In the old days you could tell when the phone you were calling was not going to be answered from the way the ringing tone continued uninterrupted. Now it takes more awareness.

Recordacall, claiming a first for Britain, has produced a micro-controlled telephone answering machine that puts out synthesised messages to disappointed callers. It says things like: "I am sorry no-one is here at present," and "Please try again later," and other helpful little tips you would hardly have been able to work out for yourself. Isn't science wonderful?

Regular readers of PCN will note the increasing frequency with which we report on company failures. The picture has got so bad we even considered a 'Company Crashes This Week' column. Unfortunately, someone has beaten us to it.

Credit reference company Dun and Bradstreet has launched a dial-up computer service that gives you an instant credit rating on a company.

Dun and Bradstreet hopes that by establishing an early warning system it will help slow the pace of company bankruptcies and help prevent the domino effect where one company crash leads to several others failing because of the accumulation of bad debts.

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