# Set up Group Voicemail for a Ring Group

A group voicemail gives a ring group (a set of extensions that ring together when a call comes in) a single mailbox that all of its members can watch. When a caller leaves a message, everyone in the group is notified, so the message reaches your team rather than sitting in one person's box. This page walks through creating that mailbox and choosing how messages are handled.

## Create the group voicemail

1. Sign in to the Cloud Voice admin portal and open **Call Features > Voicemail > Group Voicemail**.
2. Click **Add**.
3. On the **General** tab, fill in the **Basic** settings:

   | Setting | What it does |
   | --- | --- |
   | **Type** | Choose **Ring Group**. |
   | **Ring Group** | Pick the ring group this mailbox belongs to. |
   | **Number** | Read-only. The mailbox uses the ring group's number. |
   | **Name** | Read-only. The mailbox uses the ring group's name. |
   | **Mode** | Choose how incoming messages are handled (see the options below). |
   | **Voicemail PIN Authentication** | Turn PIN (Personal Identification Number, a numeric passcode) protection for the mailbox on or off. |
   | **Voicemail Access PIN** | When PIN authentication is on, enter the access PIN anyone dialing into the mailbox must key in. |
   | **Disallow Voicemail Messages** | Optional. Stops callers from recording messages. The system plays the [greeting](#choose-a-greeting) and then ends the call. |
   | **Play Date and Time** | Optional. Announces when the message was received before playing it. |
   | **Play Caller ID** | Optional. Announces the caller's ID before playing the message. |
   | **Play Message Duration** | Optional. Announces how long the message is before playing it. |
   | **Custom Prompt Language** | Optional. Sets the language of the voicemail prompts callers hear in this mailbox. |

   For **Mode**, you have two choices:

   - **Shared by Members** keeps every message in the group mailbox, where any member can listen to and manage it. Choose this if you want one shared record of messages, or if you plan to use the call alerts in step 6 (they read the group mailbox and only work in this mode).
   - **Broadcast to Members** does not keep a copy in the group mailbox. Instead, each message is copied and forwarded to every member's personal mailbox, so there is no central group record to review later.

   :::note
   The languages available under **Custom Prompt Language** come from your system prompts, at **PBX Settings > Voice Prompt > System Prompt**. If the mailbox has a [custom greeting](/pbx/administrator-guide/change-voicemail-greetings/#upload-voicemail-greetings__section_mqn_52b_t4b), callers hear that greeting and the language setting is ignored.
   :::

   :::tip
   Because a group mailbox is shared by the whole team, turn on **Voicemail PIN Authentication** and set an access PIN. This keeps messages from being read by anyone who reaches the mailbox menu.
   :::

4. <span id="choose-a-greeting"></span>Optional. In the **Group Voicemail Greeting** section, select the greeting to play before callers leave a message.

   :::tip
   To create your own greetings, see [Record or Upload Voicemail Greetings](/pbx/administrator-guide/record-or-upload-voicemail-greetings/).
   :::

5. Review the **Members** section. Every member of the ring group is added automatically, and the list is read-only.

   :::note
   Membership stays tied to the ring group. When you add or remove members there, the group mailbox updates to match.
   :::

6. Optional. On the **Voicemail Announcement** tab, [set up call alerts](/pbx/administrator-guide/set-up-call-alerts-for-group-voicemail/) so the system phones your team when a new message arrives.

   :::note
   Call alerts are available only when **Mode** is set to **Shared by Members**.
   :::

7. Click **Save**, then **Apply**.