--
Graham.

%Profound_observation%
"John Rumm" wrote in message
et...
Paul Herber wrote:
On Tue, 6 Jan 2009 14:19:20 -0800 (PST), wrote:

Sorry not DIY!- I want to buy a digital cordless phone and one of the
features I would like is to be able to dial up my home phone no. when
on holiday and listen to the answering machine messages (sad I
know!).
Is this what that line means for the following item?
http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Produc...er/5524309.htm

Yes, some TAMs can only be accessed via the buttons on the base
station, most have control from the handset(s) and some also allow
access externally (can also be turned off). When the TAM answers an
incoming call it also listens for incoming touch-tones from the
calling phone, you enter the pass number, usually 4 digits (set by a
menu on the base - always change it away from the manufacturer's
default number), if you get the code correct then the numbers 1..9
control playback of your messages etc.

Might be worth adding that some DECT phones which have an answer machine
facility, have the functionality built into one of the handsets rather
than a base station. This means you can recover messages remotely, but
locally you can only get them on the one handset that contains the answer
machine facility - not any of the others.

--
Cheers,

John.

The first phone/TAM I has with this facility was branded BT and
was activated by a long followed by a short tone. The pitch was
largely unimportant, you could whistle it.