I have a 1818 Digital Answering System year 2001 that plays outgoing message when a friend leaves a message the recorder does not pick it up for playback and the number of messages reads 0. It was working. What can I do. It is a wall phone and will be hard to replace.

check with service centre

Here is the manual for your phone. You can download the manual and the instructions for setting up your answering machine are on page 43:

http://www.uniden.com/pdf/DECT1580-3om.pdf

Setting Up the Answering System
You can set up your answering system's features from the handset. Only one handset at a time can access the answering system menus.

Note: If you have multiple bases, select the base with answering system you want to access (see page 15).

Recording a Personal Greeting
Your answering system comes with a pre-recorded outgoing message or greeting that plays when you receive a call: "Hello, no one is available to take your call. Please leave a message after the tone." You can record your own personal outgoing greeting. Your recorded greeting must be between two seconds and thirty seconds long.

Press /mute. The system announces the number of new and old messages, then starts to play the messages unless it has no messages.

Press 5 to stop the announcements or message playback. You will hear intermittent beeps indicating that the system is in the command waiting mode.

Press 8 to start the recording. The system announces, "Record greeting." Begin recording after the announcement.

When you finish recording, press 8 again or press 5. You will hear a confirmation tone, and your recorded greeting plays back for you.

Selecting a Greeting

Once you have recorded a personal greeting, the phone automatically switches to your personal greeting. You can
also switch back and forth between the pre-recorded greeting and your own greeting at any time.

Press /mute. The system announces the number of new and old messages, then starts to play the messages unless it has no messages.

Press 5 to stop the announcements or message playback. You will hear intermittent beeps indicating that the system is in the command waiting mode.

Press 6. The system plays the current greeting.

To use your system from a remote telephone, you must first enter a 3-digit remote operation security code. The security code label is located on the bottom of the system.

1. Dial your phone number.

2. When your outgoing message is playing, enter your remote operation security code. Bd appears on the display to indicate the system is in remote mode.

If there are no new messages, you hear three beeps.
These are the remote codes available to you:

2 # Play all messages.
2 5 Play new messages.
3 # Delete all old messages.
7 # Record new outgoing message.
7 # Stop recording outgoing message.
8 # Record memo.
8 # Stop recording memo.
9 # Turn system off/on.
0 # Monitor the room..

Recording Outgoing Messages:


1. Hold the ANNC-DAYand speak clearly into the microphone.

2. Release the ANNC-DAY when you finish. Your answering machine beeps and automatically plays back your recorded message.

Message limit:
60 seconds

To re-activate pre-recorded message:
Press "delete" during while playing your outgoing message. The pre-recorded message is now activated.

http://www.vtechphones.com/vtechui/support/manual_list.cfm

Your machine is set to "Announce" instead of "Answer" mode. The announce mode merely plays an outgoing message but does not record any incoming messages.

Since you neglected to specify the model of your VTech 5.8GHz cordless system I can only suggest you enter it into the search box here to download the manual to learn how to switch modes.

Recording a Personal Greeting
Your answering system comes with a pre-recorded outgoing message or greeting that plays when you receive a call: “Hello, no one is available to take your call. Please leave a message after the tone.”
You can record your own personal outgoing greeting. Your recorded greeting must be between two seconds and thirty seconds long.

1. Press /mute. The system announces the number of new and old messages, then starts to play themessages unless it has no messages.
2. Press 5 to stop the announcements or message playback. You will hear intermittent beeps indicating that thesystem is in the command waiting mode.
3. Press 8 to start the recording. The system announces, “Record greeting.” Begin recording after the announcement.
4. When you finish recording, press 8 again or press 5. You will hear a confirmation tone, and your recordedgreeting plays back for you.
   

Selecting a Greeting
Once you have recorded a personal greeting, the phone automatically switches to your personal greeting. You can also switch back and forth between the pre-recorded greeting and your own greeting at any time.

1. Press the Message icon (letter)/mute. The system announces the number of new and old messages, then starts to play the messages unless it has no messages.
2. Press 5 to stop the announcements or message playback. You will hear intermittent beeps indicating that the system is in the command waiting mode.
3. Press 6. The system plays the current greeting.

Well, your machine might be broken, or you haven't set the little switch on the unit to ANS. The switch is on the side of the machine where the cables come out. But here are the instructions from the manual:

Recording Outgoing Messages:

Your answering machine has a built-in outgoing message, "Hello, please leave a message after the tone." You can use this message or record your own.

1. Hold the ANNC/DAY/<<, and speak clearly into the microphone, no more than 10 inches away.

2. Release the ANNC/DAY/<< when you finish. Your answering machine beeps and automatically plays back your recorded message.

*Your outgoing message must be between one and 60 seconds.

*If you record your won message but wish to revert to the pre-recorded message, press DELETE during playback of your outgoing message.

Press Menu. Then the unit will say "record outgoing message" Press the REC/Memo button and the unit will say "recording" and beep. The display will start counting in seconds. Speak your message. Press the play/stop button to stop recording the message will be played back to you.