1.   Apparently I had not turned off the cordless phone, and my rampage was recorded, along with my status report, on his phone mail.

2.   Being phone-dependent and enticed by new technology, I swapped out my answering machine for phone company voice mail several years ago.

3.   Check your own phone mail at least every three hours and return the calls.

4.   Give the caller an option to cut out of phone mail by pressing a key and talking to a live person.

5.   Phone mail is also beginning to take off in places like China and parts of Latin America, where telephone service is miserable and difficult to get.

6.   The most frustrating type of phone mail makes you wade through a maze of recorded messages before you can get to anyone.

7.   There are some real examples of phone mail hell out there -- like the guy who dictated a letter to his secretary using phone mail.