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Voice-to-e-mail a godsend for those on the go |
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Recently, while stopped at a traffic light, I saw a frustrated-looking delivery driver furiously "typing" on a pocket PC, perhaps sending an e-mail. For business e-mail on the go, better solutions have emerged.
Voice-to-e-mail is a way to create and send e-mails by simply speaking them. Services costing less than $10 per month let mobile business owners or workers easily dictate and share time-sensitive information with a dispatcher, central office or other location. You speak it, and the system sends it via e-mail immediately.
Why not just talk? Two reasons, really: speed and accuracy. Getting people on the phone can be difficult. And when you do, some are prone to jabbering on and on when you don't have the time.
Getting your message across accurately can be troublesome, too, especially technical information, locations or instructions.
Whether the tasks at hand are selling, driving, hauling waste or fixing PCs, voice-to-e-mail is a simple but powerful business tool that's just getting started.
For example, SkyMail, winner of technology awards for its service, lets business subscribers wirelessly dictate documents or messages to an individual or group by simply making a call from their regular cell phone.
There are no armies of typists madly transcribing voice messages into text e-mails in some back room. Rather, your spoken message is recorded and delivered to recipients as an audio e-mail.
No typing, no delays. No writing field notes or reports. No frustrations typing on small keypads with your thumbs. It's dictation on the fly. As a sender, you select a pre-assigned recipient or subject line from your mobile phone contact list and speak your message. The system does the rest.
It's ideal for businesses with field reps who must repeatedly call in to a dispatcher or customer-service desk, for example.
Service works on most types of cellphones and handhelds with calling capabilities without any software to download or complicated menus to navigate.
The recipient receives an e-mail with a link to the voice message and a text reply box that lets them reply with a text message to your phone.
At services such as SkyMail, messages are time- and date-stamped for documentation and stored on a password-protected Web site for tracking and record keeping.
One compelling advantage of voice-to-e-mail is its simplicity. From the sender's perspective, it's just another phone call. Touching "send" on your cellphone activates the service. And because there is no capital investment or equipment required, small companies can easily try it out.
In addition to sending reports from the field, other ways professionals, business owners and entrepreneurs are using voice-to-e-mail include:
• Reporting expenses for a particular job or client.
• Sending ideas or self-reminders. (How many times have you wanted to write something down but didn't have a pen, paper or time?)
• Sending quick status reports and instructions to employees.
Client lists at voice-to-e-mail service providers include companies in the health care and construction industries, as well as mobile professionals. One of its first uses in construction, for example, was to document change orders, but the possibilities are vast.
The documentation feature is big for some small businesses. Not only are messages delivered fast, but you'll always have proof of what you said or requested.
Here are some resources and solutions that can help you tap this technology:
• SkyMail (www.skymail.net), a division of Pacific DataVision, Inc., offers a free 30-day trial and works with AT&T (formerly Cingular), Sprint, T-Mobile, U.S. Cellular and Verizon. You can view an online demo at the Web site and see complete details on how it works. Service is $10 per month or $100 per prepaid year.
• CallWave (www.callwave.com) offers a related service they call "visual voice-mail," which sends a copy of mobile phone voice-mail messages to your e-mail, which lets you sort, listen and respond, either via text or callback.
• eVoice (www.evoice.com) is a service that will delivery your voicemail by e-mail so you don't have to wade through the voicemails you don't want to get to the ones that you do. Just click and listen instantly.
Submitted Date: Jul 06, 2007
Source: AZ Central.com
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