iOS 17 brings Live voicemail transcription to iPhones; Know how to avoid unwanted calls

Among all the new iOS 17 features, there is one, in particular, you need to be aware of, especially if you get a lot of calls throughout the day and you prefer to only answer those which are relevant to you. The feature in question is called live voicemail transcription, and what it does is truly unique. Using this feature, you can let your iPhone direct any call to voicemail, but instead of rejecting it, you can first get a live transcription of what the person is saying. Then, if you feel the call is important, you can pick it up right away or decide to let it go. Let us take a closer look.

How does the iPhone live voicemail transcription work?

Once you have enabled the feature (check below for the instructions) then you can say goodbye to all unwanted calls that keep you busy. This iOS 17 feature allows you to tap on the voicemail icon whenever you receive an incoming call to activate it. After that, your iPhone will send an automated message to the caller informing them that you are using the transcription service and will ask them to begin speaking.

When the caller starts talking, the iPhone will begin showing the live transcription of what they are saying. This will allow you to make a decision if you should answer the call, send a text message, or simply reject it.

Activating the feature is extremely easy and you can do it in just a couple of minutes. Take a look below. But first, you must make sure that you have setup your voicemail. If you have not, go to Voicemail and simply tap ‘Set Up Now’. It will then ask you to create a voicemail password. Once you have picked that, it will ask you to choose a greeting. You can either go with the default option or pick ‘Custom’ and record a message for the caller.

How to activate iPhone live voicemail

Step 1: Go to your iPhone Settings.

Step 2: Tap on the “Phone” section.

Step 3: Go to Voicemail

Step 4: You can turn Live Voicemail on by moving the slider.

In the future, if you don’t like a feature or you believe it is not useful to you then you can simply turn off the slider and the feature will be gone.

Now, let us take a look at how to use the live voicemail transcription feature. But before that, you should be aware that the voicemail transcription displays the caller's message in a text format. Additionally, the voicemail feature can only be transcribed and recorded in English and it will be based on the quality of the recording.

How to use iPhone live voicemail transcription feature

To enable voicemail, ignore the call or quickly divert it by double-clicking the side button or tapping the voicemail button on your lock screen.

After the voicemail message has been left, the voicemail transcription will be visible on your lock screen as a text message that someone has left you a voicemail. Additionally, when the incoming call screen comes, you'll see a tab with options such as Message, Voicemail, Decline, or Accept.

If something in the live transcription of the message urges you to contact the person straight away then from your lock screen, take the slider towards the answer or during the incoming call, Accept the call when it comes.

Note that the beta version of the version is only available in some countries.