Other Services
United Kingdom-based SpinVox, a speech-to-text service that hasn't fully launched in the United States, claims to transcribe not just voice mail but also memos, blog entries, and SMS text messages that you dictate into your cell phone. However, it offers no Web interface--you get transcripts via e-mail or text message--and you don't get an audio file (you must access your voice mail as usual to hear it). We were unable to test the service's voice-mail capabilities.
GotVoice takes a simpler approach that has universal inbox appeal: It calls your usual voice-mail numbers, records the messages, and presents them to you (using caller ID to identify the senders) as digital audio files in a Web interface. The service automatically checks for voice mail three times a day on up to two phones and notifies you through e-mail when messages are waiting. You can also initiate up to 12 voice-mail checks daily.
On top of that, GotVoice lets you send up to 15 voice-mail messages a month to groups of up to five phones--useful for quickly notifying family of a schedule change, say.
Free Options
The free GotVoice service is supported by Google-like ads that appear when you play voice-mail files. A $10-a-month premium service eliminates ads, supports three phones, and ups usage limits.
Another free service, CallWave also generates digital audio files from voice mail. But like SimulScribe, CallWave works only if you can forward your unanswered calls, and it supports only one phone number. (The company recently announced a speech-to-text service called Vtxt that promises to transcribe only enough of a message to help you decide whether it's important.)
Services like these that depend on voice input are just getting into high gear; they can be pricey, and you may find that they take longer to tell you about new messages than the traditional system does. But if your voice-mail inbox is chronically overstuffed, one of these services might help you dig through it.
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