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Gone were the days where answering machines have been considered as an important communication tool. These are devices attached to a telephone which allow callers to leave messages particularly if their call is not yet attended.  Messages are then recorded and stored on a cassette tape that can be easily played.

Technology develops with time. Just like many other things, they too can just come and go. And since the answering machine is considered as technology of the past, it can no longer compete with the recent innovations in communication. These days, instead of the answering machines, businesses consider having the voicemail as the newest alternative for the old-aged answering machine.

Voicemail is also known as message bank or VMS (Voice Mail System). It is the digital as well as the modernized equivalent for the answering machine. It is a useful telephony feature that allows a caller to leave a message, enable a user to retrieve messages and configure any calls to be re-directed to the voice mail inbox.

Some business phone system makes use of this phone feature to take messages from a caller and also in answering calls and delivering messages to a group of people. These capabilities are now used by sales representatives and even those in the news services since it allows them to exchange information inexpensively with other people.

With the voice menu retrieval systems, messages can now be easily accessed through any touch-tone phones which only require a user to dial-in some numbers in order to retrieve them. Other systems make use of the store-and-forward switching which allows the users to receive a message via fax or phone on their convenience. Most recent enhancement in voice-mail is the convergence of mobile and internet technology wherein messages are uploaded online users can be notified through e-mail and SMS alerts.