Zeroing in on that important missed call is YouMail's number-one feature.
(Credit: YouMail)Since its inception, YouMail, a visual voicemail service for mobile phones, has had one big problem. You could view and play your mobile phone's voicemail messages online, or--beginning lat June--by pointing the mobile browser to YouMail.com, but messages weren't stored on the device itself.
Starting Wednesday, YouMail has begun to change that with a native YouMail in-box for BlackBerry phones. Visual Voicemail Plus is a free downloadable app that stores your incoming voice messages along with the caller's name, number, and time of call.
In addition to viewing and playing messages in any order you'd like, those who have signed up for the free or premium transcription service will be able to read the message content.
Other online features have carried over as well, including interacting with the voice files by downloading, saving, and forwarding them, or posting them to social networks.
The latter has always been the creepiest application, and in my opinion, a misguided attempt to tap into social networking trends. It's true that replaying calls for amusement, blackmail, or punitive action has been a common fate of cell phone messages for much longer than actor Alec Baldwin's damning outburst back in 2007, but why make it so easy to push a private call to the public domain? Let's just hope I'm the only Debbie Downer here envisioning embarrassing abuses of an innocent call.
But back to the app at hand.
YouMail's free and prmeium transcription services carry over to the mobile in-box.
(Credit: YouMail)While I'll certainly be the first to welcome this native app with open arms, I will point out that it's a bit basic in the design department. We're sure to see more style come to the download in future releases.
The opening of YouMail's API, now in limited beta, means we're sure to see a proliferation of development, including YouMail's porting to other mobile platforms, and to other apps and widgets as a plug-in.
For now YouMail's Visual Voicemail Plus application will work on the BlackBerry Pearl, Curve, Bold, and Storm running version 4.3 or higher of the operating system, and only if you're with Verizon, AT&T, or T-Mobile carriers. New users can sign up for a free account from the Visual Voicemail Plus interface or online.
How would you like to have your own secretary for taking and delivering voice messages? It sure beats slogging through your phone's voice mail menu, especially if you're short on time or if you want to quickly refer to a saved message.
YouMail's new transcription service, launched from beta on Thursday, adds a (premium) human touch to its otherwise free "visual voice mail" service. In addition to receiving automated transcriptions of cell phone voice messages online, YouMail users can now pay for real people to transcribe their messages and send the gist through SMS or e-mail.
Human intervention boosts the transcription accuracy to 95 percent, estimates YouMail CEO Alex Quilici. That's compared with an estimated 75 percent to 95 percent accuracy of automated transcription, a rate that varies due to factors like voice clarity, idiom use, and call quality.
YouMail is offering its human transcription service in four tiers, two of which are aimed at people with smartphones and the other two for owners of standard phones. Prices range from $3.99 per month for YouMail to text you the meat of 50 messages, all the way up to $17.99 for unlimited transcriptions sent over e-mail.
There's also a freebie that lets YouMail users have the messages from one contact auto-transcribed to text, or to have the first five calls per month from any caller converted to text. All transcriptions will also be available from your YouMail in-box online.
This move offers direct competition to voice-to-text services like VoiceCloud, which also charges a monthly fee to have people--instead of computers--type up your voice mails.
Related stories:
YouMail puts voice messages on the mobile screen
Voice-to-text services seek a human touch
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