Back in '98, my manager at a bank did something that might have been revolutionary at the time. While listening to her voicemail, she would set the speaker phone on, and do other paper work at her desk. If it was an important message, she would jot down a few notes, and return a few calls after all her messages have played back.
Personally, I screen calls to my cell if I don't recognize the number, since they'll only leave a message if it's an important call. At first, I would Google the phone number to see who had called when there was not message, and most of the time the number was on listed as a telemarketing company.
And I love leaving voice mail. I'm not talking to a machine anymore than when writing email to a machine, both are forms of comunication. And voice mail is just that, a verbal message.
I dated this one gal that would call early in the morning from her work line, and since I'm not in a chatty mood until the afternoon, I'd let the machine answer for me. Rather than leave voice mail, she would email me instead. Which was great for me
What boogled my mind, is that this gal is use to speaking to assemblies full of people, and yet an answering machinng gave her the heeby geebies.