the present invention relates to a telecommunications system comprising a network element providing answering service for subscribers , and at least one subscriber terminal comprising a memory for storing parameters associated with selectable profiles , said parameters controlling the functions of the subscriber terminal , and a user interface providing the possibility to select for use one of said selectable profiles with the associated parameters . in order to achieve an improved user - friendliness said parameters stored in the memory of the subscriber terminal include message parameters which identify messages that are associated with the respective profiles . a profile selection carried out with the user interface triggers the transmitter to transmit an activation message to the network element . the network element is responsive to said activation message for activating the message or messages indicated by the activation message such that the activated message or messages can be transmitted from the memory means to a calling subscriber under predetermined conditions .