Message box (Record)

Overview

A message box lets callers leave a recording: a voicemail, a name for a kvittel, a request for the gabbai, a submission for a program. The message is saved into an audio player, where you can listen to it, email it, transcribe it or play it back to other callers.

In the app the building block is called Message box. The full admin page is under Advanced → Records.

How It Works

1. The caller reaches the message box and hears your Before Recording Audio. With none set, the system says please record a new message after the beep and when you finished press pound keys.
2. A beep plays and recording starts. The caller presses # when finished, or simply stops talking.
3. What happens next depends on Require Confirmation.

With Require Confirmation off

The message is saved straight away. The caller hears your After Recording Audio, or your message has been saved, and the call continues on the Post-Recording Routing.

With Require Confirmation on (the default)

The caller hears your Confirmation Audio, or to confirm to save this recording press 1, to listen to this recording press 2, to delete and re record press 3.

• 1 saves the message. The caller hears your After Recording Audio, or your recording has been saved, and the call continues on the Post-Recording Routing.
• 2 plays the message back and then repeats the confirmation prompt, leaving the caller in the same menu.
• 3 throws the recording away and starts again from the Before Recording Audio.

If the caller says nothing, the prompt waits 10 seconds and repeats, up to three times. After that the message is saved anyway, exactly as if 1 had been pressed, so a caller who gets distracted does not lose their message.

Edge cases

If the phone system hands back no recording, the caller is told sorry, that recording was not received, please record your message again and is taken back to the start. On the automatic save path they hear sorry, that recording was not received. goodbye and the call ends. Nothing empty is ever stored.

Creating a Message Box

On My Hotline, pick a key and choose Message box. For the full set of options, go to Advanced → Records and click New Record.

Basic Information

• Recording Name (required) — how the message box is named in your admin panel and in routing dropdowns. Callers never hear it.
• Associated Resource — the audio player the messages are saved into. It is not marked required on the form, but a message box with nothing here throws every message away. Always pick a player. On My Hotline this field is called Save messages into.
• Phone System Reference → Extension ID — an optional number used to reach this box from the keypad admin. Only appears when Show phone system reference is switched on in your account settings.

Recording Configuration

• Maximum Length (seconds) — the longest message you want to allow. Leave empty for no limit. On My Hotline: Longest message allowed (seconds).
• Minimum Length (seconds) — the shortest message you want to allow. Leave empty for no minimum. On My Hotline: Shortest message allowed (seconds).
• Require Confirmation — on by default. Asks the caller to confirm before the message is saved, with the listen-back and re-record options described above. On My Hotline: Ask the caller to confirm before saving.
• Save on Hangup — off by default, and only shown when Require Confirmation is on. It exists precisely to rescue a caller who hangs up while the confirmation menu is playing: switch it on and the message is kept anyway. On My Hotline: Save the message even if the caller hangs up.

Audio Prompts

All three use the standard audio selector. See Recordings, uploads and text-to-speech.

• Before Recording Audio — played before the beep. On My Hotline: Instructions recording (optional).
• After Recording Audio — played once the message is saved. On My Hotline: Thank-you recording (optional).
• Confirmation Audio — the confirmation menu prompt. Whatever you record here must tell the caller about 1, 2 and 3, because it replaces the system wording. On My Hotline: Confirmation menu recording (optional).

Email notifications

• Email each new message to — type an address and press Enter; add as many as you like. Every new message is emailed to these addresses with the audio attached and a Listen to the recording link. Leave empty for no emails.
• Include the caller's phone number — only appears once you have entered at least one address. Adds the number the message was left from, when the caller ID is known.

These emails are attached to the audio player the box saves into, so they only work once Associated Resource is set. Re-point the box at a different player and the emails move with it.

Post-Recording Routing

• Routing → Destination — where the call goes once the message is saved. Use Clear Routing to remove it again. See How routing works.

  With nothing set here the call simply ends after the thank-you audio.

Routing

The message box has no separate "failed" route. A caller who re-records stays in the box until they save or hang up.

What Gets Saved

Each message becomes a new recording at the end of the target audio player, with:

• the audio itself,
• Recorded By — the caller's phone number, when the caller ID is known,
• Duration, worked out automatically,
• Active switched on, so it is immediately in the playing order.

From there you can rename it, reorder it, archive it, move it to another player, or transcribe it.

Automation

Two event automations are commonly attached to the audio player a message box feeds:

• New library recording → transcript — transcribe every message as it arrives.
• Transcription completed → send email with transcript — email the text once it is ready.

The Email each new message to field on the message box itself is the simplest version of this and needs no extra setup.

Common Patterns

A plain voicemail

Point a key on your greeting menu at a message box, save into an audio player called "Voicemail", turn Require Confirmation off for speed, and add your own email address under Email each new message to.

A submissions line you review

Keep Require Confirmation on so callers can listen back before sending, and turn Save on Hangup on so nothing is lost. Untick Admin Confirmed on each recording until you have dealt with it, then filter the list by Confirmed.

A public message board

Point a message box at an audio player that other callers can also reach. Messages left by one caller become the recordings the next caller hears. Add an Access check in front of the message box if only certain callers may post.

Tips

• Always set Associated Resource. It is the single most common reason messages "disappear".
• If you record your own Confirmation Audio, keep the 1 / 2 / 3 meanings the same as the system wording. The keys are fixed.
• Turn Save on Hangup on for anything important. Callers hang up at the confirmation menu more often than you would think.
• Set a Post-Recording Routing back to your main menu so callers can do something else instead of being cut off.