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Asterisk AMI voicemail message operations: ID, folder and custody evidence

Use VoicemailBoxSummary, VoicemailForward, VoicemailMove and VoicemailRemove without confusing inventory, copy, relocation, deletion, MWI or end-user playback.

Reviewed 2026-10-25Current Asterisk branch-23-generated VoicemailBoxSummary, VoicemailForward, VoicemailMove and VoicemailRemove references and official AMI v2 and manager-permission documentation were reviewed October 25, 2026; all four current action pages are generated under app_voicemail_odbc and date the actions from Asterisk 20.5.0 and 18.20.0, while installed branch, maintenance release, loaded module, voicemail backend, folder vocabulary, message ID lifecycle, manager permissions, response framing and storage behavior remain deployment specific; no PBX, module, mailbox, voicemail store, ODBC database, manager configuration, credential, session, request, response, message, audio payload, folder, user notification, MWI state, endpoint, playback or live call was inspected or testedAdvancedDocumentation based · not lab tested

Freeze the mailbox and message identity before mutation

Record the intended Asterisk node, installed branch and maintenance release, loaded voicemail module, backend, manager session, Context, Mailbox, Folder, message ID, observation time and operator intent. Preserve the raw VoicemailBoxSummary response before any authorized change.

Treat the returned ID as the operation key for that observed mailbox snapshot. Caller, date, duration, subject, sequence position and audio filename are supporting attributes, not safe substitutes for the documented ID argument.

Use VoicemailBoxSummary as read evidence

The current generated page describes VoicemailBoxSummary as retrieving the contents of one voicemail user mailbox from separate Context and Mailbox arguments. Preserve its complete response framing and a unique ActionID.

A summary is not permission to mutate, proof that an audio payload is readable, proof that a notification was delivered or proof that a phone has updated its MWI indication. Keep those observations separate.

Keep forward and move semantics distinct

VoicemailForward takes source context, mailbox, folder and ID plus ToContext, ToMailbox and ToFolder; the documentation says it forwards to another user and can copy within one mailbox when source and destination user identity match. VoicemailMove changes a message between folders within one user mailbox using ToFolder.

Record both source and destination tuples. Do not represent a forwarded copy as a moved original, or a moved original as evidence that a destination user received or played it.

Treat VoicemailRemove as a destructive boundary

VoicemailRemove takes the exact source Context, Mailbox, Folder and ID. Require explicit authorization, a retained pre-change snapshot, the narrowest manager permission and a recovery or retention decision before use.

Do not discover message IDs by issuing removal attempts. A successful AMI response does not replace a post-action source summary, storage evidence or the organization's deletion and retention controls.

Verify response, storage and user-visible state independently

Correlate the unique ActionID, every raw response frame and a post-action VoicemailBoxSummary for each affected mailbox. For forwarding, verify source and destination; for moving, verify both folders; for removal, verify source absence only after authorized execution.

AMI response, mailbox metadata, stored audio, database row, notification delivery, MWI count, phone lamp and end-user playback are separate boundaries. A match at one boundary does not prove the others.

Bound access, evidence and version claims

The reviewed branch-23 pages are generated under app_voicemail_odbc and date these actions from Asterisk 20.5.0 and 18.20.0. Confirm the running action inventory, loaded module and backend rather than applying that generated record universally.

Use a dedicated least-privilege manager account, redact credentials and personal voicemail data, limit retained audio access and prevent retries from becoming bulk operations. No PBX, mailbox, message, request, response or playback was tested for this guide.

Sources & applicability

Primary references for the technical details above. Operational examples and planning checklists are VoIP.info editorial guidance.

Examples require adaptation to your topology. No live PBX or hardware testing is claimed.

Continue your research

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Use ListCommands and the administrator CLI to distinguish the actions visible to one manager user from the actions registered by the running Asterisk instance.

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Asterisk AMI session authentication, Login, Logoff and Challenge

Keep manager identity, authentication exchange, transport protection, event mask, permissions and session lifetime as separate AMI evidence.

