here to help you continue to make smart use of time-saving features like 1-click voicemails, emails, and SMS to multiply touch points, save time, and have more meaningful interactions.

“40% increase in daily connections over our last dialer”
Adam Radulovic | XL.net
“Our reach has increased dramatically, up 124% over last year.”
Kelly McIntyre | Life with Lydia
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As the industry leader for 15 years, powering over one billion connected minutes for our clients, we’ve turned efficient, scalable human-centric communications into a science.
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