Ask HN: Do you have voicemail turned on?

Inspired by: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14477017

How many of you have your voicemail setup so people can leave messages? I have mine set to a 'disabled' message so anyone that calls and misses me is encouraged to SMS or email me - which is much easier for me to check than listening to an audio message.

Do any of you use voicemail-to-text services so you can read voicemails?

Not everyone is able to use text messages. For example, if I get a call from a business that's returning my call, they're probably calling from a land line that doesn't have texting capabilities. And a non-online business (e.g., my doctor or my car repair shop) probably doesn't have my e-mail address and/or doesn't want to deal with customers via e-mail (it's an extra communication channel that someone at the business needs to monitor).

Also, if I want someone to reply to me quickly, I'm not going to put extra hurdles in their way to make it more difficult for them to do so.

On the other hand, if I'm calling a friend's cell phone and they don't answer, I usually leave a text message instead of a voice mail since it's easier for them to deal with.

Switched it off in 2003.. enabled it again in 2005 because of a practical joke by a friend who had my new manager made it a requirement for the new job.. :D

Switched it off soon after again. Reason is mainly that 99.9% of the voicemails left were work related (I only keep one phone# for everything) ahem, "lazy bullshit". It seems most (middle) management is constantly leaving messages about non-issues, for me to deal with. Texting is a miniscule additional "hurdle" which filters this out for me.

I had several discussions proving my point.

  [Bill Lumbergh]"Yeah, could you please enable your voice mail?"
  [Me]"Well, if it is important you can text me, I'll get right back to you"
  [Bill]"but that is less convenient.."
  [Me]"I guess if there is something important, it would warrant the effort to send a three word SMS message.. 'please call me'"
  [Bill]"Eh.."

I have it enabled. If I receive an unexpected call from an unknown number, I don't bother returning it unless they consider it important enough to leave a voicemail. I don't use it much, but of course there are places like doctors offices that wouldn't communicate via sms or email.

How do you set that up?