Video telephony device having functionality to mute incoming messages that are being recorded

A video telephony device, comprising:

• an external communications interface for communicating information over an external communications network;
• a display for presenting image data received over the external communications network;
• a speaker for rendering audio information received over the external communications network;
• a telephone answering device for responding to an incoming call by presenting a pre-recorded announcement to a caller and recording a message from the caller;
• a user interface, the user interface including a menu of user-selectable settings, the user-selectable settings including a mute option to prevent the speaker from rendering the message from the caller while it is being recorded by the telephone answering device;
• and
• a database configured to store the user-selectable settings chosen by a user;
• and
• a processor operatively associated with the external communications interface, the display, the speaker, the telephone answering device, the user interface and the database.