Replying To Email With Your Voice

GBVZ
#1. April 2nd, 2008, at 12:54 PM.

I haven’t tried this yet, and probably won’t for one simple reason. When responding to emails, I typically will think of points or counterpoints as I’m typing. This is to say that thoughts that pertain to the email come to me as I’m typing, and the fact that I’m typing/thumbing out the email gives me the time to mentally organize those thoughts and then put type them out in an organized way. If I were to do this all verbally, my mind would be focusing too much on what I am saying rather than organizing my thoughts. It would almost require me to script it out beforehand… which would then just be the same thing as typing/thumbing it out.

I don’t know if anyone else’s brain organizes information in this way, and I don’t know if I was quite clear… but this method would not work for me. This is why our BBs have a “phone” feature and an “email” feature and the reason why they are separated… even though they are conveniently in the same device.

Ian McKenzie
#2. April 2nd, 2008, at 1:10 PM.

I use Jott regularly and am happy with the service. I don’t use it to reply to e-mail, but it is effective for sending short messages, particularly while driving–using hands-free hardware.

For example, I drive a company vehicle and have to track personal and business mileage. I’ve set up a contact with Jott called mileage and send a short message with the date and mileage. My e-mail client is set up to filter that to a folder called… mileage, which I check at the end of the month to prepare my report.

Jott also links with a number of web services: Twitter, Google Calendar, Yahoo Groups, Blogger and many more. I can quickly update Twitter, while out and about, by sending a message via Jott.

With Jott set to a speed-dial button on my BB, it’s a lot faster than typing with the keyboard. The accuracy on transcribing my voice is high; I’d say better than 95%. YMMV

I find, the more I learn to use Jott, the more value it has for me. Of course, when the switch to a fee-based version, my continued use will depend on pricing. Like every tool, it’s just a tool. It’s not a cure-all for everyone and everything.

T. Gossett
#3. April 2nd, 2008, at 3:52 PM.

I love it. It transcribes pretty well…and appears to learn once you say things a couple of time. Got my name wrong the first time, but got it right the 2nd time.

Bull
#4. April 3rd, 2008, at 12:00 AM.

I love using Jott for all the reasons listed above. But the application failed to load correctly once I installed it.
http://bloggedbull.com/2008/03/31/jott-for-blackberry-failed-after-install/
but note a member of Jott did contact me and she is currently working to debug the app for my particular Blackberry. Great people over there.

Crystal
#5. April 4th, 2008, at 2:58 AM.

I use Jott and find it useful. For me, the greatest benefit comes from the integration with my Bberry. I don’t use it to compose long or detailed emails for the reasons listed by GBVZ, but it is great when I’m in the car or on the go and need to respond to or send an email asking/answering a question or requesting that some action be taken. I’m on the go most of the day and it’s much easier and safer than thumbing it.

I also find it convenient for to do’s and reminders. Much like Ian, I Jott myself quick tasks or messages. You can also set your Jotts to be sent to you at a specified time as a text message reminder. This is great for me when I’m out and about and remember something that needs to be done, but can’t write it down. I’ll Jott myself the note/reminder instead of running a high risk of forgetting it otherwise.

I also have great feedback for their customer service. I had issues with the Jott for Blackberry install, Jott detected the error and contacted me about it that morning, figured out the problem and had it fixed the same day.

Obviously, the free beta makes this very valuable for me. Whether or not I continue to use it after the beta will depend on the price. If Jott continues to progress with Blackberry integration, I suspect I’ll be a customer. HTH.

Michel Leblanc
#6. April 4th, 2008, at 4:14 AM.

Eh. Interesting concept, but of little use practically.

Like GBVZ, my thinking and typing are in concert in a way that my thinking and talking are not. I found that far from saving me time, it was distracting and time-consuming to reply with voice instead of text.

Also, I’m not on the road often enough to justify a fee for the service in future.

gameboy213
#7. April 4th, 2008, at 3:58 PM.

I use jott to send me reminders when a quick voice message is the easiest. Don’t like the email replying thing…. Not into it. But it worked pretty well for me.

David
#8. April 10th, 2008, at 2:52 PM.

Using Mobivox’s “Send Message” you can dictate emails or sms without downloading any applications. All you have to do is register as a Mobivox user (which is free) and add contacts to your address book. Mobivox also makes your first five sent messages free…I’ve used the service and it works well. I’ve included the hyperlink to Mobivox’s product page (http://www.mobivox.com/features/#g).

Kumar
#9. April 29th, 2008, at 10:20 AM.

I havent used Jott but by reading the responses above, I can say that if I have this service, I would definitely use it mostly because of how convenient it is. As Gossette mentioned, the Jott service “learns” which is truly remarkable. Usually one of the problems with such tools is that they are unable to comprehend accents and tones. I think alot of blackberry users would like to use Jott. For this you should try and market the service or take polls by using a tool like MyPRGenie (http://www.myprgenie.com/technology/). It will you access to the right and a wider customer base and helps you build PR. A great tool which I myself am a big fan of. you should try it out too.