[MissPlayful]

How often have you rung a telephone number, an answering machine replies, and you hang up because you don’t want to leave a message? Is it possible to design the system so the ringer is alerted by a particular ringing tone that an answering machine is switched on and will come on in say one minutes time if nobody answers the phone? We would then have the option of hanging up before the machine answers the call.

It would save a lot of money. For example, in Australia where I live, if ten million people make five such calls a year, that’s about ten million dollars simply wasted every year.

Reward: a free telephone with an answering machine!

[mtd28student]

Hi

This problem is really up to the people that run the telecomunication companys. Some already offer a system where they do not charge for the 1st 10 seconds or so of the call. If you ring a number and it turns out to be an answering machine then the company will not charge you as long as you hange up quickly.

But as you said, they risk loosing millions of dollars a year.

thanks

[Michael D. Grissom]

Ok,.. call me dense but, why wouldn't you want to leave a message asking for a return call. That way, the call back would be at their expense. My Dad always seem to leave the same message on my machine... "God I hate answering machines" as he was hanging up. I always called back and started the conversation about how much money my machine was saving him. That never changed his mind and I never understood why. One of the biggest reasons I use an answering machine is to screen out those dang tele-marketers, and people who always desperately need to borrow money, and misdialed numbers (I had the old Wal Mart complaint number), and people who have a big problem with being alone and just need to talk someone's ear off (notice those who can't drive or even walk without a cell phone against their ear), and those that always seem to think that because THEY are awake YOU must be awake too. Nope!.. if my machine ever died, I'd never get any sleep or anything done.