Access Voicemail for a Department Phone Line

Questions

• How do I check voicemail for a department phone line in Teams?
• Where do I find voicemails left on a shared phone number?
• Why aren't department voicemails showing up in my Teams app?
• How do I access voicemail for a shared Teams Calling line in Outlook?
• How do multiple people manage voicemails from a shared department number?
• How do I find the Microsoft 365 Group mailbox for my department's phone line?

Environment

This article applies to Bowdoin College faculty and staff who are members of a department or shared Teams Calling phone line and need to retrieve voicemails left on that line.

• Important: Department and shared line voicemails are not delivered to the Teams app. They are delivered to the Microsoft 365 Group mailbox associated with the phone number and must be accessed through Outlook.
• Who has access: Any faculty or staff member who has been added to the Microsoft 365 Group for the department line can access these voicemails.
• Personal voicemail: For voicemails left on your personal Teams Calling number, see Access and Listen to Your Voicemail in Microsoft Teams in the Related Articles section instead.

Resolution

Outlook on the web

1. Open Outlook in a browser and sign in with your Bowdoin account.
2. In the left panel of the Mail view, scroll down below your Inbox to find the Groups section.
3. Click the Group associated with your department phone line. (The group name typically matches the department or line name.)
4. Voicemails left on the department line will appear here as email messages with audio attachments.

Outlook desktop app (Mac or Windows)

1. Open the Outlook app and sign in with your Bowdoin account.
2. In the left panel, scroll down past your personal mailbox folders to find the Groups section.
3. Click the Group associated with your department phone line.
4. Voicemails left on the department line will appear here as email messages with audio attachments.

Tips for managing shared voicemails

Department voicemails in a Group mailbox can be tricky to manage when multiple people share responsibility for answering them. A few things to be aware of:

• Read/unread status is not reliable. Emails in a Group mailbox do not consistently show as read or unread for all members. If two people are monitoring the same inbox, it may not be clear whether someone else has already listened to a message.
• Recommended workflow: When you listen to a voicemail that needs follow-up, forward the email to your personal Bowdoin inbox and then delete it from the Group inbox. This signals to other team members that the message has been claimed and prevents duplicate responses.
• Audio playback: Each voicemail arrives as an email with an MP3 attachment and an automated transcript in the message body. You can play the audio directly in Outlook without downloading the file.

Additional Help

If you need further assistance, you have several options:

• Bowdoin Bot: Chat with Bowdoin Bot directly from any KB page for instant answers.
• Phone: Call the Bowdoin College Service Desk at (207) 725-3030.
• In person: Visit the Tech Hub in Smith Union during business hours.
• Submit a ticket: Request assistance through the Service Catalog.