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Guide · Asterisk branch-22-generated MailboxCount, MailboxStatus, VoicemailBoxSummary, VoicemailRefresh, MWIGet, MWIUpdate and MailboxStateChange action references plus official VM_INFO, AMI v2 and manager-permission documentation reviewed October 17, 2026; installed branch and maintenance release, action availability, module selection, voicemail backend, mailbox and context identity, folder, external MWI ownership, manager transport, account, ACL, read and write classes, response field behavior, storage freshness, clock, configuration owner, endpoint subscription, phone indicator and downstream collector behavior remain deployment specific; no PBX, mailbox, voicemail store, IMAP account, manager configuration, account, credential, socket, session, request, response, MWI subscription, endpoint, phone, message, playback or live call was inspected or tested

Asterisk AMI MailboxCount and MailboxStatus queries

Query one voicemail mailbox with explicit identity, raw response preservation and a clear boundary between message counts, waiting state and downstream MWI behavior.

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Guide · Current Asterisk branch-23-generated and branch-22 VoicemailUsersList and VoicemailUserStatus references, branch-22 VoicemailBoxSummary and MailboxCount references, and official AMI v2 and manager-permission documentation reviewed October 17, 2026; VoicemailUsersList is documented by app_voicemail from Asterisk 1.6 while VoicemailUserStatus is documented by app_voicemail_imap from Asterisk 16, and the generated action pages do not define a shared response schema or make either response proof of message inventory, storage freshness, playback or MWI delivery; installed branch, maintenance release, module, backend, mailbox and context identity, manager permissions, response framing, parser and cache behavior remain deployment specific; no PBX, module, mailbox, voicemail user, store, IMAP account, manager configuration, credential, session, request, response, message, MWI subscription, endpoint, phone, playback or live call was inspected or tested

Asterisk AMI VoicemailUsersList and VoicemailUserStatus evidence

Keep an app_voicemail user-list request, an IMAP-specific single-user status request, mailbox counts and downstream message evidence separate.

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Guide · Current Asterisk branch-23-generated and branch-22 VoicemailRefresh, MWIGet and MWIUpdate references, the branch-22-generated version-sensitive MailboxStateChange reference, and official AMI v2 and manager-permission documentation reviewed October 17, 2026; the current VoicemailRefresh page is generated under app_voicemail_imap while the branch-22 page is generated under app_voicemail_odbc, MWIGet and MWIUpdate belong to res_mwi_external_ami, and MailboxStateChange is documented for remote mailbox synchronization from specified maintenance releases rather than local mailbox mutation; installed branch and maintenance release, loaded module, mailbox ownership, context, EntityID, manager permissions, response framing, subscription, NOTIFY delivery and endpoint rendering remain deployment specific; no PBX, module, mailbox, voicemail store, IMAP or ODBC backend, manager configuration, credential, session, request, response, subscription, NOTIFY, endpoint, phone, message, playback or live call was inspected or tested

Asterisk AMI VoicemailRefresh and MWI control evidence

Keep a voicemail-backend refresh request, external-MWI count ownership, remote mailbox-state synchronization and endpoint indication as separate controls.

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Guide · Operational guidance; Asterisk 22 / FreePBX 17 where applicable

Least privilege for PBX users and integrations

Separate the right to register, place calls, administer the PBX and read sensitive data.

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Guide

PBX credentials and extension secrets

Keep administrator, handset, trunk and backup identities separate and retire them deliberately.

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Troubleshooting · Current Asterisk branch-23-generated VoicemailBoxSummary, VoicemailForward, VoicemailMove and VoicemailRemove references and official AMI v2 and manager-permission documentation were reviewed October 25, 2026; all four current action pages are generated under app_voicemail_odbc and date the actions from Asterisk 20.5.0 and 18.20.0, while installed branch, maintenance release, loaded module, voicemail backend, folder vocabulary, message ID lifecycle, manager permissions, response framing and storage behavior remain deployment specific; no PBX, module, mailbox, voicemail store, ODBC database, manager configuration, credential, session, request, response, message, audio payload, folder, user notification, MWI state, endpoint, playback or live call was inspected or tested

Asterisk AMI voicemail forward, move or remove fails or targets the wrong message

Find the first divergence across action availability, permissions, mailbox identity, folder, message ID, AMI response, storage result and user-visible state before retrying a mutation.

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Troubleshooting · Asterisk 22 LTS · FreePBX 17 / Debian 12 checks

Voicemail does not record, notify or play back

Separate mailbox routing, stored messages, notification and retrieval.

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