Saving Money: Voice Mail vs. Answering Machines
“If you have learned how to disagree without being disagreeable, then you have discovered the secret of getting along — whether it be business, family relations, or life itself.” — Bernard Meltzer
When it comes to money, there is really only one area where Jeanine and I don’t see eye-to-eye: this is the lease vs. buy car debate. Early in our relationship we agreed to disagree on this issue. She leases. I buy used. Everyone is happy. End of story.
We just discovered another issue. It seems minor, but still worth mentioning because I’ve never known anyone to do this… so it makes for a fun blog conversation. Jeanine recently canceled her landline voice mail service and bought an answering machine.
I’m somewhat to blame. My phone died so we hit the electronics circuit to find a new one. I guess I was taking too long with making my selection because all of a sudden Jeanine had the combo phone/digital answering machine in her hands and we were soon heading for the check-out line.
Her reason was an attempt to be more frugal. She said, “If I bought this one (combo that included answering machine), then I could cancel my voice mail subscription and save money on this monthly charge.” I replied, “You’ve got to be kidding… who uses an answering machine?” I didn’t even know that answering machines were still being manufactured. Didn’t voice mail replace all this at some point in the late eighties?
Well, yes it did. And TIME magazine was helpful in documenting this cultural shift in this article from 1989:
“The technological forerunner of the modern voice-messaging system was the common telephone-answering machine. But now, instead of talking to a simple tape recorder, people are conversing with a computer at the end of the line. At the heart of the new systems are special-purpose computer chips and software that convert human speech into bits of digital code. These digitized voices can then be stored on magnetic disks and retrieved in a flash, just like any other piece of computer data.”
“The simplest systems do just what the old answering machines do: pick up the phone, play a prerecorded greeting and record whatever the caller has to say. Some add technological bells and whistles, like push-button controls that let their owners save messages or dispatch replies — to one person or to hundreds of people. Other systems are set up to dispense information, offering callers a menu of choices and playing the messages they select.”
Fast-forward to 2007: I searched online and apparently nobody else is having the Jeanine dilemma. One obscure telecoms provider had this comparison in their newsletter. They write in marketing speak, “Just look for yourself at the benefits of this service.”
Voicemail:
- Works even when the power is off
- Cannot be damaged by lightning
- Will answer all incoming calls, even while you’re on the phone or Internet.
- Can answer multiple calls
- Makes it easy to check messages when away from home
- Will never wear out
Typical Answering Machine:
- Quits working when your power is off
- Can be disabled by a bad thunderstorm
- Only answers one call at a time
- Is difficult to impossible to check messages remotely
- Does not answer calls while you are on the phone or Internet
Okay, but back to Jeanine’s case about saving money. Jeanine and I have separate phone lines… hers, mine, ours… a good approach in my opinion when it comes to money and relationships. I confirmed on my bill and The Message Center service from AT&T costs $8.95 / month — that’s $107 / year. Her new combo telephone/answering machine was about $69 so her ROI will happen within about eight months. All commendable and obviously makes sense from a personal finance point of view. But it seems so backwards… reverting to an old technology. What do you think?
I would never do this. Plus, it’s annoying… I can hear all the messages that people leave on her answering machine throughout the day. I’m in my home office and I can hear it down the hall. She likes this feature saying that she can screen calls and pick up mid-message if she wants to as she did late last night while we were watching a movie on our overpriced cable service.
Ah, cable service… that’s another area where we agree to disagree. But I’ll cover that in another post. In the meantime, Jeanine loves her new (old) answering machine. I’m fine paying $8.95 / month.
We have neither of these. No answering machine- no voicemail on our landline. My partner Susan does have a cell w/ voicemail- but the cell exists only for potential kid emergencies, so the voicemail feature is never really used.
The most frugal thing to do is to pick the cheapest way to meet your individual “end goal.” If 24/7 access is an issue, it seems voicemail would be the choice to make. Then the smartest thing to do would be to find the cheapest service that meets the need.
I wonder if there’s a volume control somewhere that you can use to get rid of the distraction. (I also use an answering machine, but we never try not to hear the messages, so I haven’t researched this.)
Most people contact me via e-mail, and my power is rarely out, so I don’t need any of the voice mail features. Also, I admit that I sometimes screen my calls.
I have no problem with reverting to old technologies, especially when they are cheaper, better built, easier to maintain, healthier, or have some other advantage.
Mark and I share a land line and have always used an answering machine. I didn’t realize machines were so archaic!
For me, saving the $9 is the key. But we also rely on the machine for call-screening (we never pick up without first listening to the caller), especially since we don’t spend on Caller ID.
I don’t want to answer his calls when he’s away, and I don’t want him to answer my calls when I’m away. The recorder is better at getting and documenting the caller’s message completely and reliably.
You’re right about the pros/cons of each approach, but based on our personal preferences, the machine is the winner.
I’m also an answering-machine throwback. It is very easy to access remotely. You can turn the volume down so you can’t hear messages being left. And in a thunderstorm/power outage, I’ll of course default to the cellphone. But what’s this about “Does not answer calls while you are on the phone or Internet”? It does if you are using DSL. You *are* using DSL…aren’t you? 🙂