Can anyone recommend an answering machine?

steam_dan

I am considering ditching BT Call Minder in favour of an answering machine. I have two specific requirements for the machine.

1. It must be able to be set to answer immediately i.e. before the phone starts ringing
2. I would like to be able to dial it up when I am away from home to pick up my messages.

This second requirement is not essential but very much a "would like to have".

I do not need a new phone but will consider a dect cordless phone with answering machine if it fulfills all my requirement.

Can anybody recommend a good answering machine that satisfies both criteria in the £50 to £100 price bracket?

Rikki

Which magazine recommends Panasonic KXTTG9120ES

sergeant121

steam_dan wrote:

I am considering ditching BT Call Minder in favour of an answering machine. I have two specific requirements for the machine.

1. It must be able to be set to answer immediately i.e. before the phone starts ringing
2. I would like to be able to dial it up when I am away from home to pick up my messages.

This second requirement is not essential but very much a "would like to have".

I do not need a new phone but will consider a dect cordless phone with answering machine if it fulfills all my requirement.

Can anybody recommend a good answering machine that satisfies both criteria in the £50 to £100 price bracket?

Surely all answering machines comply with your first point.

Are you sure you don't mean must be 'switchonable' AFTER the phone starts ringing?

bobsmum

If you want an answering machine without the phone, I can recommend the BT Response 75. We have had one for our business for about 5 years -never let us down, touch wood!

Simple to operate, can be checked from away/abroad, (can even change the outgoing message when abroad!), also has a feature where it will ring 1471 and tell you the number of the person who called even if they didn't leave a message.

Click here for more info - might be able to find it cheaper elsewhere, though £29.99 is not bad

steam_dan

sergeant121 wrote:

Surely all answering machines comply with your first point.

Are you sure you don't mean must be 'switchonable' AFTER the phone starts ringing?

As someone who hasn't bought an answering machine for nearly 15 years I do not know if all answering machines can be set to answer the phone before the phone starts to ring. This is VERY important to us as my wife is a nurse and often works nights. The only reason that we have stuck with BT Call Minder for so long is that it allows her to turn the phone off during the day, when she is sleeping, and get the messages later. BT Call Minder is proving to be quite expensive though, at £6.something a quarter. I am beginning think that the initial outlay for a decent answering machine will have paid for itself within a year or two.