I don't have voicemail as part of my service agreement for a few reasons, but primarily because I object to being charged extra fees for what is (from my provider at least), an incredibly limited and cumbersome voicemail offering. It's the principle of it, I suppose.

Anyway, it occurred to me that a device like the N900 should be perfectly capable of running a basic voicemail app, which would mean that not only could I object to being overcharged for basic features, but I could actually receive messages

It would only need a tiny fraction of the features of something like Asterisk, for example to be an incredibly cool and useful app..

Unfortunately, I don't have any programming skills whatsoever, so I'm appealing to the geniuses in the Maemo community to make it happen

Anyone else interested in something like this?

I agree. Interactive Voice Call Manager for Symbian S60 was the best of its breed. Hope someone makes a clone for us. We have the storage now...

The fact that something like that ever existed gives me hope that someone might bring one over to Maemo (or Meego.. whatever)

When you think about it, the N900 really seems like the perfect device to run its own voicemail service.. Lots of processing power, multitasking, ample on-board and removable storage.. a phone

It's a perfect fit.

Even better (idea hijack) - N900 could get the "silent answer" feature from the "First Else" mobile. (google their website for a demo)

Oh, that is very cool, and exactly the kind of thing you'd want in an app like this.

Idea enhancement = very yes