The Audio Guestbook™ Instructions
Thanks so much for choosing to rent from us! We hope you are psyched to receive The Audio Guestbook™ phone and we want to make your experience the best.
To ensure you are fully prepared, please reference this page for everything you need to know from the time your phone arrives to what to do after your event is over. If you stumbled across this page but haven’t rented yet, then the first step is to Rent an Audio Guestbook! And if arrived here in hopes of troubleshooting an audio guestbook you bought elsewhere, we are sorry but this page won’t help much, as it only applies to our proprietary rental product, The Audio Guestbook™ Phone.
The quick instructions
If you don’t read anything else on this page, read this:
Quick Checklist
- Test your phone as soon as it arrives
- Set it up in a busy but quiet spot, plugged into a wall outlet or the battery pack
- Use the shutdown button at the end of the night
- Drop it off at UPS within 2 business days after your rental ends
- Watch your email for your download link (valid for 60 days)
Pre-shipment
Once everything ships, you’ll receive an email notification with your order and tracking info. You can track your shipment live from our site to see the latest status anytime. FYI – we ship 8-14 days before your event start date.
On some rare occasions, a signature may be required for delivery (we’ll let you know before shipping). It’s best to keep an eye out on the status updates from UPS.
After Your Phone Arrives
To open, position box with arrows up, carefully cut the tape securing the box and open flaps. Inside, you’ll find your audio guestbook phone, wall charger, return label, tape, and instructions, plus your optional (if added) battery pack and welcome sign.
Make sure to keep everything you are not using right away inside the box, so it doesn’t get misplaced.
IMPORTANT: We thoroughly test out everything multiple times before shipping your phone. However, sometimes technology has a mind of its own or damage can occur during shipping. Please power on the phone as soon as you receive everything. If you don’t hear a greeting play during testing, contact us so we can help resolve the issue.
If we don’t know something is wrong, then we can’t help.
If the greeting plays successfully, then you are all set to go!
Safe Shutdown: We installed a shutdown button on our phones to ensure everything shuts down properly and fully saves the latest message. Use this before unplugging it from the wall or battery each time for additional peace of mind.
Hold the glowing button underneath the phone for 3-5 seconds. Once both the white light and the colored button light turn off, it’s safe to unplug!
This can be repeated as many times as necessary for multi-day/location use.
Don’t worry if you skipped this step before returning, it’s not a requirement, just an extra precaution to ensure your phone continues to function if moved or used across multiple days.
Day-of Your Event
You can customize and print your free custom audio guestbook sign to help guests know what to do.
Setup Tip: We recommend placing the phone in a well-trafficked, but somewhat quiet area, away from any speakers or loud nearby music. Our phones are dialed in to optimize recording of voices, but if you place your phone in front of a speaker or in the middle of a rowdy crowd, your not going to get great recordings.
To get the best audio recording possible – use the Battery pack (when included) or plug the phone directly into a wall outlet.
Avoid using power strips as they can introduce electrical noise into the microphone.
Let the extra slack from the power cord hang behind your table or hide the battery (if rented) behind your welcome sign!
Once you choose your final location, be sure to test things one last time to ensure everything is properly powered and working.
It’s safe to ignore any other switches/toggles/buttons on the bottom of the phone as these have been disabled from their original functionality.
After Your Event
Drop it off at UPS within 2 business days (Mon to Fri) after your rental end date. Your box includes everything you need for an effortless return.
1) Please make sure all provided items are accounted for (phone, USB-C wall power cube & packing materials, plus any add-ons like the battery pack or welcome sign), and that everything is packed in a similar way as when it arrived.
We recommend using the included packing list to verify checked off items. Everything should be snug when closed without too much movement.
2) Secure the box closed using the included tape strip. Then place your included return-label over the original shipping label. Press firmly to secure. (Lost your return label? Get a new one here).
3) Drop off at your nearest UPS location. (Make sure to save your drop-off receipt as proof of return in the event of carrier delays, or a lost shipment).
Tip: If this is for your wedding, and you are headed off to your honeymoon the next day, we recommend designating a trusted friend/family member to take care of the return. Make sure to share this link with them so they know just what to expect and can complete the return successfully.
It takes 1-2 weeks to receive your audio guestbook back safe and sound, after which, we’ll process your messages. You’ll get an email and text (if opted in) when everything is ready with a private link to download all of your message.
The download link will be valid for 60 days, so please make sure to download your messages as soon as you can for safekeeping. Email wind up in spam? You can also lookup your order and download everything here.
Keepsakes shipping timeline:
If you ordered a Keepsake USB Drive or Retro Mini Speaker, we’ll have those shipped out within 72hrs of us receiving your phone.
If you ordered a Custom Vinyl Record, please allow 3-7 weeks from when we receive your phone, to process and ship that your way (we promise, it’s worth the wait). And if we have not received a custom album cover, we’ll wait for that before we begin.
Need Assistance?
If you need any help at all, feel free to reach out to us at +1 (888) 574-6860. Live phone support is available throughout the rental period.
If we don’t answer right away, just shoot us text or leave a quick message letting us know who you are, and we’ll return your call promptly.
Virtual Audio Guestbook Instructions
Your virtual audio guestbook line will be valid for the dates selected on your order. Keep in mind that while the number will ring year-round, messages will only be saved during the rental period selected. If you haven’t rented with us yet, it’s not too late – you can reserve your Virtual Audio Guestbook here and we’ll have your number ready to use within 2hrs.
Share these instructions with guests that can’t join in person so they can dial in and leave a message:
Dial +1 855-934-3556 and enter event code (your 4-digit code provided by email) when prompted, to leave a voicemail.
The number is toll-free across North America. After entering the 4-digit event code, guests will hear your custom recording (if provided) and will leave their message after the beep.
(NEW) There is now a second way for guests to leave messages with our Virtual Audio Guestbook.
Share the custom link you were sent in your email, along with your 4-digit code to let guests leave a message from any browser, anywhere in the world (no phone line needed). All of your digital messages will be combined with your dial-in messages.
After the event, we’ll combine any virtual messages with your live audio guestbook messages and deliver them together in the same digital folder. If you ordered a keepsake listening item, we’ll upload all of them on the same device before shipping.