Connect to answering machine via Bluetooth
I have an older answering machine that has some recorded voicemails I am trying to save. There is no audio output jack on the machine. However it does support bluetooth, and I thought there may be a way to "trick" the device into thinking my computer is a bluetooth headset, and capture the audio that way. Would this be possible?
The answering machine is a Panasonic KX-TG9381T
Based on the "Bluetooth Headset Compatibility Chart", it seems the device uses the HSP bluetooth profile (see item *7 at the bottom) : ftp://
I have been unable to get it to appear in Ubuntu list of devices. It appears that the answering machine is expecting some sort of PIN from the headset.
How can I configure Ubuntu to connect as a bluetooth headset?
I'm on Ubuntu Desktop 18.04.4
01 Answer
I've discovered a solution that works in my situation, however the solution has nothing to do with Ubuntu, specifically. I'm unsure if that would make this answer (or even original question) off-topic, so I'm going to post it in case it helps someone in the future and leave it up to the mods to delete if they wish. I'm still curious if there's a way to do it as I originally intended (i.e. configuring Ubuntu as a bluetooth "headset")
I discovered that my answering machine supports remote access, allowing access to voicemail playback from an outside caller. See page 40 of manual: ftp://With this, I was able to connect my cellphone to my computer's Line In, call my answering machine's phone line, playback the voicemails, and capture the audio stream in Audacity.
