As Internet answering machine services go, there are great ones, and there are bad ones. In general, the ones that require less money and less hassle on your part are the better ones. When I first learned about Internet call waiting, I found the Caller ID feature ideal for my needs, because of how many people were using the one phone line in my home. I quickly learned how different companies deal with different customer needs.

I came across one Internet call waiting company (I don't think they are in business anymore) that didn't even offer the Caller ID feature as a standard feature with their software. I would have had to purchase a separate Caller ID modem to make that feature work. I didn't think anything of it when I first found out, but the more I researched, the more I found other companies were including Caller ID as a standard feature with no additional hardware to purchase and get shipped for me to set up.

No Caller ID Modem Is Good

The last thing I wanted to deal with was some extra piece of hardware that I had to be responsible for putting together. It was a stretch for me to look into the Internet answering machine, installing a modem would have been way beyond my computer skills. As such, I jumped at companies that offered the Caller ID feature as part of the software download.

While I initially had some kinks to work out with my computer and the software, all was well. My modem responded well to the software and the Caller ID functioned worked like a charm. I was actually able to let my family know when a call came in for them and offered to get offline while they took the call if it was important. It worked like a charm, without a separate Caller ID modem to deal with.