Boston.com - Though some think of it as a mundane and necessary cornerstone of modern communication, Mayor Thomas M. Menino banned voicemail more than 10 years ago after suffering through a lengthy recording when he called a city department. He was so irritated that he issued an edict that he still personally enforces with a special vehemence. Menino has been known to sniff out clandestine voice mail and leave indignant messages.

But some employees say that getting work done without phone messaging is impractical, and they have secretly installed voice mail on private extensions or other lines that they hope the mayor won't find.

"I don't think anyone thinks it's a good idea but him," said one official, who regularly uses voice mail and declined to be named for fear of retribution.

Are you kidding me?   The City of Boston doesn’t use voicemail?   How is that even possible?   I’m pretty sure you could call the Zimbabwe City Hall and leave a message, but you can’t do it here.   And I wonder what happens when Menino breaks up an underground voicemail ring?  What is the retribution?  I bet he throws the violators in the city dump with my newsracks and the wild cats.  The only comparison I can make to this story is my dad banning using attachments on email.   I’ve literally spent hours on the phone trying to walk him through how to attach a word document and he just gets so frustrated that he’s banned using it.    So now he just faxes me everything.  It’s a gigantic pain in the ass.    And to be honest I’m not 100% sure he even realizes what the difference is.

As a side note,   I wonder what the record is for somebody staying on the phone and letting it ring thinking that the voicemail eventually was going to pick up.  I mean it wouldn’t even cross my mind that somebody I was calling didn’t have voicemail.   I’d stay on the phone for like 20 rings.