Powers wrote:
# should be used to reach a different mailbox.
* should be used if it's your mailbox and you want to enter a password to access the mailbox.
Way to impose the defaults from your voice-mail on the rest of us. The only real answer is to form a federal bureaucracy funded by tax-payer dollars to the tune of $25 billion to regulate voice-mail.

On second thought, do as I do and bypass the message by pressing 5. It's right in the middle of the keypad and it is the default for MY work voice-mail system.