I have a Nortel Option 11 switch. How do I activate a voice mail box on a 2616 telephone.

What type of Voice mail? HUNT and FNA to the mail. The voice mail determines the mailbox properties.

I am assuming it is a meridian mail. I have HTA and FNA in the class of service already and the calls do forward to a voice mail box, but message come up and tells me that the mailbox is inactive. How do I make it active. and how do I put in a password?

To make the "mailbox active", you also need to set it up in the voice mail system. Log in to the voice mail (MM, CallPilot); there you build the mailbox and set the password.