do any of you guys/gals use google voice? way back when, i jumped at the chance to get a google voice number, but now that the dust has cleared i realize there is no way in heck i am telling everyone in my life about a new cell number. i actively work against that idea! even in new york, i kept my 847 number, the same cell phone number since my first pink nokia cell phone in high school. so, ugh.through a lot of research (and emailing the nice folks at lifehacker), i figured out that i could still use the google voicemail service. after a few quick setting changes, all voicemails are now sent directly to google voice, and i get an email with the transcript and audio of the message. i dont know about you guys, but i hate listening to voicemails. i dont know why, but there is something about it that just feels arduous and arcane (almost as bad as when i have to use a fax machine). they always get lost in my phone, there is no way to file or save them or mark as unread. i'll get a voicemail about something i need to deal with later, but then just forget about it because it sits lurking in my "saved messages". with google voicemail, i can see the email notification right away, read the transcript and/or listen to the audio, and then either save it neatly within my gmail folders, keep as new or whatever. just like email.
the hilarious part is that the transcription isn't perfect. you can pretty much get the gist of a message, but i wouldn't rely on the transcription alone at this point. last night, i called myself to leave a voicemail just to test out the transcription. the voicemail i left was my shopping list. when i spoke very clearly (as you would when reading a list), it captured everything perfectly. but when i stumbled, trying to remember what other items i needed, the transcription got all crazy. the last bit goes: "was St. That'sit, titles". Not sure what google was trying to capture there...
the moral of the story is, i would definitely recommend it to anyone who would like to be able to organize their voicemails... at least, what few voicemails you still receive these days. please feel free to email me if you'd like me to walk you through the steps!
