Technology can be a double edged sword at times. On one hand it brings about innovations that take us to new levels of efficiency in our work and play making our lives easier; but on the other hand there is a price to pay for innovation. That price is the death of older technology. The cassette tape killed the 8 track, recordable CDs killed the cassette and the list goes on. Vonage is adding voicemail to the long list of technology destined to kick the bucket soon:
"In data prepared for USA TODAY, Vonage, an Internet phone company, says the number of voice-mail messages left on user accounts was down 8% in July from a year ago.
Checking one's voice mail seems to be considered an even a bigger chore than leaving a voice message. Retrieved voice mail fell 14% among Vonage users in the same period.
'They hate the whole voice-mail introduction, prompts, having to listen to them in chronological order,' says Michael Tempora, senior vice president of product management at Vonage. One response by the company to the trend is a new voice-mail transcription service that converts voice messages for delivery as e-mail or text.
The service also e-mails a direct link to the voice-mail audio file, letting users bypass several steps to listen to it. 'Voice transcription isn't perfect,' Tempora says. 'But they understand who called and what the message is about.'
The transcription tools make skimming through messages easier for on-the-go users such as Dmitri Leonov, an executive at SaneBox, a maker of e-mail inbox management software. 'E-mail (etiquette) says to respect your friends' time,' says Leonov, who rarely listens to messages. 'And I should stop leaving voice mail, as well. Practice what you preach.'" source: freep.com
@ITSecPr0
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