Voice mail has always been my nemesis. I only used to check it when my voice mail was FULL (and people would email me and let me know). Anyway I am sure you can see the problem with that and especially potential lost business opportunities.
When I was co-hosting the bbgeeks.com podcast last week I brought this up and the host told me about several transcription services out there and in particular recommended PhoneTag. So I signed up.
What does it do? Basically it takes what someone says in your voicemail and sends you a email with all the text including the number they called from. Looks like this:
As you can see it has there message transcribed perfectly even with punctuation. Out of the 20 or so messages I have gotten I have been amazed at the transcription level. Even from EASL (english as a second language) peeps. Also they include a wav file of audio they transcribed incase you want to listen for yourself. The cool thing is most phones can play these files.
It was very easy to setup. I had to call Sprint and tell them to forward my unavailable calls to a new number and was up and running in about 5 minutes after signup. I set my new message and gave it a test. It worked flawlessly.
So whats it cost? Its 10$ for 40 messages per month or 30$ for unlimited.
I went with the 40 messages for now and we will see how that works out. They also have a flat .35 cent per message rate.
If you are looking for a service like this I highly recommend them.
P.S. If you want to sign up without using my link just goto phonetag.com (dick)
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July 11, 2009 at 5:43 pm
I am in the Telcom Biz-I have tried many visual VM products and they are great for what they do-I can not sometimes afford to let a key customer go to VM and have to grab it with my PP Shoe:) That’s Palm Pre for short–I was ready to ditch mine for an I Phone untill I read the review by the nerd in PC World-I have 1 week left to decide
If I can get the CID from Sprint B4 the forward it might be ok-I will give it a try and report back
Wayne
July 2, 2009 at 3:42 pm
Free Google voice will hurt this business model and take all their customers away.
November 6, 2008 at 1:04 pm
phone.com has this service now too, 25 cents a message. Looks like more and more voicemail companies are starting to offer this.
September 10, 2008 at 1:20 am
Actually this is pretty awesome. I hadn’t heard about this service prior to this, but it looks like something I’ll check out and recommend to some friends.
August 18, 2008 at 9:26 pm
I’m amazed! Technology these days… well I guess I shouldn’t be surprised then.
August 16, 2008 at 11:26 pm
So if the person is talking in a different language, it might now show up right in your email.
August 13, 2008 at 8:54 am
The UK always has to wait
I know how you feel!
August 12, 2008 at 6:53 pm
P.S. YouMail works with your existing phone number. It just intercepts calls coming to your cell phone and plays your greeting (customizable for each caller BTW).
I should also note that I am NOT affiliated in any way with YouMail. I’m just a big fan.
August 12, 2008 at 4:10 pm
I really don’t think I would ever use this. I prefer my cell phone
August 12, 2008 at 5:13 am
This should be easy to pair up with grandcentral by forwarding the phone. I’d prefer free (maybe jam some ads at the bottom of the email).
August 11, 2008 at 3:43 pm
There is also a site out there that can translate (in real time) incoming and outgoing phone calls. I will not mention the company name. But it just released this service a few months ago.
August 11, 2008 at 3:41 pm
sounds like a great service… Any sites out there that you can use to email some ones phone as a text if you don’t know what company they have their cell phone thru?
August 10, 2008 at 2:05 am
Yea i loved visual voicemail when i had it for free. I didn’t think it was worth paying for since my phone plan is unlimited call me back. i dont even check messages but once a month.
August 9, 2008 at 10:18 am
That is pretty cool. Do you know if it is available in the UK?
August 8, 2008 at 8:36 pm
Nope. It might be more accurate to employ a person and it might not be that much more expensive.
August 8, 2008 at 8:35 pm
Nice. I wonder how similar the technology is to what Google uses for GOOG-411
August 8, 2008 at 8:26 am
Vonage and Comcast offer this as an add on to customers too, don’t know the cost.
August 7, 2008 at 4:36 pm
OMG the last line of this article made me laugh out loud (which is rare when I’m sitting here all by myself). Thanks for the tip and the smile!
August 7, 2008 at 10:50 am
Oops! I stand corrected; PhoneTag is indeed available in Canada and works with Bell, Bell Mobility, Fido, Rogers, Telus and even Skype.
This is my find of the day!
Thanks Shoe!
