Listening to .wav File in Email - How?

[TripsG]

I seem to have all of the interestingly strange issues. My latest is the following:

When I miss a call at work, my work phone (VOIP system) will send me an email with a .wav file so I can listen to the voice mail from my computer or phone.

On my old iPhone I can click on this file and listen to the voice mail easily. On my 920 it says "Sorry, we can't play this file on your phone."

Does anyone have a workaround for this or any ideas as to how I can hear these when they get delivered?

Thanking you in advance.

 

[vedichymn]

This is a known issue, no one knows a timeframe for resolution.

 

[TripsG]

This is a known issue, no one knows a timeframe for resolution.

Well, that kinda blows. Okay. I can be patient.

 

[Lelor]

Yes!! That definitely blows!! The IT guys at work hit the nail on the head when they saw this and made the comment about how does Microsoft expect to compete in the enterprise level with the WP8 when it can't play a simple .wav file which just about all work VOIP systems utilize. Plus, all of the Apple faithful are just snickering once again. I guess in the meantime we will just click our heels and keep repeating - "there's no place like home... there's no place like home..."

Update Microsoft, update...!!!??????

 

[tk-093]

Androids can't play them either. The upside is somebody wrote an app to do it.

 

[Funky Cricket]

Yah, most androids can't. Samsung added it to their music player and MX player can play them. VLC should be coming, so I hope it has .wav embedded in it. This is a problem for me too, as I am looking to switch to WP8 in June and our system using .wav vm to email as well.

 

[avsef]

I heard the problem was not technical but $$$. The way the story goes the license holder wanted too much money and MSFT refused to pay it.

 

[x I'm tc]

WAV file is a format developed by MS. Its formal name is 'Audio for Windows' format. So, it is absolutely unforgivable that it doesn't play.

 

[tk-093]

I heard the problem was not technical but $$$. The way the story goes the license holder wanted too much money and MSFT refused to pay it.

I heard that too and used to think that as well, but I'm not sure if it's true. Heck, it's possible you got that idea from some of my previous posts about it. We actually reached out to our corporate Microsoft contacts and they ensured us that it was a bug and they were well aware of it and that it would be fixed in a future update. This was pre-portico and I was hoping it would be fixed there, but alas it was not.

 

[theomodsim]

I spent a good part of last Saturday working on an app that plays voicemails sent from my company's voicemail system. I found out that the voicemail system sends out .wav files that use the u-law algorithm (see μ-law algorithm - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia for details) and I discovered that the WP8 media player can play .wav files that contain raw (uncompressed) PCM data, so I whipped up a converter that converts u-law data to linear PCM data, then writes it out as a .wav file. This file is then passed to the media player for playback. I was quite happy to see that I was able to get this working, and I had no issues playing voicemail files on my phone that previously didn't play.

What I wasn't happy about was discovering that my app couldn't register to handle the .wav file extension, as that file extension is considered to be "restricted" because the built-in media player is registered to handle files of that extension. What that means is, I couldn't open .wav files attached to an e-mail and have my app play them. I had to first upload them to SkyDrive, and the only way to do that is to go on my desktop and first download the .wav attachment and then upload to SkyDrive. Obviously this makes having an app that can play .wav files virtually useless, because I can just listen to the voicemail directly on the computer without having to go through uploading it to SkyDrive, etc.

What this all means is that it's currently impossible for any 3rd party developer to make an app that plays .wav attached to e-mails. Microsoft will either have to bake in support playing compressed codecs into the media player or relax the restrictions on 3rd party apps registering to handle certain file types.

 

[Steven Piazza]

This needs to be fixed. Its been a problem for too long. How can I recommend WP8 to corp environment with this limitation? When competing against iPhone, this functionality is a must.

 

[TripsG]

I spent a good part of last Saturday working on an app that plays voicemails sent from my company's voicemail system. I found out that the voicemail system sends out .wav files that use the u-law algorithm (see μ-law algorithm - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia for details) and I discovered that the WP8 media player can play .wav files that contain raw (uncompressed) PCM data, so I whipped up a converter that converts u-law data to linear PCM data, then writes it out as a .wav file. This file is then passed to the media player for playback. I was quite happy to see that I was able to get this working, and I had no issues playing voicemail files on my phone that previously didn't play.

What I wasn't happy about was discovering that my app couldn't register to handle the .wav file extension, as that file extension is considered to be "restricted" because the built-in media player is registered to handle files of that extension. What that means is, I couldn't open .wav files attached to an e-mail and have my app play them. I had to first upload them to SkyDrive, and the only way to do that is to go on my desktop and first download the .wav attachment and then upload to SkyDrive. Obviously this makes having an app that can play .wav files virtually useless, because I can just listen to the voicemail directly on the computer without having to go through uploading it to SkyDrive, etc.

What this all means is that it's currently impossible for any 3rd party developer to make an app that plays .wav attached to e-mails. Microsoft will either have to bake in support playing compressed codecs into the media player or relax the restrictions on 3rd party apps registering to handle certain file types.

Excellent information, Theomodsim. Good work, albeit ultimately fruitless. I guess I just keep carrying my iPhone around when I'm away from my office...(sigh)...

 

[Funky Cricket]

this and file handling are the only things i'm really nervous about when I go to adopt WP. Android can't natively play .wav either, but they at least allowed dev's to register to be on the list to play the extension so I can choose MX player to play them.

 

[Schmitty63]

Shame on me for not doing my homework. Had to change format many years of blackberry use when company would not upgrade to new enterprise server. Totally unacceptable that I cannot listen to voicemails received through Outlook. Took a chance on WP and regret that decision.

 

[Ali Babba]

Shame on me for not doing my homework. Had to change format many years of blackberry use when company would not upgrade to new enterprise server. Totally unacceptable that I cannot listen to voicemails received through Outlook. Took a chance on WP and regret that decision.

Sadly WP8 lacks some (what I would consider) basic enterprise stuff. I really, really hope MS gets their crap together. They really could have cornered that segment if they had their stuff together. I like WP8 as my personal device, but I'd be hesitant to deploy it in an enterprise right now.

 

[tk-093]

It will be fixed. We just don't know when. When we first started testing WP8 we went to our Microsoft contacts and brought this issue up. They flat out told us they are aware of it and it will be fixed in an upcoming version. The question is just when. It also really bothers me that this was missed initially. Getting voicemails in your email is a pretty common thing in the business world and the vast majority use the same codecs. Worst. Testing. Ever.

For the record it still bothers the heck out of me that Android also will not play these same files. Yes, there are third party apps, but it's a pain in the rear telling our users to download some crap apps to get their voicemails to play.

 

[joe4au]

My HTC 8x Windows Phone plays .wav files in emails that I've received from a Mitel phone system through my exchage server. However, for my personal voicemails from Vonage that I receive via a POP account, I can't listen to them. Are there different types of .wav files?

 

[philpeeps]

... I found out that the voicemail system sends out .wav files that use the u-law algorithm (see μ-law algorithm - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia for details) and I discovered that the WP8 media player can play .wav files that contain raw (uncompressed) PCM data...

My HTC 8x Windows Phone plays .wav files in emails that I've received from a Mitel phone system through my exchage server. However, for my personal voicemails from Vonage that I receive via a POP account, I can't listen to them. Are there different types of .wav files?

 

[epowers007]

This is ridiculous, I am a Cisco UC engineer and I look likea dope not being able to play Voicemail .wav files from my WP8 work phone! Surrounded by iPhones, come ‘on MicrosoftStep it up!

 

[ninny1176]

Yes there are different codecs for encoding WAV files...WP8 can play Linear PCM, but can't play u-law.