Rating: 
Summary: bad microphone
Review: After playing back an out-going message the sound quality is terrible. It sounds like a bad cell phone connection. Tried opening the device and spraying the microphone with compressed air. Didn't help... that's why I'm now looking for a replacement answering machine. I doubt that AT&T actually manufactures this piece of junk.
Rating: 
Summary: Does what I want, but sound quality is poor
Review: As other people have mentioned, sound quality is lacking on this device. I retired an older Lucent AS60 (also digital) in favor of the AT&T 1726's multiple mailboxes. However, I'm disappointed by the step backwards in terms of sound quality.The multiple mailboxes work well in terms of what I was looking for -- the ability to file messages for different people in my house. We use one mailbox as a common (default) inbox, and then save messages as needed in the remaining two mailboxes. Used this way, you really only have 2 personal mailboxes. However, you avoid an annoyingly long outgoing message "Press 1 for so-and-so, press 2 for who-and-who, press 3 for what-and-what..." A count of messages in each individual mailbox is not shown (which would be nice), but an individual light for each mailbox shows solid for any messages, and flashing for any new message. Messages transfered to a new mailbox come up as "new" regardless if they have been previously heard in the old mailbox -- a nice feature in my opinion. You can record multiple outgoing messages, but this is really only for quickly switching between outgoing messages, not for personalizing individual mailboxes. The device only ever presents one outgoing message per incoming call. Another feature I would have liked to see -- a battery to avoid having to reset the clock after a power failure.
Rating: 
Summary: Tape answerers are no more!
Review: By the way, Staples has it for $29. 7/25/04
I'm very happy with this purchase. It replaced a 16 year old Code-A-Phone microtape unit. Sound quality of this AT&T is better than the tape unit. Three mailbox feature is neat and the ability to move messages among mailboxes is super handy for moving old messages to a different mailbox so they will not clutter up your incoming mailbox. Setup is super easy using just two buttons Setup and Skip. Hold Setup Button down for 3 seconds and voice prompt will appear to walk you through the setup process. Monmentarily press Setup to index to the next setup parameter or press Skip to change the parameter value.
I have the answers to some of the complains from older reviews.
1) Can only record greeting after 20 second. The reason is the machine does not allow you to record your greeting if you're in Setup mode. 1st select your outgoing message A, B, or C (A0 is for announce only). Press Stop to exit Setup. Now you can record immediately.
2) Static at end of outgoing message. If you release the record button abruptly, then the sensitive microphone will pick it up as static. Solution to that is to release the record button gently. It's true that the it will take some practice to record a good outgoing message. The main thing is to find the ideal distance from the mic and speak in even tones.
3) Lack of caller ID display. I wish it has that too, but I guess then the cost would go up. This feature is really not needed because most phones have caller IDs anyway. What? You don't have caller ID on your phone???
4) I read reviews on the AT&T 1719 that it reverts to announce only mode after a power failure. I tested that feature by unplugging the power cord from the unit and I'm happy to say that the 1726 worked perfect. All my messages were saved and the machine is still able to pickup phone calls and record messages.
I have not use the remote feature yet so I can't comment on it. I've only have this unit for about a week and so far I'm very happy with it. The only wish I had is for it to use standard flash memory cards to store messages. That way it would be a true replacement for a tape unit. Maybe future generations will have that...
Rating: 
Summary: Can you record multiple outgoing messages
Review: Everything I see about machines on the web say multiple mailboxes and choosable messages, can you RECORD multiple outgoing messages??? Can each person record their own voice to their mailbox? Please advise. Thanks.
Rating:
Summary: satisfied so far
Review: First, thank you to the reviewers who explained how to record
the outgoing message! :)
I bought this to replace a well-loved Phonemate 4200 that had
worked for almost 13 years before getting spotty. Let me
add that I agree with all who have said it: If only we could
still get dual-full-size-cassette analog machines, with
unlimited per-message length and long overall tape length!
I would have bought one if I could have found it, but the
reviews for this machine made it sound like it would do what
we needed.
So far, so good. The set-up was straighforward except for
recording the outgoing message (for which I used the amazon.com
page as a reference). I liked that you can choose a 3-digit
security code, as well as a 3-digit code for people to dial
in if they want to be announced as a "priority caller".
We don't have caller-ID, so I didn't bother turning those
features on.
I tested the machine, and it works as promised with regard to
being a "tollsaver" (fewer rings to answer if there are new
messages).
The sound quality is ok, but not great, but that's ok for
voice-message-recording purposes.
I liked that you can turn it so you either do or do not hear
the outgoing message as your caller hears.
Hangups are not recorded as messages, which is good--but
if your caller hangs up during the outgoing message, the outgoing
message does finish playing to completion.
The remote-access codes are convoluted, but there is an
available wallet card (two copies for separate users).
If you don't want to use the separate mailboxes, you can just
ignore that option and the default is to have all messages go
to the first mailbox.
Rating:
Summary: indecipherable instructions
Review: how on earth does one set the message for this thing?
Rating: 
Summary: Another disappointment
Review: I bought this machine, hoping it would be an impovement to a simliar digital model by Sony. I notice no difference, except that programming seems to be a bit less intuitive than my old machine. Also disappointing is the machine's sound quality. My outgoing message rises and falls in volume, sounds muffled and is generally pretty warbled. Remote access is unreliable. I haven't come across a good digital machine yet and am beginning to wonder if it exists at all.
Rating:
Summary: Decent features, crummy documentation, mediocre sound
Review: I like this machine a lot; I was especially attracted by the longer recording time. I'm often gone for several weeks, so a 15-minute limit won't hack it. The biggest problem is that the built-in microphone is very poor, so your own greeting message will sound terrible. The workaround is to use the remote-access capability and change the greeting message from a friend's phone. Some of the controls are non-intuitive, and the manual is really poor. It took a lot of trial-and-error to figure out how to set the greeting message -- a very basic operation.
Rating:
Summary: Better than the reviews suggest
Review: I like this machine a lot; I was especially attracted by the longer recording time. I'm often gone for several weeks, so a 15-minute limit won't hack it. The biggest problem is that the built-in microphone is very poor, so your own greeting message will sound terrible. The workaround is to use the remote-access capability and change the greeting message from a friend's phone. Some of the controls are non-intuitive, and the manual is really poor. It took a lot of trial-and-error to figure out how to set the greeting message -- a very basic operation.
Rating:
Summary: Did not pick up short messages at all
Review: I thought I'd be getting a funtional machine, but it literally doesn't record messages of 10 seconds or less. This is an impossible situation for those who sometimes get short messages as you will not even know you received them! I'm going to try to return it.
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