August 7, 2008 at 10:46 am
This is indeed amazing – and not *that* expensive, considering I only get a few messages per day on that “black plastic thing” on my desk. What annoys me is using the 1970s-era voicemail UI to go through the menus and get to the voicemail which, invariably is a hangup
…
Too bad PhoneTag is not available in Canada yet!
August 7, 2008 at 7:43 am
This is a seriously cool idea. I often ask people to send me emails rather than voice messages, this service gives the best of both worlds. I reckon this should take off in a big way.
August 7, 2008 at 6:23 am
It is possible that this is so and will.
August 7, 2008 at 5:11 am
Yes, there is a good service. I have already talked about it.
August 7, 2008 at 1:39 am
Should start working across the world too
August 7, 2008 at 12:47 am
It sounds awesome, a little on the expensive side I would say though
August 6, 2008 at 11:35 pm
When freinds know that you have a service that will translate to text it’s funny when they leave dirty messages on purpous and comes in to your email…
As well when they are drunk and call at 4 in the morning you can play the audio back to them quite easily.
August 6, 2008 at 10:31 pm
Wow this is actually quiet awesome, now if I only bothered to even use voicemail (I purposely don’t have it) then I would get this. If it’s important enough people will call back is my theory.
August 6, 2008 at 10:00 pm
This is another service but I’d rather listen than read.
August 6, 2008 at 9:23 pm
The big question : Who use voice mail these days ??
Most ppl online deal online it free and you keep track of everything , sometime at work we email each other instead of just saying asking the question loud …
August 6, 2008 at 6:08 pm
Wow that’s pretty amazing, I should move to this too!
August 6, 2008 at 5:18 pm
LOL @ DICK
That looks like a sweet service, I’ll be looking in to it. Thanks for the heads-up.
August 6, 2008 at 4:30 pm
Wow that is really cool! I didn’t know that this even existed…
August 6, 2008 at 4:29 pm
I just did a quick search and GrandCentral looks like it is going to be great. It says Google just aquired it and it’s in Beta…
“GrandCentral is currently a private beta service, which means you must receive an invite from GrandCentral or a GrandCentral user to sign up. Let us know where you would like a number in the form below and we will invite you as soon as the service is publicly available.”
August 6, 2008 at 4:21 pm
sweet I so gotta check this one out phone tag is gonna be big!
August 6, 2008 at 4:15 pm
I also hate checking my phone messages. That service is just what i need.
August 6, 2008 at 4:11 pm
I like the fact you mentioned the link was an affiliate for you, and offered a direct alternative. For that reason, I will still use the affiliate link if I try out the service.
Cheers,
John Carson.
August 6, 2008 at 4:10 pm
And that includes my country too. Can’t even test it, poor me.
August 6, 2008 at 3:09 pm
Another awesome service limited to only a couple of countries
August 6, 2008 at 3:06 pm
It was nice to see that you were up front about the link thing. I see too many people talking about a great service without making it clear that they will profit from others signing up. I use Got Vmail and I love it. They can text you that you have a VM but you still have to listen it. I listen to my VM on my email as they send it as an MP3. Works for me.
August 6, 2008 at 2:58 pm
Looks like an awesome tool but I”d do it if I were much busier… doesn’t seem worth it to me- I’ll just check my voicemails for that rate.
August 6, 2008 at 2:37 pm
i hope your question was a joke (o’.'o)
August 6, 2008 at 1:55 pm
I used to use a different service, ring central, for all of my calls… they gave me an 800 line and fax line as well for like $25/month.
I routed ALL my cell calls through to them and the voicemails came as wave files in email. Not text though… this is GREAT since I hate phones period!
Thanks Jeremy!
Mark
August 6, 2008 at 1:15 pm
I’m going to have to check this out. I almost never check my vm. I hate checking it for some reason. I even changed my message to pretty much say “if you really want to get a hold of me, send me an email”
August 6, 2008 at 1:06 pm
Brilliant Product. Hope all voicemail applications will integrate this in near future.
August 6, 2008 at 1:05 pm
Thanks for the freebie!! Will definitely check it out!
August 6, 2008 at 1:01 pm
Wow- great service. I’ve heard of these types of services before- I also think gotvmail will do this for you as an “extra” to their service. I’ll have to check this one out- thanks for the recommendation!
