Disclosed are systems and methods which allow a calling party to store
messages for a called party even if the called party does not already
have message storage facilities, provided the calling party and/or called
party meet certain parameters. Delivery of the message is controlled by
the called party and may require the called party to agree to pay for the
message delivery service. In a further embodiment, a call processing
system is operable to screen outgoing calls from various callers
according to a first set of criteria and if a call is not completed to a
called party a second set of criteria is used to determine if a message
can be stored awaiting retrieval by the called party. If desired, a
return message from a called party to a calling party can be stored.