If there’s one thing I truly loathe (although, trust me, there’s plenty more), it’s the everyday voicemail experience one might have with their cell phone provider. Why do I despise it so? Well, first off, there’s always a chance your call will drop right in the middle of retrieving a message. Second, there’s a variety of different numerical options you need to memorize in order to navigate through your messages (i.e., 3 to erase a message, 7 to save a message, etc.) Last, but not least, the messages are stored on your provider’s servers forcing you to dial a number and enter a pass code in order to retrieve them. Then, once you’ve retrieved them, they’re still on someone else’s servers and you have no way of hearing that message again without re-dialing voicemail, re-entering your pass code and re-navigating through your other messages. There’s nothing intuitive about the process at all.
The above reasons are precisely why I let a 3rd-party handle my cell phone voicemail service.
About 2 or 3 years ago, I began beta-testing a service from CallWave that not only allowed me to receive my voicemails through my email account (as an MP3 attachment) but the service also provided me with a (highly inaccurate) transcription of the message within the email so, if I were in a crowded place, I wouldn’t even have to open the attachment. (The premium version of the service offered a more accurate transcription of messages received.) Of course, all free things must come to an end and I was notified that my beta test would soon end. The regular service offering was $14.95 and that wasn’t something I was prepared to do… at least not with all of my other regular monthly charges.
So, while I wasn’t quite ready to replace my wife’s $15/mo TiVo subscription for a $15/mo voicemail service (that wouldn’t have been fair, now would it?), I also wasn’t quite ready to give up the ridiculously-convenient service of having those voicemails in my email inbox. That said, I went for a compromise: GotVoice.
GotVoice offered me the same options as CallWave but did so for $9.95/mo. It was still $10/mo on top of a Zune subscription, TiVo, Maghound*, Web hosting, etc. and so on and so forth. However, while the transcriptions were pretty accurate and the MP3 delivery was relatively timely, the online account management interface to manage current and saved voicemails was antiquated… to say the very least. The site looks as though it was birthed straight from 1997. I’m a bit of a design snob (despite what you may think by looking at this site) and I just couldn’t take the “Web 0.2” look.
I looked for alternatives as time permitted but never really found one that suited me… until a post on Lifehacker alerted me to an existing service by the name of YouMail.
There are a few different reasons why I chose YouMail and why it remains my service of choice. First, there’s a number of different pricing plans between $0.00/mo (a.k.a. “free, baby”) and $18/mo.
Second, if you choose to purchase the transcription option and elect to have them sent to you via text message (in addition to or in replacement of transcriptions sent by email), the messages are abbreviated in order to accommodate for the 160 text message character restrictions. (i.e., “your” is replaced with “yr” in the transcription; “for” is replaced by “4”, etc. Basically, your voicemail transcription resembles an instant message conversation with your 12-year-old niece.)
Third, the service goes beyond the traditional voicemail delivery options and allows you to create customized greetings or even select from a variety of existing ones and then apply unique greetings to one, some, or all of the contacts in your address book. (This also represents a supplemental source of revenue for the company as some of the greetings are labeled “premium” and require purchase. The vast majority, however, are free.) In addition, you can create your own greetings and upload them (WAV or MP3) to your online account.
Last, but certainly not least, MP3 attachments of incoming voicemails, visual voicemail management, personal greetings and unwanted caller blocking are all available on the free account.
Overall, YouMail represents the best voicemail delivery/transcription service I’ve tested thus far. If you’re not convinced, give the free version of YouMail a try and at least get started with customized greetings, voicemail by email (MP3) and online management of your new and saved messages (“visual voicemail”). Then, if you decide you want the transcription option, you can select add-on packages ranging from $3.99 to $17.99.
*In case you’re curious: I opt for the $4.95/mo Maghound plan and get FastCompany and Men’s Health for myself; Self for my wife. (I wasn’t being greedy… she already gets People and Us Weekly through an alternative source.)
