Vonage, the voice over IP company that Verizon is trying to squash, recently introduced a service of interest to people on the go, Vonage Text. Available to Vonage subscribers, Vonage Text transcribes the voice mail messages sent to your Vonage phone number into e-mail messages. The cost is 25 cents per message. The upshot: Instead of having to dial into voice mail and listen to one message after another, you can quickly get the gist of your messages by reading them in e-mail. This is especially convenient for those who get e-mail on their smartphone, such as a BlackBerry or Treo, while out and about.
I converted my landline business phone to a Vonage number last summer, and I've been trying out the Vonage Text service for the past two weeks. To test the service, I read my transcribed e-mail messages at the same time I listened to the original voice mails. The verdict: Vonage Text does a good job of transcribing messages, even when the caller's voice fades a bit or there's background noise. Also, on my Treo 650, I can dial phone numbers listed within the Vonage Text messages just by clicking on them. Gotta love that.
But the service has its limits. Rather than tough it out through the entirety of a particularly rambling voice mail message, Vonage Text transcribed only about three-fourths of it, then instructed me to listen to the voice mail to get the full message. I can't blame Vonage Text for bailing out, though, as that endless message was more than anyone, human or machine, should endure.
Based on your experience, Vonage Text certainly seems to be a worthwhile service, especially permitting numerous e-mails with their important details to be read rather than to be heard while frantically jotting down notes. With the current financial difficulties in which Vonage finds itself embroiled, though, I wonder if the company will continue to offer this service.
Posted by: chuck | May 15, 2007 at 11:40 AM