I have caller ID that shows up on my phone and on my TV screen if I happen to have it on. I never answer a phone call if I don’t know the caller. They can leave a message if it is important.
We got a talking answering machine that reads the caller id out. Had it for years. Haven’t actually answered that phone in years, either, unless it was someone we knew. If you want to talk to me, start talking to the machine, and if I care, I will pick up.
If the phone wasn’t only $10 a month we would have gotten rid of it ages ago. But it is nice to have a powered phone for those long work calls - those eat my cell phone battery.
Since I’ve started getting SPAM on my cellphone, and every charity under the sun has been calling my elderly Dad, I signed up three numbers last week.
It was easy. Now, make it work!