A Very Cool GVoice Tool

Ever needed to create a voice memo or reminder from your phone?  The other day I was looking for an Android App that would allow me to do just that.  I didn’t want to use the stock Voice Recorder as it saves the file as: .3gp, and I wanted something that would work with other players.  After about 10 min of searching, I finally got smart!

Google Voice provides a great, free solution that enables you to leave voice messages for yourself (note to self), receive the transcription via email, along with the original audio file as well.

All it takes is a little bit of configuration.

I didn’t want all of my destination phones (work, home, etc) ringing when I called myself to leave a voice-memo. So, here’s how:

·         In Google Voice:

 

Gv_tool1

  •  Settings-> Phones-> Edit Cell Phone-> Show Advanced Settings
  • Voicemail access: No
  • (click "Save")

 

Gv_tool2

 

·         Settings->Voicemail & SMS

·         Voicemail Greeting: Record New & called it "Note". Say something like "Leave a Note".

 

 

Gv_tool3

  •  Contacts->(my personal contact record – the one with my cell number associated)->Edit->Edit Google Voice Settings
  • When this contact calls you:
  • Select "Ring my" and UNCHECK all the sub-options
  • "When this contact goes to voicemail", play the "Note" recording (create one). I used ‘Start Note’
  • (click "Save")

 

Now, I can call my Google Voice number from my cell phone to leave myself a message (which is transcribed and emailed to me). 

 

To take this one step further, I have set my notes to get posted to a private Posterous site. This required a little more configuration as you will need to add your Posterous email to Google Voice and this requires Verification.

 

In Posterous you will need to add 2 email addresses as contributors;

·         account-verification-noreply@google.com – Email Account Verification

·         voice-noreply@google.com – Voice notes from Google.

 

From here you should be able to call your GV number from your cell phone (this does not need to be a smart phone), you will be taken straight to voice mail.  Leave your message or note, and your message will be transcribed and the audio message will be available on your Posterous site and available from any Internet ready device.

 

Happy Googling!

 

Note: This of course will work just as well if you are using an email client.  I like the idea of my notes being available from all of my devices.