As Dave noted, David Pogue mentions the devious secret behind everyone's favorite instructional voice mail message, "To page this person, press 2 now. You may leave a message at the tone. When you finish recording, you may hang up. Or press 5 for more options." He says it is deliberately recorded slowly and with as many words as possible, to eat up your airtime.

Well, I know how you can turn it off; though, unfortunately, I only know what works on Sprint. (STEP 1) From your phone, call your voicemail. (STEP 2) Press "3" to enter Personal Settings. (STEP 3) Press "3" again to change "Expert Mode" (STEP 4) Turn "Expert Mode" ON.

That's it. Let me know if it works like this for the other carriers.