Khadaji; why rewind the whole message if the number is at the end, and you find the message so anoying?
I screen all of my calls. I get alot of hang ups and that makes me so mad… Anyway… if you dont leave a message because you dont like answering machines then how will you know if im there.
My ex used to say that he wouldnt leave a message on a machine that he would rather call until he got them on the phone. Which i think is pointless, just leave a message and wait till they call back… no big deal… Oh well to each his own…
The voice-mail at my work does not provide the ability to rewind part of a message. Nor does my digital answering machine here at home.
Perhaps you could try talking to a small, non-threatening appliance for a bit. Maybe an alarm clock or a blender, until you’re ready to join modern society.
~ducking and running~ 
Beeeeep…
“Hi, you’ve reached the ____ residence. The answering machine is not working right now, but this is the refrigerator. If you’ll please leave your name, number, and a short message, I’ll be happy to write it down on a yellow sticky note, and post it on myself. Thank you.”
LOL. I like it. I may use it - if you don’t mind?
I repeat my number twice as well.
“Hi Joe Shmoe. This is Shrew. Call me back at 867-5309. I was wondering if you still want to get together for blah blah blah blah blah blah… Again, it’s Shrew at 867-5309.”
Yeah, go ahead… it was on this girl’s answering machine that I knew when I was in highschool. I doubt she remembers about it.
I HATE it when people don’t say what a message is regarding. I have to call my coworkers multiple times a day and it’s hard to keep track of what I need to ask each one. Therefore, when I leave a voicemail, I always say what it’s regarding. One of my coworkers never fails to ask: “so what’s up?” then I always say “didn’t you listen to my message?” she says “no, I just saw your name on caller ID and called you back.” Drives me NUTS! That’s why I LEAVE detailed messages, so I don’t have to dig around through the multiple piles on my desk to try and figure out what the hell I called you for in the first place! That’s also why I never call people back that don’t leave ME messages (if I see their name on caller ID). No message, no call back.
I’ll put in a vote for short outgoing messages as well.
The outgoing message that jinwicked posted would be a hoot the first time I heard it, but if I had to listen to the whole thing every time I called…
mmmmm, you do have a point Green Bean. I guess I’ll stick with what I have.
Mom? That’s you, isn’t it, Mom?
My mother has only ever left one message on my answering machine or voicemail. She was angry at me.
"Sugaree, it’s your mother. Call me.
I live in fear of another message from her. Until that dark day, I just call her every time I get a hang-up call.
“Hi, [You], this is [Me]; please call me at [my number]; talktoyalater, bye.”
I tell them what I’m calling about only if I need them to give me some info they’ll need to collect before they can answer my question.
I am THE QUEEN of fast talkers, but even I can slow down to leave a message. If it is business related, I usually leave the details because I don’t like to rehash for the person calling me back. I just want an answer to whyever I am calling.
For my friends, they usually get a “Call me” message, because almost all my friends do the, “I saw your number on ID” thing, and I don’t want to waste my precious breath. 