[rerickson]

Finally found out why my voicemail VMI was so dysfunctional; you might be having the same problem.

If you use dialup voicemail and haven't installed visual voicemail, but Verizon has visual vm enabled for your account, then:
* The 0__0 icon never appears; you get no visual indication of new vm.
* Every time there's an event with your vm that retains messages (including listening to them!), Verizon sends a five-line SMS message providing an impressive absence of any useful information. ("Free Message... Log into the Visual Voicemail application on your phone or dial *86... msg#1001")

On the other hand, if Verizon turns off vvm on your account, the right thing happens:
* New vm messages display an 0__0 icon (not in the Storm book).
* They send a useful, one-line SMS of the form:

2 new vmail 0 urg 0 fax *86

I'd be curious to hear what the notification behavior is when vvm is installed (and Verizon has the feature turned on or off).

[MegaBit]

With VVM installed and enabled, you get a pop-up screen with the ability to listen, ignore, or delete and the icon for caller ID, if you have one for that contact. Its like a window overlayed on the background. You also get a VVM icon in the banner (that little MSN-looking figure) and it includes the number of VVMs.