The phone is compatible with hearing aids thanks to its hearing aid compatibility function, which can be useful for people with impaired hearing. As far as sound settings are concerned, the phone offers high-definition audio quality, but I don't have any specific information about the possibility of completely deactivating the answering machine recording so that only an information message is played. It is possible to configure the answering machine to record messages, but I'm not sure whether it can be deactivated completely so that only an information message is played. I advise you to consult the user manual for more details on the options available.