I got so sick of people ringing and not leaving a message on our machine, so I changed the greeting to:
SPEAK!<BEEP>
Most people didnt have time to hang up before the greeting had finished that they usually um'ed and ah'ed enough that we could usually work it out from the sound of their voice.
But yeah, I have a phone phobia too, and hate answering it. Probably because the phone rarely brings any good news, its usually bad new, or companies chasing up unpaid bills/rent.
Thankfully those days are mostly over, but the phobia remains.