# Telstra 101 MessageBank: Setup, Greeting and Ring Time

> Use Telstra 101 MessageBank, change your greeting and ring time, and distinguish carrier voicemail from Apple Live Voicemail.

- Canonical URL: https://techxtelco.com/mobile-plans/mobile-insights/101-messagebank/
- Published: 2026-06-09
- Updated: 2026-09-10
- Topics: Mobile, Guides
- Author: Michel Elijah
- Image: https://anrkjmgqmwfosbvyzrzc.supabase.co/storage/v1/object/public/article-images/telstra-101-messagebank/hero-v1.webp
- Publisher: Tech X Telco (https://techxtelco.com)

**Quick answer**

Call 101 from your Telstra mobile in Australia to reach MessageBank. On an iPhone, a message captured by Apple Live Voicemail may be in the Phone app instead of your 101 mailbox.

## Set up or switch off MessageBank

For Upfront plans, use My Telstra → Services → your service → menu → Manage your MessageBank. Other plans use 101 for setup; ask Telstra support to deactivate it. Follow the setup prompts for your greeting and PIN.

Choose a greeting that asks for a name and callback number. Listen to the saved version once: a recording made beside a busy road can sound much less clear to a caller than it did while you were speaking.

### Useful MessageBank controls

- Change greeting: 101 → 3 → 1 → 1
  These menu choices follow playback of new messages.

- 30-second ring time: \*\*61\*101\*\*30#
  Enter in the dialler, press Call and wait for confirmation.

- Another phone: call your mobile number
  At your greeting, press # and enter the PIN.

- Overseas: +61101
  Telstra says this uses your international-roaming voice allowance.

## iPhone messages missing from 101?

Apple Live Voicemail stores messages on the phone. Telstra says its ring time is 15 seconds; turn it off in Settings → Apps → Phone → Live Voicemail if you want MessageBank to ring longer.

Source: [Telstra: mobile voicemail](https://www.telstra.com.au/support/mobiles-devices/messagebank-call-forwarding-ring-time).

### Find which part is failing

- You forgot the PIN
  Check: Whether access works from your own SIM.
  Next: Ask Telstra for a PIN reset. Avoid guessing a sequence of PINs or changing unrelated phone settings.

- The greeting changed, but callers hear something else
  Check: Which mailbox you edited: Apple’s or Telstra’s.
  Next: Call from another phone and note the greeting before making another change.

- Calls go straight to voicemail
  Check: Whether the phone is reachable and whether the problem affects every caller.
  Next: Check call-forwarding and call-silencing settings; a no-answer timer will not fix a phone that never rings.

## Make one test call

Ask someone to call while the phone is idle. Let it ring unanswered and have them leave a distinctive message, such as the time. Check where it arrived before testing again. Rejecting the call with the red button tests a different situation from simply leaving it unanswered.

Keep a record of any important message before changing or closing your voicemail service. This guide does not promise that a saved carrier message is a permanent archive.

## Sources and review notes

Checked 10 September 2026 against the sources below. This is documentation-based guidance; we did not access a customer account or test these instructions on a handset.

### Official sources

- [Telstra: mobile voicemail](https://www.telstra.com.au/support/mobiles-devices/messagebank-call-forwarding-ring-time): 101, activation, greetings, ring time, remote access and Apple Live Voicemail.