Nothing is happening when I press a key to listen to a voice message notification

Question

When I receive an xMatters voice message notification, it asks me to press any digit to hear the message, but when I do nothing seems to happen. How can I resolve this?

Environment

All versions of xMatters

Answer

There are a few reasons this could be happening:

• It's possible that the call took a few extra moments to connect to your end device, during which time xMatters evaluated that a voicemail has been reached (you can look at the event log to confirm this). If this happened, you can configure a small delay for incoming voice calls before being prompted to press a key.

• For best results, ensure the call rings through and is answered by a person with a short greeting (for example, "Hello") before any automated greeting or music plays.

• If you're using an office phone which has a small IVR or greeting message, xMatters may also register this as the call being answered by voicemail. Configuring a delay for incoming voice calls and adjusting your IVR so that it uses a short, clear initial greeting (such as "Please select an extension"), minimizes silence, and allows multiple prompt attempts before assuming voicemail can improve digit detection.

• If you didn't hear a tone when pressing a key (for example, a beep), this may be a device-level issue or a problem with tone (DTMF) transmission on your network or carrier. Verify your phone's audio/interaction settings, check that you have a stable network connection, and try restarting the device.

• Run a few test calls (both to a group and directly to the affected number), note the time and call details, and share those with your xMatters administrator or Support so they can review provider call logs.

• Your carrier may be experiencing a temporary network issue. In this case, the call should either be retried, or listened and responded to on another device.

• Your phone number might be accidentally placed on a block list, preventing incoming calls from reaching the device properly.

• Your device's call settings might have unintended call blocking active that interferes with xMatters notifications.

• Your carrier might be flagging xMatters calls as potential spam, blocking or limiting their functionality.

If this issue occurs frequently, consider adding an alternate contact method (such as the xMatters mobile app, SMS, or email) so you can still receive and respond to alerts even if voice digit entry fails.

If the problem persists, contact Support with specific examples (call times, called numbers, and what happened when you pressed digits) so they can investigate carrier and platform logs.