• WHAT: An easy, fast way to screen your cell phone calls
  

• WHY: Easily manage voicemail, receive messages as email attachments and more

• COST: Basic Version is free, upgraded version under $5/month
  

  
  Before Caller ID everyone answered their cell phones pretty much all the time. Since the advent of that wonderful feature (my mother still can't get over me saying "Hi Mom" when she calls) everyone does some screening by just viewing the incoming call info. Of course, if the number that's calling is in your phone's address book that person's name - and maybe even their photo - will show up on the screen.
  
  More and more people, however, are blocking their caller ID info and numbers show up as "Not Available" or "Private." That really bugs me so I wanted to figure out a way around it. Thanks to a new service that you can get FREE you can now screen those calls and get a few extra benefits.
  
  The service is from CallWave and it rocks. Here's how it works:

• Visit the CallWave site and sign up for one of their free accounts. They have a paid version, too, which I use, but you might be able to get by just fine with the freebie.

• After you've signed up for the service you'll have to do some very minor programming (don't let the word scare you - it's the same thing as entering someone into the phone's address book) of your phone to forward all the calls.

• After you've done the forwarding trick (the site provides clear, ample information for each carrier's service) when your phone rings you'll have a choice: answer it or let it go to CallWave's voice mail system. Keep in mind this means that you will no longer be using your carrier's standard voicemail. That's perfectly okay, though, because CallWave's is far better... bear with me for a minute more and you'll see what I mean.

• Now when a call comes in you'll have two choices:

1. Answer the call normally.

2. Let CallWave answer it. If you do that you'll be able to listen to the message being left for you by the caller and have the option to "break in" to answer it. And, if you do break in, you can then transfer the call from your cell phone to a predetermined number (I use my office line) so that you don't chew up cell phone minutes.

• When the call is done, if you've chosen not to break in to talk to the caller you'll receive a text message telling you that there's a new voicemail for you. And (here comes another good part) you'll be able to listen to the message on your phone the same way you normally do or listen to it on your computer. CallWave provides the option to receive it via email attachment, listen to it on their web site or use their very cool dashboard widget (Mac) to listen to it without doing either.

You can manage the voicemails, select which ones to listen to in which order, delete them using the widget, web site or phone or archive the important ones on your computer by just saving the file.

All in all, a totally cool service. The free version will provide 90% of the people with everything they need - the "paid" version is less than $5/month and provides longer message times and unlimited call transfer time.