>I am planning to write some software that will answer the phone, etc (more details below).
>I've found three possible products--do you have experience with these and can you suggest how to pick the best one for my needs?
>
>The companies are:
> 1. Tapiex
> 2. Softcab
> 3. ExceleTel
>
>What I want to do (generally):
> answer the phone
> get caller id info, if available
> depending on message from the VFP app, do one of the following:
> 1. let the phone ring so a human picks it up
> 2. send an outgoing message and record the incoming message (similar to an answering machine)
>
>Thanks, Chaim

If you are comfortable writing it as a (sort of) web app, Twillio is awesome.