Apple, AT&T May Customize Voicemail

Apple and AT&T, the exclusive carrier of the iPhone in the U.S., are considering the possibility of adding two new features, according to AppleInsider. The first feature would alert customers to overages on "anytime" minutes, while the second would allow users to change and customize voicemail greetings.

Like visual voicemail, a feature developed for the iPhone and AT&T, the new options would likely improve the user experience and are being introduced based on customer feedback. However, the report from AppleInsider ominously states that the carrier may have to tailor changes to its network to support the features.

AT&T hasn't been swift with its network infrastructure changes, as anyone who owns an iPhone and expected MMS functionality before the end of the summer knows.

Still, the potential new features do seem like useful changes. It is hard to believe that any cell phone users would object to an alert letting them know they were approaching or had gone over the limit of minutes paid for on a monthly basis.

The changes to voicemail also seem promising.

According to the report, a voicemail feature will be added to the preferences tab in the iPhone. From there users will be able to customize the greeting, disabling either or both of the custom and standard AT&T greetings. The potential feature would also allow people calling the phone to skip the greetings and jump straight into voicemail.

It's possible that New York Times technology writer David Pogue and his "Take Back The Beep" campaign to get carriers to cut canned voicemail instructions may start to bear fruit if AT&T becomes the first to give those seconds back to the customer.