Is it worth it... Bang & Olufsen BeoTalk 1100

Any piece of technology that shields you from people you don't want to speak to is worth its weight in gold. All answering machines do this to an extent but the Bang & Olufsen BeoTalk 1100 (pounds 150) does it differently. One of its functions is that, if you input numbers from people you never want to speak to, when these non-folk ring they will get a dead tone. So you don't even need to hear their voices. Can there be a more chilling brush-off?

The BeoTalk also stores the 50 last numbers that have rung and can tell you who is ringing before picking up. You can record four different outgoing messages: one for announcements, a general one or, by programming numbers in, ones for friends (maximum 30) or lovers (maximum three to satisfy even the greediest among you).

So you can leave messages for people you're meeting ("we're down the pub"), leave forwarding numbers for friends without fear that all will hear it, and visiting relatives can be avoided with "we're away" messages. And partners can get soppy messages just for them. This "call managing" is the beauty of the machine.

The down sides? Setting it up can drive you to tears. Remote access is possible but tricky. And many of the machine's functions are reliant on it being able to recognise the number. But if you love technology, there is no other answering machine for you.