Transcribed messages can show up on your phone or in e-mail
Gillian Shaw
Sun
It’s going to get harder to pretend you didn’t hear your boss’s voice mail with a new service announced Thursday by Telus that will transcribe voice messages into text that can show up on your phone or in your e-mail.
Telus has partnered with SpinVox, a company that already provides voice mail transcription into text messages for Rogers wireless customers. It has taken the service a step further, making the message accessible on a computer, personal digital assistant or wherever a customer checks e-mail.
“It takes your voice mail and it converts it, in our case, not just to text messaging but it also integrates with your e-mail — on your desktop or your Blackberry,” said Jim Senko, vice-president, Telus business solutions. “We think that takes a great service and make it even better.
“It has great utility.”
The value-added service is $15 a month for unlimited voice mail- to-text service or, on a per-use basis, it’s 50 cents a message.
“Our approach is to keep doing more with those devices,” said Senko. “E-mail and calendars are high-value and now you can archive and manage your voice mail.
“It is a very practical addition.”
The service makes it possible for users to sort through their voice mail quickly, filing or dealing without having to listen through the entire list of messages that has been recorded. It’s available in French and English.
Called visual voice mail, the service is expected to appeal to business people who will be able to check voice mail messages while they are in meetings or otherwise unable to listen to messages. But Senko said with the increase in technology being used both at home and at work, he expects it’s a service that will appeal to the consumer market as well.
“What’s happening is you are seeing a crossover between your consumer life and your business life,” he said.
“Business might be an early adopter of these types of services.
“But for example, many consumers are now buying PDAs so they can integrate with their personal e-mail — their Yahoo and their Hotmail. It’s a way for coordinating with the kids.”
© The Vancouver Sun 2008
