Most people think of an answering machine as a way of not missing a call, a way of knowing that someone called while you were out. But for me I used this as a way of screening calls. My house for some reason was bombarded with cold callers many times a day. I don't know if we were on some list or something but they all seamed to call and sometimes at very late hours at night.

This compact machine had very easy to understand instructions and was therefore easy as can be to set up. There was only really two steps to follow. First I had to simply remove the plug from the phone socket and attach this to the answering machine and then attach the lead from the machine into the wall socket. The answering machine has a long mains powered cable, so simply plug this in where you want the machine to stay. The answering machine itself felt heavy enough to make me feel that it wasn't cheaply made and would last for years to come. The main body of the machine is gun metal grey in colour, this didn't exactly go with our sitting room but didn't stand out to much either. It can record up to thirty separate messages and has a recording time of thirty six minutes in total.
This was more than enough especially for the reason we were using it.


There are simple instructions included that tell you how to leave your personalised message for your callers to hear. "Sorry I'm not hear at the moment please leave a message after the beep", being the standard and most simple one to record.
There are also some other features that can come in handy such as, being able to control how may times it will ring before going to message. This way if you don't want to screen your calls, you don't have to be running for the phone to stop it going to message. It can be programmed to ring for up to nine or as little as two. There is also a VIP setting to let you know when it's family members or friends calling.
The little LCD screen on the front is very easy to read as the numbers glow a vivid red.
The play back of the recordings was clear and crisp and when I left messages for my family myself by calling home the outgoing message also sounded good.

This machine was a total necessity when it came to our family, it works great for what it's designed to do, meaning friends and family could leave us messages to let us know they had called. But what was most enjoyable was listening back to the cold callers mumbling and stuttering then hanging up. This became a nightly laugh for the family, they must have noted down that they kept getting an answering machine because eventually they all stopped calling.

This can be purchased online at : home-phones.co.uk
For £32.99 + shipping.