Hotspotter Must Have: Jott Voice Mail
Ever call someone, leave an explicitly detailed message, and they call you back immediately saying, “I didn’t get your voice mail. What’s up?” Annoying right? Unfortunately, we’re all guilty of it. Well Jott has worked out a way to reduce that uniformed call back. I received my first Jott Voice Mail on 8/25/09 – and I can say without question, it could very well be the best $10 / month I spend on a mobile app.
Jott converts your voicemail into text, allowing you to process it the same way you process email. No more calling into voicemail to wade through menus or listen to endless streams of messages. You can still call in if you want, but we doubt you will.
They are right. Jott’s accuracy is spot on, once you start using it you will no longer feel the need to listen to your voice mails at all. Here is an example transcription I received this morning while still in bed, not yet prepared to answer an unknown caller:
Hi Scott, this is Aman [broken audio, please listen] Risk Management Team. We’re calling today to verify that you are the person that added the credit card on oDesk. If you are not aware of this action, please call us immediately at 650-853-4134 or e-mail us at security@odesk.com. If you are aware, please disregard this message. Thank you and have a great day.
If you have ever used any other voice mail transcription services, you will appreciate the accuracy of this transcription. (notice the proper capitalization of oDesk) From my Blackberry, and most smart phones, one click on that phone number or email and return contact without to writing anything down. (You have the option to receive transcriptions via SMS and/or email.) Further more, I know the level of importance of that voice mail and that I should return that call immediately.
This is also particularly helpful while roaming. Since most carriers offer unlimited international roaming Blackberry emails (something about Blackberry’s infrastructure) for an added $20/mo, you don’t have to worry about dialing in to check voice mail – which is worth the $10 in itself.
Jott has a plug-in for Outlook contact syncing, but I’m not particularly impressed. Ideally it would connect on the back end with Google Apps for Hotmail Contacts (or Facebook!). They were acquired by Nuance Communications back in July, so I expect those additional resources to only improve their offerings.
Happy Jotting!
Popularity: unranked [?]