August 6, 2008 at 12:34 pm
its all done with software
August 6, 2008 at 12:34 pm
Its not really a affiliate program more like you get 1 free month per person you sign up. Well I guess that is a affiliate program.
August 6, 2008 at 12:30 pm
I have to agree, that does sound freakin awesome. I know I can’t hardly keep up with my messages I can’t imagine how bombed out your box is.
-S
August 6, 2008 at 12:21 pm
I loathe voicemail…. I may have to sign up on this one…using your link, of course!
I hope these aren’t people in India doing the transcribing….assuming the messages are transcribed by real people.
August 6, 2008 at 12:04 pm
Valid argument, but on the other hand, I don’t know anyone giving away sensible information when talking to my voicemail, so I wouldn’t worry too much about any privacy issues (that could instantly ruin their business model and reputation, which they want to protect for sure)
August 6, 2008 at 11:55 am
That is awesome. A bit expensive, but still nice.
August 6, 2008 at 11:17 am
any inputs on wether it works on services like vonage or deltathree?
August 6, 2008 at 10:43 am
I have used this service for a little while now and I absolutely love this also. I would recommend it to anyone if they want their voicemail’s sent to them in text.
August 6, 2008 at 9:57 am
Shoe,
fav part of the post LMAO
“P.S. If you want to sign up without using my link just goto phonetag.com (dick)”
Dave,
Thanks for the freebie
August 6, 2008 at 9:55 am
yeah maybe its only open for shoe , i searched the site and dident find any affiliate registration .
August 6, 2008 at 9:44 am
I have the same services with vonage, and it’s a life saver getting it all by email when I am the road and can read/listen with a blackberry phone.
August 6, 2008 at 9:42 am
So is there an affiliate program? BTW, Shoe, I clicked YOUR link to make sure you get downstream credit for making the introduction if the provide such.
August 6, 2008 at 9:38 am
software – we’ll be making some announcements about it in a month or two.
August 6, 2008 at 9:29 am
Is it all done with software or are there people in India listening to your voicemails?
August 6, 2008 at 9:20 am
Dave here, I work for PhoneTag and have not had to listen to voicemail in over two years. Here’s a 30 day free trail of our service for any shoemoney readers interested in trying out the service. https://apps.simulscribe.com/signup/a/shoemoney
August 6, 2008 at 9:06 am
Sounds cool. I will wait to see if you are still liking it after a bit. Pls keep us posted.
August 6, 2008 at 8:19 am
prices : 0.35$ / msg or 10$ for 40 msg … i just canceled my voice msg
August 6, 2008 at 8:01 am
Grandcentral have similar service.. no idea what is the difference though..
August 6, 2008 at 7:57 am
This sounds like a pretty cool service, but what about the privacy issues? I wonder what kind of controls they have in place to prevent you from asking your buddy who works there what kind of messages shoemoney is getting?
August 6, 2008 at 7:45 am
Doesn’t GrandCentral (the Google service) offer similar functionality? And it’s free, is it not?
August 6, 2008 at 7:36 am
onebox does it too. I think it is included in their flat rate for the other services
August 6, 2008 at 7:35 am
this is perfect – I never check my messages and I know I am missing important info, there is just to many stupid messages that I can’t be bothered with – I will definitely check this out. Thanks!
August 6, 2008 at 7:16 am
Vonage has this, too, called “Visual Voicemail”. $0.25 per message. I wasn’t too happy with the quality, though.
August 6, 2008 at 7:08 am
well I don’t use voice mail, never did, but it sounds like a useful service for someone who does
August 6, 2008 at 6:48 am
Nice for those of us that don’t want to be bothered with unimportant voice mail all day long.
August 6, 2008 at 6:46 am
That’s pretty cool, will check out. Thanks
August 6, 2008 at 6:41 am
that’s cool , 7 days free trial and it works in CANADA + MEXICO AND USA !
August 6, 2008 at 6:37 am
I never listen to voicemail either – actually I make it easy for everyone and just don’t have voicemail activated on my phone. But still that is way cool. This is an amazing world we live in.
August 6, 2008 at 6:36 am
Thats a cool service. I miss most of the voice mail messages too because i am travelling most of the day by plane. Have to find out if that service works in Europe too. Thx
August 6, 2008 at 6:17 am
Pretty cool, for someone getting calls all day long and missing 10% of them, it’s a life saver!