Editing Answering machine (section)

=== Remote control ===
A TAD may offer a remote control facility, whereby the answerphone owner can ring the home number and, by entering a code on the remote telephone's keypad, can listen to recorded messages, or delete them, even when away from home.

Many devices offer a "toll-saver" function for this purpose. Thereby the machine increases the number of rings after which it answers the call (typically by two, resulting in four rings), if no unread messages are currently stored, but answers after the set number of rings (usually two) if there are unread messages. This allows the owner to find out whether there are messages waiting; if there are none, the owner can hang up the phone on the, e.g., third ring without incurring a call charge.

Some machines also allow themselves to be remotely activated, if they have been switched off, by calling and letting the phone ring a certain large number of times (usually 10-15). Some service providers abandon calls already after a smaller number of rings, making remote activation impossible.

In the early days of  TADs a special transmitter for [[dual-tone multi-frequency signaling|DTMF tones]] (dual-tone multi-frequency signalling) was regionally required for remote control, since the formerly employed [[pulse dialling]] is not apt to convey appropriate signalling along an active connection, and the dual-tone multi-frequency signalling was implemented stepwise.

[[File:GE ProSeries 29980A answering system.jpg|alt=A General Electric corded telephone with a built-in microcassette answering machine|thumb|A General Electric corded telephone with a built-in microcassette answering machine]]