The last couple I've had were built into the phone. But, I had one similar to the GE for years before that and it worked just fine.

Here is a link that might be useful: click here

For the home I too have found a very cheap GE phone with built in answering machine to be quite satisfactory.

In the home we don't test the limits of the thing, how many messages, how long can the messages be, that sort of thing.

Thanks so much for your help. I took your advice and got a very cheap one. The GE. If it doesn't last very long it won't be very terrible. If things fall apart it is better for them to be cheap than expensive. Thanks for steering me in the right direction....Tache