I used to carry around three different cell phones, one for personal calls, and two for business -- for no other reason than to have a different voicemail greeting for each of three different sets of callers and to keep messages organized. Many ridiculously expensive phone bills later, it dawned on me that this was a foolish system that provided very little benefit for the money, so I finally gave up two of the phones and decided I could live with having a single, robotic voicemail greeting for all purposes.

Then, I heard from the folks at YouMail, a new web-based voicemail service which allows users to record different greetings on the same phone for different groups of callers, or even totally unique greetings for individual callers. You can manage greetings and messages from your online account, and forward messages to others via email. I particularly like the "ditch" feature which hangs up on unwanted callers (like the car salesman I talked to a year ago who continues to call every weekend).

You can also record special greetings for individual callers as you go through messages on your phone. I love this feature because messages can be tailored to specific situations and periods of time. I always find myself in situations where I can't pick up calls, but need to get a message to someone who might be calling me. From now on, my daughter -- who sometimes acts like she's been assigned by the FBI to track my every move -- will get special messages telling her where I am, who I'm with and when I'll be home.

YouMail is compatible with Verizon, Cingular, and T-Mobile, and you can sign up for free while it's still in beta.

Now, if I pair this with the GotVoice voicemail management system reviewed by Johnny last week, I'd have everything under control.