Al writes:
In your article about answering machines for cell phones, you say
“Answering machine sales have been dropping for years. First, when most phone companies began to offer voice mail as an option and again when cell phones began to replace land lines.”
Explain, please. I suppose I’ve declined that option. I know nothing about it.
Al, many home phone service providers offer the option of voice mail for users. That just means your messages are recorded on their servers instead of an answering machine in your home. You can access those messages from any phone using an access number provided by the phone provider. You would then enter a PIN number code to listen to your messages.
It’s possible that you might already have that service available with your home phone service, but have not bothered to set up the mailbox. You do need to set up your mailbox for this service to be activated. The process for setting up the mailbox varies depending on provider, but it is not complicated.
To find out if this option is already part of your phone service or if your phone provider has it available, you can contact their customer service or check their website.
~ Cynthia
i would much rather use my own answerphone. why do i need to use theirs with yet another damn number to remember??? dont we have enough of these with banks/passwords etc?? with my own answerphone i am in charge and IIIIIIII am receiving MYYYYY MESSAGES. NO ONE ELSE IS. just another intrusion into my affairs are these so called mail boxes etc.
Phone company voice mail is a waste of money–over a year or so, one pays MORE for that option that it would cost to buy one’s own answering machine. Telephone company voice mail is just another way of separating a fool from his money…at least for land lines.