Can I upload an mp3 as my KPN voicemail greeting?

No, and that applies to every Dutch provider. You play the file during the recording step via 1233. The result is an ordinary recording, just with a professional voice on it instead of yours.

How many of my own greetings can I store?

Two. According to KPN's knowledge base you can record two greetings, alongside the two standard options with your name or your number. Useful for keeping a holiday version ready.

The menu looks different on my phone. Am I doing something wrong?

Probably not. The call-in menu differs per subscription and per handset, and providers change it without notice. Follow the source at the bottom of this page, which is KPN's own.

Set up voicemail on your KPN business mobile

For many freelancers and small firms the mobile phone is the business number. That makes voicemail more than a personal answering machine: it is the first thing a new customer hears from you. Below is what KPN offers, and how to get a professionally recorded greeting onto it.

Four greetings, two of them your own

You reach the settings by calling 1233 from your own phone. In the main menu, key 1 opens Begroetingen (greetings). According to KPN's own knowledge base there are four options:

Personal greeting 1 (key 1): you record the entire message the caller hears.
Personal greeting 2 (key 2): a second message of your own, which you can prepare separately.
Standard with your name (key 3): you record only your name, the rest is KPN's own voice.
Standard with your number (key 4): your phone number is read out.

For a business number only the first two are usable. The two standard options never mention your company name, and that is exactly what a caller needs to hear to know they reached the right place.

The second greeting is the most useful feature, and almost nobody uses it

Because you can store two greetings of your own, you can keep one for ordinary days and one for the period you are away. For holidays, leave or building work you switch over without re-recording, and switch back when you return. That is the difference between a greeting that is accurate and one that still says in September that you will be back in August.

No provider lets you upload, but you can play a file

No Dutch provider lets you upload an audio file directly as your voicemail greeting, and KPN is no exception. It always goes through the same call-in menu you would use to record by voice. That is also where the solution lies: at the moment you would start speaking, you play the file instead.

Start with the script, not with the menu

Freelancer, weekdays

“You have reached the voicemail of Jansen Installations. I am on site right now and cannot take your call. Please leave your name and number and I will call you back today.”

How to play the file onto it

Have the file ready on a computer with decent speakers, not on a second phone.
Sit in a quiet room, without echo and without a fan or air conditioning in the background.
Call 1233, choose Begroetingen and then the personal greeting you want to fill.
Set the volume to about 70 to 80 percent. Maximum sounds louder but distorts, and the caller hears that.
Start the file as soon as you hear the tone, and hold the phone with its microphone facing the speaker.
Listen back before you save. If you skip that, you will only find out weeks later that the start was cut off.

Two things that often get confused at KPN

The KPN Business service page only says to call 1233 for the welcome message; it does not list the keys. So if the menu looks different from the description above, you are not doing anything wrong: it can vary per subscription and per handset, and providers change these menus without notice. The sources at the bottom of this page take precedence over our summary.

Also note the difference with KPN ÉÉN. That is a phone system, not mobile voicemail: there you do upload a file as your announcement, and different format requirements apply. If callers reach a menu when they dial your company number, you are in that world, not this one.