Business Answering Device

What I'm looking for is an answering device that would allow a caller, by use of a menu, to get prerecorded announcements on a variety of of topics. For example: Press 1 for directions from xyz, Press 2 for business hours, Press 3 for specials this week etc.

 

Most of that is done by computer with special software. I used to have it on my computer for business use, but I don't remember the name of it. Communique?? or something like that.

 

You will need a voice modem; Not a big deal, it just means that you can't use just any cheap modem and have to buy a slightly more expensive model; Look for something labeled "data/fax/voice" or "data/fax/voice/speakerphone" and many of them come with a limited edition copy of whatever voicemail package the company has under contract; But for the most part, any software package should work on with voice modem...

Look at some modem reviews and you should learn which software package comes with what modem and do a Yahoo! search on voicemail and you'll get plenty of choices. I could list the two packages which I own, but mine are old and the software isn't that hard to create, so there are quite a few options available and are pretty much interchangable; Therefore, in my opinion you may be better served by looking at a listing of features and basing your choices on more current information.

Good Luck;
R

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Edit

After re-reading the entire thread; It occurred to me that some of this post might at first glance seem off-topic because you aren't wanting to take messages, but instead broadcast specific speeches. Most of the packages include an option to throw some or all messages into a single mailbox; So, your recorded announcements may end-up being followed by a beep and some packages allow you to turn-off the beep for multithreading the announcements; So, when your message is over, the user can choose from another menu to get additional info, learn about a new topic or return to the main menu; IOW: It's all in the features...