From: andrew@jester.pa.dec.com (Derek Andrew)
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: Summary: Tapeless Answering Machines
Date: 1 Sep 92 04:49:38 GMT
Reply-To: andrew@jester.pa.dec.com
Organization: University of Saskatchewan
X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 12, Issue 676, Message 1 of 8

I recently posted a request for information on the various tapeless
answering machines on the market. This is a summary of what I have
learned.

Panasonic, AT&T, GTE, Sony and Phonemate were the only manufacturers
that I found anything on. The following features appear to be common
to all machines.

o	battery backup

o	on the machines that include a phone, the phone usually has
	some speed call buttons, and maybe other features like redial.

o	when the machine supports day/time stamping, it appears to be
	the day of the week and the time of day.

o	all machines seem to support remote operation, but only
	the AT&T and MAYBE the Panasonic machines allow selective 
	deletion of individual messages REMOTELY

o	NOBODY, but NOBODY supports Caller ID.

AT&T 1337, 1339, 1539	$100-$200

The features of these models are the same but... The 1339
has the additional features of Day/Time stamping and voice
prompts; the 1539 is the 1339 with a built in phone.

o	Capacity for seven minutes of messages.

o	Allows selective deletion of individual messages,
	(other vendors allowed deletion of only ALL messages).

o	Battery backup.

o	It has the standard play, fast-forward, back, pause,
	and delete buttons.

  Complaints

o	The toll saver feature will cause the machine to answer
	after two rings if there are *any* messages -- even if
	you have heard them before -- rather than just *new* 
	messages.  All messages must be deleted to reset it.

o	The OGM still sounds like it was recorded on tape.

o	The fast-forward button doesn't react very quickly,
	you have to pause about a second between presses.

o	It won't record a blank message if the caller hangs 
	up before the beep, but it will record the sound of 
	the phone being hung up if the caller stays on after
	the beep.

o	If the last message is a blank, then you have to start
	the play sequence over again and fast-forward to it in 
	order to delete it, since the machine gives you no time
	to back up.

Panasonic KX-T8000

o	Eighteen minutes of messages

o	maybe has remote selective deletion of messages

PhoneMate ADAM (All Digital Answering Machine) 	>$200

o	Variable speed playback.

o	Will call another number when it receives a message.

o	Ten minutes of messages, expandable.

o	LCD display

o	Day/time stamping.

o	variable speed message playback

o	commands to skip forward or back to next message, and
	forward or back within message during playback.

o	phone included

o	smart enough not to record pauses

  Complaints

o	Poor sound quality.

o	Message playback is LOUD

GTE 9821	< $100

Although there is a new model out, the 9831, I received no 
responses from any owners. Indications were that the owners
of the 9821 would never buy another GE machine again.  A vendor
told me the 9831 allows ten minutes of messages and supports
call screening.

o	two minutes of messages.

o	simple phone included

  Complaints

o	no way to screen calls

o	must listen to calls on the handset

o	You can't back up or go forward -- to review a call,
	you have to review ALL of your calls
 
o	bug: if someone talks to the full two minutes, it crashes
	the system, eats your outgoing message, and from then on it
	answers the phone, beeps at the person on the other end,
	and won't take messages.

Sony IT-A4000 

o	Phone included.

o	Variable speed playback.

o	Time/date stamp.

o	Voice prompting.

o	three separate mailboxes.

o	Will call a phone number when it receives messages.

  Complaints

o	Poor sound quality (like the ADAM)

o	Cuts of messages from cellular phones (verified by
	manufacturer.) Another owner has not experience this bug.

The following article is copied from a previous posting in the TELECOM
Digest. I have included it here for comparison to the others.


 Date: Mon, 17 Aug 1992 12:02:08 PST
 From: Mark Lottor <mkl@nw.com>
 Subject: Sony IT-A4000 Digital Answering Machine Review

The Sony IT-A4000 has been out for a while now.  It is a speakerphone
and digital answering machine.  It has a very hi-tech design and a
real nice backlit LCD display.  The answering machine has three
outgoing messages, which can be your own or ones from ROM.  The first
is the normal please leave a message message.  Another is for when
your recording memory is full.  And another is for when you put the
machine in announce only mode.

When leaving a message, a caller can push *1, *2, or *3 to have the
message tagged for a particular recipient.  The phone does not tell
them to do this, you put it in your message if you want to, otherwise
things go into box one by default.  The phone has three LEDs on three
buttons; the corresponding one blinks when a message is left "in" a
particular "mailbox".  Also, the display shows how many messages are
in each box.  Then the recipient can just hit one of the buttons to
play back that box.  However, don't get the impression that this is a
voice-mail system.  Messages are time and dated.  A memo button lets
you record from the local speakerphone mic or the current phone call
into message area three.

The phone can also be set to call another number after a message is
received.  It will try calling every 30 minutes until you answer (or
read the new messages).  It plays a recorded message (your own or from
ROM) and waits for your password to access it.  You could potentially
record touch-tones into your "remote access" message if you wanted it
to call your pager, although I haven't tried this.  The remote mode is
voice-synthesized but has only minor prompting.  You can do most
functions from the remote mode, including turning the machine on/off,
call transfer on/off, change transfer number, and change OGMs.
However, you can not delete individual messages, only complete
mailboxes (you can play, delete, and skip individual messages from the
front panel).  It is slightly annoying when you call it because it
doesn't tell you if there are new messages or not; you need to try the
play command (or use toll-saver mode).  Also, it will only listen to
DTMF commands when it is finished prompting you, which can be annoying
but the wait is never more than a second or two.

The sound quality of digitized messages is OK but not great.  However,
it does hold up to 16 minutes worth of messages.  The phone has CPC,
toll-saver modes, and speed dials.  The LCD display shows time, modes,
number dialed, minutes talking, and number of messages.  It can only
be set to answer after three or five rings, or TS mode.  In summary,
its a nice phone.  It has some minor annoyances, mostly because you
know they could have just added a few lines of code to make it do
something differently.  However, it easily beats having a machine with
tapes or paying someone for voice-mail service.  It sells for around
$199.

This article has been prepared from information obtained
from the following helpful individuals:

	Dan D Grove		<dgrove@cs.rice.edu> 
	David Whiteman		<dbw@crash.cts.com>
	J. Brad Hicks		<mhs!mc!Brad_Hicks@attmail.com>
	Jim Berilla		<jb@falstaff.MAE.cwru.edu> 
	Justin Leavens		<leavens@mizar.usc.edu> 
	Laurence Chiu		<lchiu@animal.gcs.co.nz> 
	Mark Lottor		<mkl@nw.com>
	Mark Wuest		<mdw@att.com> 
	Michael Schuster	<schuster@panix.com> 
	Steve Atlas		<atlas@pictel.com> 
	Tom Scheer		<scheer@ap040.ti.com> 
	Vance Shipley		<vances@xenitec.on.ca> 
	Willie Smith		<wpns@pictel.com> 


Derek Andrew, Manager of Computer Network & Technical Services
University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon Saskachewan, Canada, S7N 0W0
Andrew@Sask.USask.CA, +1-306-966-4808,  52 11 23N 106 48 48W