Casio Phonemate TA105 Digital Answering Machine with Time and Day Stamp

The TA-105 is easy to set up and operate. When you have a new message, the TA-105's bright red indicator light flashes quickly. With a touch of the big, blue Play/Pause button, the TA-105's synthesized voice announces the number of total and new messages and plays back the new ones, with the time and day stamp announced for each. Press the Play/Pause button again to listen to saved messages, too. You can skip or erase any message during play, or you can erase all messages at once. Don't worry about accidental erasure during a power failure; the TA-105's battery back-up will save your greeting, messages, and programmed settings.

For added convenience, the TA-105 will help you screen your calls--you can listen to incoming messages through the speaker and pick up the phone or extension if you'd like to take the call.

We tested the TA-105's recording capacity, and it successfully met its rating of 18 minutes in total recording time and five minutes maximum for a single message. The sound quality is good and, unlike some comparable machines, plays at a volume loud enough to be heard over competing home or office noise.

Remote operation is possible from nearly any touchtone or cellular phone, or even from a rotary phone if you use the optional touchtone dialer accessory available from the manufacturer. Follow the voice prompts for instructions, or just hang up, and your new messages will automatically be saved. And, with the toll-saver setting, the TA-105 allows you to avoid long distance charges by letting you know if new messages are waiting before it answers.

Setup and programming are simple; we successfully recorded a personal greeting without consulting the user manual. Additional programming, including setting the day/time stamp, is just a two- or three-step process, with guidance provided by recorded voice prompts.

Overall, we think the TA-105 provides quick and uncomplicated message management and would be a smart addition to any home or office with a small to medium call volume.

Pros:

• Instant access to greetings and messages
• Easy setup and operation
• Call screening ability

• No message repeat function
• Can't choose or change the remote access code

This Casio of mine has been working perfectly for 2 years now: electrical burn-outs are no problem: the 9 volt battery takes care of the outgoing message and all of the recorded messages.

You CAN erase each message individually, and skip to the next one, without being forced to listen to is entirety. It does everything it claims in the manual, and you would know that if you'd READ THE MANUAL !

Works great ! Buy it if you cand find one !


Basic phone answering with simple controls   March 29, 2002
Val Humble (Portland, OR USA)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful

I bought mine because it had the fewest buttons with the most obvious functions. It's for my technophobic father-in-law who won't touch a PC and can't operate most of the functions of his TV's remote control. This is the best user interface I have seen for such people. They really put some thought into it. They didn't just put up a group of identical, symetrically-arranged buttons whose labels you have to read to know which to press. I bought mine at Goodwill, so it came without a user's manual. But it was obvious enough how to use it, and the stickers on the back provided enough additional information to ease setting up the outgoing message and correct day and time.

I thank Casio for their attention to the user interface. More companies should do likewise.

The single problem I have had is that the VOX threshhold is a bit too high. Some calls get cut off after 10 seconds (all mine from my work phone) while most of them can go on - presumably up to the documented 5 minute limit.


Great Little Answering Machine   August 8, 2001
2 out of 2 found this review helpful

Simple, basic, easy to set up and use, reliable. A very good value for the price.