Last month, I mentioned that I have Google Voice, Google's new phone service (previously known as GrandCentral). In the past, I used GrandCentral only for those really important calls--the ones you never want to miss--i.e., school, the doctor's office, etc...
Now that I have Google Voice, I wanted to integrate it into the entirety of my phone usage. (Particularly since I am not often in my office, and there is no web-based service for accessing Penn State voicemail online.) Verizon already offers a nice web-based voicemail access package (they''ll even forward notification of calls/voicemails received to your email), so my home phone calls were covered.
In essence, my goal was to have all of my calls, whether they occur at home, work or on my cell, show up in my email inbox. I forwarded my work phone to my Google Voice number, and life has been much simpler since. Below is a picture of the Google Voice interface (note the transcribed voicemails).
Google Voice's voicemail to transcribed text email option is a huge leap forward. The transcripts aren't perfect, but now I have a searchable record, in my Gmail, of all the work-related voicemails I receive. You can also email voicemails to others, or embed them as files elsewhere. Think about how this opens up the possibilities or archiving and searching voicemail, not to mention increasing the general accessibility of voicemail messages.
One of the nicest features of Google Voice, particularly when you're forwarding work calls, is that all callers are announced before you pick up, and you have the option, with one click, to send them directly to voicemail (and listen in, if you so choose). How terrific is that?
Now that I have Google Voice, I wanted to integrate it into the entirety of my phone usage. (Particularly since I am not often in my office, and there is no web-based service for accessing Penn State voicemail online.) Verizon already offers a nice web-based voicemail access package (they''ll even forward notification of calls/voicemails received to your email), so my home phone calls were covered.
In essence, my goal was to have all of my calls, whether they occur at home, work or on my cell, show up in my email inbox. I forwarded my work phone to my Google Voice number, and life has been much simpler since. Below is a picture of the Google Voice interface (note the transcribed voicemails).
Google Voice's voicemail to transcribed text email option is a huge leap forward. The transcripts aren't perfect, but now I have a searchable record, in my Gmail, of all the work-related voicemails I receive. You can also email voicemails to others, or embed them as files elsewhere. Think about how this opens up the possibilities or archiving and searching voicemail, not to mention increasing the general accessibility of voicemail messages.
One of the nicest features of Google Voice, particularly when you're forwarding work calls, is that all callers are announced before you pick up, and you have the option, with one click, to send them directly to voicemail (and listen in, if you so choose). How terrific is that?
Interesting... with Vonage the transcription service delayed notification, do you find that with Google Voice?
I tried out Vonage's transcription service when it was first offered and didn't find it terribly useful, so I switched back to audio file attached to an email message. But, maybe it has improved over time.
Hi Amy!
There is no delay with the Google Voice transcription---it's pretty instantaneous. I didn't realize Vonage offered that too!