I read (somewhere) that due to the Italian phone system, that you cannot access your voice mail back in the US, something about once you are connected to a other end, it does not recognize punching in more numbers (you know, like press 1 for your messages, 7 to delete messages, etc.) Anyone with any recent first hand experience on this issue? I am very concerned about this, as I really need to be able to reach my work voice mail when I go to Rome the end of September. Thanks.

I can tell you that on a recent trip I was able to access voice mail from England, Scottland and Germany, but not from France, so it could be a real problem. Sorry, not sure about Italy.

Try pressing the * or # key once, immediately after the voicemail system answers the call. In some countries this will activate the tones.

i've accessed voice mail from london, paris, nice, germany, & most recently rome. never had one problem.

rent a cell phone and you won't have a problem. it's good to have one with you any way.

Any company that expects you to access your comany voice mail while on vacation , especially while in Europe, doesn't care very much about their employees and the true meaning of 'vacation'. You've earned the time - enjoy it!! Remember that we are all replacable and they won't be building any paper mache statues of you when you are gone. Enjoy the trip and the family/friends that you may be travelling with on this trip. No one on their death bed says that they wish they spent more time at work.

Corporate employee: a fair point, but PAWrona didn't say he/she was on vacation - many people use this forum to plan business trips. <BR> <BR>XX: I thought abut the cell phone too, but watch out - the call charges on a mobile from Europe to US are astronomical.

I travel frequently for business and the only problem I ever have with voice mail is the lack of letters on many European hotel phones. (Many companies have a spell by name directory and if you can't remember what letters are on which button, ie abc on the number 2, it can get a bit frustrating).

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Just a note to "Corporate Employee"...I can tell you that my company insists I check e-mail every day and check voicemail every day, even when on holidays. If I didn't, I'd have gone out of business years ago. <BR> <BR>Signed, <BR>The Prez

Thanks to everyone for your helpful suggestions.