If you can't set up Visual Voicemail, contact your carrier to make sure that your plan supports the feature.
Of course, we want to know as soon as an incoming voicemail is saved, so again, it’s Twilio to the rescue. By adding a few lines of code to our Python script, Stacey and I each get an SMS notification telling us there’s a new message. Note that Twilio’s API requires a separate call for each message to be sent, which is why the similar code repeats once for Stacey’s phone number and then again for mine. If you plan to send bulk messages from Twilio, I expect that you can build a list of phone numbers and loop through them with the API call. Since we only have two contact numbers and don’t expect to add any more, I decided not to loop through a list of two elements.

“Good afternoon. You have reached the office of [your name]. I will be out of the office beginning on [date] and will be returning on [date]. Please leave a brief message with your contact information, and I’ll be sure to get back to you as soon as I return on [date]. If this is an emergency or you need to speak with someone before I return, please contact [name of colleague/supervisor], [their job title], at [their phone number].”
11. "Hi, you've reached [company]. Unfortunately, we're currently unavailable. But we want to talk to you — so please leave your name and number, as well as your reason for calling, and someone will call back ASAP."