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How to answer phone calls automatically on your PC
The following steps show you how you can set up your PC to take phone messages for you. The messages are stored as MP3 and attached to Outlook inbox items, so you can deal with them the same way you deal with incoming emails. (Note: the instructions assume you already have Outlook 2000/XP/2003 installed).
1. Follow these instructions to set up Skype if you don’t already use it.
2. If you want to answer calls from normal phones, you need to purchase a “SkypeIn” number from Skype. Otherwise, you can still answer PC-to-PC calls using these steps.
3. If you don’t already have Skylook, download and install it from here.
4. Start Outlook. If you are running Skylook for the first time, you will see the Skylook licensing wizard and the Skylook Welcome wizard. When you see the pages below, fill them out as shown:
(NOTE: An alternative to the Skylook Answering Machine is Skype Voice Mail. If you have a Skype Voice Mail subscription, you can leave the Skylook Answering Machine off - Voice Mail messages will automatically be sent to your inbox.).
5. If you are not running Skylook for the first time, and you can’t remember how you configured call answering when you were prompted by the Skylook Welcome Wizard, choose “Tools | Configure Answering Machine” from the Skylook toolbar:
This will bring up a wizard similar to that shown above.
6. Wait for a call - or get someone to call you.
7. When the call is received, let Skylook answer the call (or let Skype answer it if you are using Skype Voice Mail).
8. After the caller has hung up, check your inbox. You should see a message like this one:
9. Click on the message. A “Play” button will appear in the toolbar:
Click it to hear the recording.
10. Open the item. You will see a number of hyperlinks in the item that allow you to take various actions (for example, call the person back).
11. You can automatically forward messages to other email accounts if you wish, by going to “Alerts > Advanced Alerts” from the Skylook toolbar and following the pages in the wizard.
If you have any problems getting this to work, we can help - just email us at skylook@skylook.biz for assistance.
[…] 2. If you want people to be able to leave you voicemail using standard phones, get yourself a SkypeIn number . (Comes with voicemail included - minimum outlay $USD13 or €10 for 3 months). If you only need to receive voicemail from people running Skype, you can either get Skype Voicemail (Minimum outlay $7 or €5 for 3 months, or free if the caller has a Skype voicemail subscription) or use the Skylook Answering Machine (free 14 day trial). […]