The present invention is a selective announce system for announcing the receipt of electronic mail and instant messages (e-mail). The e-mail has an attached sound file and a predetermined identifier regarding the nature of the sound file. This sound file may be in the sender's voice, a third party's voice, a computer-simulated voice, or some combination. Upon receipt of the e-mail, the sound file is played or used to convert some portion of the e-mail text to voice. The sound file may be played at a recipient computer or it may be played at a recipient's voice mail or it may be played at some other terminal.