Cannot set up Land Line Voicemail for the first time

I've been trying to set up my voicemail for my land line.  The first step to access the voicemail is to enter your home phone number, which I did.  It then said it is the incorrect password.  Huh?  That's my phone number.  Now whenever I dial *98, I get the message: "The voice messaging system cannot access your mailbox at this time."  I've tried resetting the password so that it reverts to my home phone number thinking that would break the log jam, but nope.  Any ideas?