You can use Take a Message at no charge to handle calls that you miss or decline. You can find audio recordings of these messages from the 'Home' tab of the Phone by Google app. Take a Message can also detect spam among messages left by missed or declined calls from non-contact numbers.
Transcription and peeking
If you're in a supported country or region, you can get a live transcript of the call as the caller speaks. If you choose to pick up the call, tap Answer. Your notifications show the caller's name along with the first part of the transcript, so you have the idea straight away.
Tip: In other countries or regions, only audio is available.
The feature records and transcribes calls directly on your device and doesn't need a Wi-Fi or mobile data connection. It uses local Speech On-Device API (SODA) to keep privacy and functionality. Calls that you answer through Take a Message are treated as 'Answered' by your operator.
Your operator voicemail handles missed or declined calls when your phone is off or out of network coverage.
Feature availability
As of 2026, you can use Take a Message with live transcription support on Pixel 6 and later phones in these countries or regions:
- Australia (English)
- Canada (English and French)
- France
- Germany
- India (only available in Pixel 10 and later phones, in Hindi (India) and English (India))
- Ireland
- Italy
- Japan
- Spain
- United Kingdom
- United States
In these countries and regions, the service includes audio but doesn't support transcription features:
- Austria
- Belgium
- Czechia
- Denmark
- Estonia
- Finland
- Hungary
- Latvia
- Lithuania
- Malaysia
- Mexico
- Netherlands
- Norway
- Poland
- Portugal
- Romania
- Singapore
- Slovakia
- Slovenia
- Sweden
- Switzerland
- Taiwan
Tip: Call Actions like AI-generated next steps only on Pixel 9 and later phones in Australia, Canada, Ireland, United Kingdom and United States.
Set up Take a Message on your phone
Important: Make sure that you have the latest version of the Phone app.
- Open the Phone app
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- Tap Menu
Settings
- Turn on Take a Message.
- If you're a non-visual voicemail (VVM) user, it might turn on automatically.
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Settings Set up Take a Message on your Pixel Watch
Important: To use this on a Pixel Watch, you need a Pixel Watch 2 or later and a Pixel 6 or later phone.
- Your Pixel Watch must be connected to your Pixel phone over Bluetooth.
- On your connected phone, you must turn on Take a Message from the Phone by Google app settings.
Use Take a Message
When you miss or decline a call, you get a silent 'Taking a message' notification.
- Live interaction: You can read the transcript in real time as the caller leaves their message.
- Only in supported areas.
- Join in: To join the call at any time, tap Answer.
Tip: Sometimes Take a Message won't work, and calls go to your regular voicemail, if:
- Your phone is roaming (to avoid international charges).
- Your phone is off or out of network coverage.
- The phone rings for too long before the feature can start.
Get recordings and transcripts
All calls that this feature handles save an audio recording and a written transcript to your phone.
- Open the Phone app
- Tap Home.
- From your call list, select a recent missed or declined call.
- Expand the call details to:
- Play the audio.
- Find the full transcript.
- Get AI-generated next steps like 'Call Min'.
Learn how Take a Message works
The feature uses content-based detection to identify spam and scams.
- When a suspicious call is detected, it's labelled as 'Likely scam' or 'Spam' in your call log.
Caller's experience
When you miss or decline a call, Take a Message answers it and plays a greeting for the caller.
- Custom greetings: Record your own custom greeting up to 60 seconds to replace the default message.
- Multiple greetings: Record and save multiple greetings and pick which one you want to use.
Troubleshoot: Take a Message
- Call forwarding: If your operator's conditional call forwarding doesn't work with this feature, turn off Take a Message in the settings.
- Roaming: To avoid unexpected charges, this feature turns off automatically when you're roaming.