On my landline, Bell Canada, I canceled my answer service some years ago because of a 7$ a month charge. I want the old fashioned way back, where you could hear the caller say, " pick up the phone if you are there". If you wanted to answer you would just push a button and say hello. Otherwise you could just listen later. The old ones worked with a small cassete tape that could be erased. Unlike the provider junk that you can't moniter during recording and have to pay monthly for.
If you understand what I mean, do any of you have a modern version of these old inline answer machines?