We have a land-line and an answering machine (digital though, no tape). Personally, I hate calling someone else's house and hearing a prerecorded voice that is not the person I am calling. I have a minor phone phobia when it comes to calling people I don't know, and even if I am calling someone I know (unless it is close family or my best friend), I worry that I am calling too late or during supper, or some other bad time. I remember years ago calling my aunt and uncle. I had never called them before (they usually called, or my mom called them--I was home while my parents were visiting them out-of-state). Answering machines were really a fairly new thing at that time, and when I called, I got the voice of a stranger saying "We're unable to take your call..." I was very confused and hung up.
I don't give a lot of information on our message, but I do include our first names. We get A LOT of wrong numbers (for a local lawyer and for a beauty salon), and I also want to let our friends know they got the right number. I have heard a lot of cute messages that people put on theirs, but since there is no telling who might be calling, I keep it boring and basic. Ours just says, "You've reached James and Barbara. We can't come to the phone right now, so if you leave your name, number, and a message, we'll get back to you." Some people still leave messages for the lawyer or beauty salon!
I do one thing that is probably a little strange. I keep certain messages and won't ever delete them. I have also found that, so far, our phones seem to last just about the length of time it takes to fill up with the messages I save. Why do I save messages? Some of the messages from my daughter and grandkids are too cute to get rid of. I also am collecting voices. My mom and aunt are both gone now, but I have their voices on an old phone. I have at least one of most family members (all but some cousins and an aunt) and some close friends. I have my best friend singing Happy Birthday to me. I have James's voice on there, and mine is also on there. I have my grandson at about age 5 singing a song to me. When it looks like the phone is getting close to the end of its usefulness as a phone, I have my daughter and grandkids call and fill the rest of the answering machine space up.
Barbara