The Monterrey Division of the California-American Water Company, after assessing the capabilities of its phone system, decided it needed a better way to provide telephone-related services to its customers. A number of options were examined, and the company chose to lease a voicemail system that allows automated notification of on-call personnel, call routing, and transmittal of messages to a large number of people. Depending on a purveyor's particular needs, voice-mail systems may allow more control of customer service and emergency response processes at a lower cost than conventional procedures.