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Leaving an awkward voice mail? Rerecord with a keypad shortcut

The next time you catch yourself stumbling through a message, stop and rerecord with this tip.

Sharon Profis Vice President of Content
Sharon Profis is a vice president of content.
Sharon Profis

You're leaving a voice mail, when suddenly, an awkward utterance slips, leaving you stumbling through the rest of your dialogue. You clumsily say goodbye. Hang up. Facepalm.

Considering the modern-day text-to-phone call ratio, this situation isn't uncommon. We're so accustomed to crafting perfectly composed text messages and e-mails, that our phone skills are diminishing.

But despite the upsetting trend, voice mails are here to stay. Whether you're calling up your boss or wishing someone a happy birthday, a phone call is the way to go.

So the next time you're leaving a voice mail, and you catch yourself stumbling, stop and rerecord the message.

Here's the deal: This trick works best when you know which carrier the recipient uses, as each carrier uses a different shortcut for rerecording. However, if you're unsure, you can usually just tap star (*) or pound (#) and one of those will work.

For your reference, here's what you should tap to rerecord a voice mail, based on the recipient's carrier:

If the recipient has...

  • Verizon: tap *
  • AT&T: tap *
  • Sprint: tap * or # then 3
  • T-Mobile: tap # then 3