Here's a cool new service: when you call Jott and leave a voice message, the service will transcribe your recording and deliver it to you via e-mail or SMS. The free tool recently entered public beta: first you must go to the Jott web site and register your phone number. Next, you can call the Jott phone number at 1-877-JOTT-IT-NOW (1-877-568-8486) and record a message. A little while later, you will receive a transcript of your message in your e-mail. In addition, the transcript and an MP3 of your recording are made available at the Jott web site.
Enough typing: I called Jott to speak the rest of this entry. Here's what they transcribed (transcription mistakes included):
Jott to self on Wednesday, March 21, 2007 12:22 PM
So, this part of the message I didn't type, I called Jott and dictated it. The good part is I don't have to type it. The bad part is I can only talk for about 15 seconds before I get cut off, so that could be a real imitation to preserve it.
However, when your time runs out it says you can create a new Jott by pressing 1 and then you have another 15 seconds to ladder on for with another idea or continue your log entry like I am doing here.
I am not sure how useful this would really be for creating for writing in a blog or say writing of school paper, however, for writing down for saving quick ideas that you had in a car when you don't have note paper around it could be just to think or probably add the Jott phone number.
So that I can save any business ideas that I might have. Now this is about the fourth Jott I have done in a row here, so in a little while hopefully I will get some E-mails by notes transcribed and may be little time in right order.
As you can see, the transcript isn't perfect. To be fair, the Jott FAQ states multiple times to speak slowly and clearly, which maybe I didn't do as well as I could have. The company is vague about who does the transcriptions, except to say that it's a combination of software and human transcriptionists. (My first guess was Mechanical Turk, but that doesn't seem to be how they're doing it.) The four pieces of my transcript, each the maximum 15 seconds in length, arrived in my inbox out of order, so this really isn't a tool for dictating your great American novel. But it could be great way to save fleeting ideas when you don't have a notepad handy. The service was fast — I recorded my 4-part message at 12:25 PM, and received the first transcribed part at 12:35. The rest of it was in my inbox by 12:42, less than 20 minutes from when I recorded it.
What do you think of Jott? What could you use it for? Post a comment.