1. A system for handling a plurality of voice mail systems, comprising: a voice mail broker; a plurality of voice mail systems operating independently of each other, and each coupled to the voice mail broker through an adapter so that each of the plurality of voice mail systems communicate messages to and from the voice mail broker; means for at least one voice mail system sending to the voice mail broker a request to retrieve voice mail messages; means for the voice mail broker to manipulate the request, including reencoding to and from generic formats; means for the voice mail broker forwarding the request to other voice mail systems within the plurality of voice mail systems; means for the voice mail broker receiving a remote voice mail message sent by any of the plurality of voice mail systems; and means for the voice mail broker forwarding the received remote voice mail messages to the one of the voice mail systems that sent the request to the voice mail broker to retrieve voice mail messages pertaining to the user of the voice mail system sending the request.