A tele-marketer made the mistake one time of telling me that if the computer that calls reaches a answering machine, it will hang up. So, I just let the machine pick up and if it's a family member or friend, I hear the voice and answer the phone. Now, I've switched to Directv.,and when the phone rings,the Directv receiver tells me who's calling and the phone number. So, if it's a unfamilar number, I just let it go to machine.