Make a Note to Self

Do you ever call yourself to leave a message? I do all the time. I also wish myself a good day and ask how I am doing as well, but that's not the point.

Voicemail is fine, but what about sending a note to yourself via email when you are away from a computer? Or leaving a post through your Blogger account? Or Zillow? Or Twitter or any other number of message and communication facilitators?

One way you can do it is through Jott, a Seattle based company that (paraphrasing their site) operates a voice to text service so that you can stay organized, (or in my case get organized) and in touch easily. Jott allows you to send emails and text messages, set reminders, organize lists, and post to web services with your voice.

They leverage their expertise in voice transcription to make it possible.

Cool. So I check them out.

It only took a few minutes to sign up for the service. I went through and checked out there privacy policy and the information and data they gather is provided to other Jott services and third parties in order to improve service and to target ads. Of course, so is the data from just about any online service you use anymore. I did note that Ackerley Partners was one of their backers. They invest in media and entertainment companies and have lineage to The Ackerley Group which was sold to Clear Channel Communications.

It was an easy process to complete and I dialed the toll free Jott number to try it out. I was concerned because my cell phone has been giving me trouble and I was unsure that the clarity of the call would make using the service feasible.


As it turned out, it was clear, simple and within minutes I had confirmed through my email and validated the account. The first Jott was jotted into my email in box soon afterward. It also appears in my own account list on the Jott site. There is a to-do list function in my calendar, but if I am not at the computer I don’t always make a note of the small items I need to take care of. I always seem to think about them on the road or away from the office.

Next up was what I will call “The Twitter Test” solely because I like the way that sounds. In order to use Jott with Twitter you need to supply the account information. The note you leave is done in the same fashion as an email note.

1) Call the Number

2) When they ask who you are leaving a message for say Twitter

3) They recognize you by your phone and they have your account information so you just need to leave your message.

4) You can say Hang Up or just remain silent

5) They transcribe the voice message and it shows up on Twitter.



Very nice.