Best way to get voicemails?

AJWSmith said:
How accurate is Google Voice in converting voicemails into text? When I use Google's equivalent technology on YouTube, the results are often wrong. It's a bit academic for me atm as Google Voice is only available in the U.S.

I used to use 'Spinvox' a few years ago, but they went bust in 2009.
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It's fairly accurate. I've found that it depends on the 'accent' of the speakers.

Words that it is sure is correct, are shown as black during voicemail playback. Words that it is unsure are in gray. I've found that generally, the "clearer" your speech, the better the voicemail transcription is. It doesn't code right when people intentionally try to talk slowly. Youtube transcripts are a joke, I'm not sure if it's the same thing to be quite honest. I've seen better, fairly accurate transcripts compared to what I see captioned on youtube.

But I think it has to do with the accent thing in general. I converse with people who are natives to english, and people who aren't and see their voicemails often. I also know how to see what is spam right away without having to listen to it, because the transcript is usually spot on - not surprised, since marketing callers generally have good speech to endorse a product.

Here is an example of what I'm talking about
google-voice-transcript-donation.png
 
How accurate is Google Voice?

Thank you naisho for your information on Google Voice. I'll keep my eye on Google Voice and hope they'll make it available in the UK soon.
 
Nokia neckloops and Ear hooks

Beach girl said:
My HAs don't have Bluetooth, but I could add it.

My old neckloop for my Nokia has a plug that is larger than the connection for earphones, and I was told then that the neckloop and the earphones will NOT work from the same connection.
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I used to have a Nokia neckloop which was loud and clear. When I got a new phone, I couldn't use the Nokia neckloop anymore as the connection was unique to Nokia. In fact Nokia had two different neckloops as their phones had two different types of connections.

Since my Nokia, I've had HTC phones which have the standard 3.5mm headphone socket as used by most phone manufacturers. I don't use bluetooth - instead I use ear hooks that physically plug into the 3.5mm headaphone socket. This means I can answer the phone, control the sound, etc. by using the phone itself rather than a remote control device.

I prefer ear hooks to neckloops as they sit next to my HAs so I get the best sound. They're a bit more fiddly to put on though. And it can be painful if something catches the leads and tugs on the hooks, thus digging into my ears a little (too much and the lead snaps).

I buy my ear hooks from Connevans who call them T-Links adaptors
T-Link adaptors for hearing aid users with mobile phones - connevans.co.uk

The best technology (in theory) for connecting phones and neckloops and HAs is Bluetooth. Bluetooth uses less power than FM systems and the signal is digital rather than analogue (many FM systems are still analogue). Bluetooth is a universal standard so you can mix and match different products from different companies (unlike my experience with Nokia above).

Sadly my hearing has declined recently and I no longer use the phone :(
 
I finally checked into the Google Voice, and .... I don't have a voice plan on my phone, only data, so it would not set up (it tried by trying to verify my number, and it couldn't.) So apparently I would have to invest in a phone plan in order to use this. And my IP Relay v/m is free, so I will probably not go the way of Google Voice for now.
 
AlleyCat said:
I finally checked into the Google Voice, and .... I don't have a voice plan on my phone, only data, so it would not set up (it tried by trying to verify my number, and it couldn't.) So apparently I would have to invest in a phone plan in order to use this. And my IP Relay v/m is free, so I will probably not go the way of Google Voice for now.
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That sucks.
I don't really remember how I verified my number years ago.
I found out that in the new android install of GV, it can be verified through text.

ic6Q1A.png



Maybe if you borrowed someone's android phone, you can temporarily set up GV on it? Just pop in your sim card on the respective carrier phone and you're good to go unless you're under CDMA or it is locked to the other network.

GV itself can be used on data/wifi-only devices, I know this for a fact after the install is completed.

For instance, one of the tricks to get free voicemail, calling and text is to buy an ipod touch 4, install google voice and a texting app, and you pretty much have a plan-free phone but only can be used under wifi.

Jiro uses his ipod touch with GV, but I think he already set it up first on his BB prior to the ipod.
 
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