Review on 📞 Enhanced Efficiency with AT&T 1738 40-Minute Digital Answering System featuring Time/Day Stamp by Miriam Davis

After years of using a phone with a built in answering machine, I recently purchased a separate phone and 1738 answering machine which digitally records up to 40 minutes of calls. I paid $18 for this device; good price. The human engineering of 1738 is excellent. For example, to set the day of the week, press the button repeatedly until the correct day of the week is announced. Other setup steps are similar. I like the remote access with Call Saver to take calls on the go. You can choose your own 3-digit remote access code. They have a feature on this device that is a first for me. That is, the system can be configured to start the message with the caller's phone number using the caller ID greeting. The voice quality of a digital message is always an issue. I find the voice quality on this machine to be quite acceptable, I have to admit it's not like Carnegie Hall. Manufacturers have to find a compromise between voice quality and storage costs. In this case, I think AT&T did a great job. Recorded messages are clear and outgoing messages sound like me. It turns on and off at the touch of a button and plays messages; how much I like working with machines. Other interesting features: Like all digital storage media, you can selectively delete calls. The indicator flashes when you have messages and the number of messages is displayed. If you choose to save messages, you will be shown how many minutes of recording are left. The system has a half-speed feature that allows you to hold down a button to listen to a message at half the normal speed. I think it will be good if you want to write while listening to a message. The downside is that if you play at half speed, you can hear the drunk talking. Unfortunately, this feature cannot be used remotely. Features I don't use but are available: There is a feature that can be activated to intercept calls when a caller's phone number is intentionally blocked. It can intercept offensive or threatening calls. When this feature is enabled, the message "Sorry, blocked calls to this number cannot be answered" will be played; then the system hangs without writing a message. I tested this feature and blocked calls are stopped. It lets through unidentified calls (examples: calls made from abroad and calls made when people use phone cards). It has a call filter feature.