This invention makes it possible to deliver the voice portion of a Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS) message to a recipient without requiring the recipient wireless stations to be MMS-enabled. A sender creates an MMS message, and sends it to the wireless station of the intended recipient. If the recipient wireless station is not MMS-enabled, the message is conveyed to a message server, where its voice content is extracted and stored in the interactive voice recognition (IVR) system. If the intended recipient wireless station supports the Short Message Service (SMS) protocol, an SMS notification alerting the recipient to the arrival of a new message is transmitted. In the event that the recipient wireless station is neither MMS- nor SMS-enabled, the recipient can be alerted of the receipt of a MMS message by Voicemail, Email, Instant Message, Page, or another medium able to effect delivery. The notification includes instructions for accessing the voice portion of the MMS message from the IVR system.