A small callerID box that has a display, a few buttons and a voice recorder chip.
Up to ten 'slots' can have a number allocated to them and six seconds of soundbyte*.
This can be your voice announcing the caller, or you can ask the caller to record their own soundbyte when they visit.
Much quicker and more personal than the machine announcing the number, and you can tell immediately if this is someone who's worth dropping the current task to answer in person.
The small display also functions as a conventional CLI (or CND for Aussies)
*Like a soundbite but recorded digitally.-- ian_mackereth, Nov 19 2004 Microsoft Cordless Phone http://www.wugnet.c.../display.asp?ID=169 [theircompetitor, Dec 28 2005] Gentleman Caller ID Gentleman_20Caller_20ID [theircompetitor, Dec 28 2005] I was just about to half bake this when, well, I found it here already. A fine idea, a kind of 'shout out' caller id. I'd rather have a huge database, rather than the boring ten suggested here, and text-to-speech for the others so it just looks up the person's number in your PIM of choice. Would be very handy in solving the "I'm not answering it, it'll be your mother again" type arguments.-- neilp, Dec 28 2005 This was baked by at the very least, the Microsoft Phone-- theircompetitor, Dec 28 2005 the 'Microsoft Phone' ?-- neilp, Dec 28 2005 See link, [neilp]-- theircompetitor, Dec 28 2005 aah. Yes to Gentleman Caller ID (a handy front door version of what [ian] is talking about). Is something classified as baked if it was once baked, but now there's no product around which meets the requirements. Certainly it's not widely-known-to-exist.-- neilp, Dec 28 2005 oh, I dont know -- a product made in 99. ~ think certain cellphones have caller specific ringtones, too-- theircompetitor, Dec 28 2005 virtually every modern mobile phone has the ability to do this, which is why I think it's a shame that the landline (where surely it's a more useful feature) hasn't had it properly implemented.-- neilp, Dec 28 2005 random, halfbakery