I previously talked about using SpinVox to read my voicemails, but since I use a lot of Google’s products anyway, why not try the new Google Voice as well? Its main purpose is one new number will ring all your phones at home, office, etc. However, I don’t want to give my friends a new number and I already carry my Nokia phone everywhere. I just want to use the voicemail-to-text service. I’ll show you how to set it up.

I’ll assume you already have a free Google Voice account. If not, sign up for an invitation.

Step 1. From your browser, go to Google Voice settings, change to Display my Google Voice number, and check Do not Disturb. Take a look at the screenshot below for visual aid.

Step 2. From your phone settings, Call forwarding – Voice calls:
Change If busy, If not answered, If out of reach, and If not available to your new Google Voice number. It might ask for the amount of time you want the phone to ring before heading to voicemail. I chose 20 seconds.

Call forwarding settings on Nokia 5800

That’s it! Your callers will now be forwarded to Google Voice for voicemail if you don’t pick up or not available. You will receive transcripts of the voicemails in your email as well as given a link to listen. You can also listen the old fashion way by dialing the Google Voice number from your phone.

Thoughts

Google Voice needs to improve its transcription technology because it’s not very accurate. SpinVox does a better job at transcribing more accurately. On the plus side, the Google Voice website provides a familiar interface similar to Gmail which I really like.

What do you feel about voicemail-to-text services? Would you (or already) use voicemail transcribing from Spinvox or Google Voice?