UBIT Policy: Voicemail Retention

Category: Information Technology
Responsible Office: Network and Communication Services
Responsible Executive: J. Brice Bible, Vice President and Chief Information Officer (VPCIO)
Date Established: April 12, 2019
Date Last Revised: February 3, 2023

This policy identifies and describes the retention and disposition for messages stored on the university’s voicemail system.

The VPCIO area adopts the following policy for voicemail retention and disposition: voicemail messages older than one calendar year are automatically deleted from the voicemail system. When a voicemail message is received, it is categorized as a new message and stored in the inbox. One of the following actions takes place:

1. The recipient does not listen to the message and it stays in the inbox as a new message.
   
2. The recipient listens to the message and does nothing. The message stays in the inbox as a new message.
   
3. The recipient listen to the message and either saves the message or deletes the message.
4. The recipient downloads and saves the voicemail. For more information, see: Managing Your UB Phone Messages with Web Inbox. This option is recommended for voicemails needing to be retained for longer than one calendar year.
5. The recipient forwards voicemail to email. This option is recommended for employees with circumstances prohibiting timely voicemail message monitoring, such as: extended absences, work leaves, sabbaticals, or travel.

New messages are stored for 180 days in the inbox and are then automatically moved to saved messages. Saved messages are stored for 180 days and are then moved to deleted messages. Deleted messages are stored for seven days and then permanently removed from the voicemail system. For the purposes of this policy, listening to a message and neither saving nor deleting the message is the equivalent of not listening to it, and the actions taken will be the same as for a message which was never listened to.

This policy outlines the aging and retention rules for the University at Buffalo’s voicemail system.

This policy applies to voicemail messages stored on the university’s voicemail system.

Network and Communication Systems

• Set aging rules for the university’s voicemail system.

Computing and Network Use Policy

Telephone Use Policy