Also trying to initialize voicemail, says Feature 983 inactive

This means the system can no longer communicate with the voice mail. You can try to locate the voice mail and power cycle the unit to resolve the issue, If you still get inactive feature after the reboot you will need to replace the vms.

Dear Annabelle,
Is the machine call pilot 100 or 150.if 100 the 2 leds in your left hand side should be on also in your right hand side the middle led should be on same for 150 the 4 leds in your left hand side should be on.1) Try to unplug the power cable and re-connect it again.2) Make sure that the the output telephone cable [100 (2 pair) or 150 (4 pair)] depends on the device comming from the call pilot to the Nortel PABX connected properly from both sides. dont hesitate to contact me if you are facing any doubt.Goodluck and Kind Regards;
Ahmed Safaa El-DeebTelecom & Network Engineer

Sounds like the voicemail either is disconnected from the phone system or has lost power to the voicemail.Open the cover to the voicemail and see if there are any lights on in the system.If so then disconnect the power tho the voicemail for about 30 seconds. the voicemail could take up to 10 minutes to fully reboot.

If none of the voice mail feature codes work (feature 980-989) then the voice mail system is either not working or isn't recognized by the telephone system.Go to your communications closet and check to see if theres a power light on in the voicemail.If not then you might want to call in your tele system service provider.

Cycle the power on the voicemail system and that should solve the problem. If you still get the "Feature inactive" message, you may have to replace the voicemail power supply or get the voicemail system repaired.
Good Luck!

Sounds like the voicemail system is locked up and needs to be powered down and powered back up.
The voicemail, if it is a Call Pilot looks like a small gray box which looks like this in the photo: http://presstelegram.kaango.com/resources/img/itemimages/JUN/491159/LO10559_491159_06302009144332-large.jpg
You can unplug this unit for about 15 seconds, then plug it back in...
It will take about 5 minutes for the Call Pilot to re-boot, then you can dial FEATURE 9 8 3 to ensure that it has come back up.
Good Luck!

First make sure u r using Voicemail system which is either Star talk or call pilot.
If u r any one of this then only u can use F 981, 982 , 983 or 985. Its a feature code of voice mail.
If u r using either of this and still gettin inactive feature, then try with rebooting The Satr talk or call pilot i.e. switch off from mains wait for few mins and switch it back on.
After rebooting it will take 15-20 mins to boot up the system and after that u can use these feature.

Thanks.
Abhi

Feature 983
password is: 1020000 (if you use 3 difit extensions)
OR
120000 (if you have 2 digit extensions)

Have you set up the voicemail before?

OK, from your set;
-> dial FEATURE 9 8 1 (this is the code to get you to the voicemail)
-> then your passcode, if you never set up the voicemail, the temporary password is 0 0 0 0 (four - zero's).
-> if this is a new installed voicemail, the telephone system will tell you al that you need to initiate the voicemail box.

sounds like the voicemail is rebooting or was unpluged, make sure the call pilot is pluged in and the lights are on. i had a similar problem once and the power supply to the callpilot went bad. once i replaced it it came back up and worked fine.