We all have busy days. Sometimes you simply want to get home, take the shoes off, kick your feet up and watch your favorite program. You’ve got your snack, beverage of choice and you hit play on that highly anticipated debut of The Flash on the CW. The first 45 seconds of the show goes by, and BAM…the phone rings.
Thankfully TDS TV customers have gotten used to the On-Screen Caller ID feature, so we know whether or not the person calling is important enough to get off the couch for. But sometimes you’re so comfortable that you just can’t get up–even if grandma wants to call to wish you a happy birthday. Maybe you even tried to get up, but you just didn’t quite enough time get to the phone before voice mail picked up.
Well as of yesterday, there is no need to get off the couch to check your messages. Using TDS TV, you can manage your voice mail right through the set-top box. You simply play the new message (or an old saved message) right through your TV’s speakers.
Getting to your voice mail is very simple, just press the red “C” button on your remote for direct access to the On-Screen Voice Mail (if you have a remote with the TDS logo on it, you can press “C” or the “PHONE” button). Enter your voice mail PIN in the field provided (this is the same PIN you use to enter the system through your phone). A list of messages will appear on the screen. You can also access your voice mail by going to the Menu, selecting Applications, and then On-Screen Voice Mail.
Once you’re on the voice mail screen, highlight a message, click play, and your message will begin playing. You can also pause the message using the remote, by highlighting the pause icon on the screen and hitting the ‘OK’ button on your remote. The system will allow you to go back and re-listen to the current message, or any other message saved previously. You can then choose to delete the message through the on-screen menu, and it will no longer be available there, or through the phone.
One more quick note: when I first started using the On-Screen Voice Mail I kept having the urge to use the play and pause buttons on my remote—just like I do when I’m watching TV. With voice mail though, you use the on-screen icons to control your voice mail playback.
Don’t forget that if you use an answering machine, you’re bypassing the voice mail portal and messages cannot be retrieved through this process. Also, if you still need some help, the online user guide has the instructions on the bottom of page 39.
Technology keeps changing to make our lives easier. Being able to check messages through the TV is just another small thing to enhance your home communication experience. And when things like this keep getting added, and for free, life just keeps getting better.
—Austin
I would rather have more hd and on demand channels