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From: FREE0612@uiucvmd (David Lemson)
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: Strange Answering Machine Messages
Message-ID: <13271@accuvax.nwu.edu>
Date: 11 Oct 90 20:28:35 GMT
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X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 10, Issue 730, Message 2 of 9


People have been talking recently about strange answering machine
messages appearing mysteriously.  This reminds me of something that
has happened a lot on my parents' answering machine (a Phone-Mate
two-line model).  It hasn't happened in the past few months, I don't
really know why.

My dad's office has a voice mail system, and when you ring my father's
phone and he doesn't get it within three rings, it switches over to
the voice mail message.  Also, we have SpeedDial from the phone
company (SWBT).  (I think we have a 5ESS switch, if that makes any
difference) On Speed Dial number 2, we have my dad's work number
programmed.

Well, the strange occurence is that sometimes we'd find a message on
the answering machine consisting of a ring or so and my dad's voice
mail message.  Then, the standard "If you'd like to leave a message,
press one ..." message and the answering machine timed out on the
silence from the other end.  Pretty weird, huh?  It seems like the
answering machine picked up the phone and dialed "2", even by pulse.
But why would it do this, and why would it only happen every so often.
I know some reader of the Digest has to have heard of something like
this!  (HA!)