[loudsystem]

what do you guys think? which one is better to go with since sprint killed the rip off fees

[heggood]

I like youmail much better.

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[heggood]

I tried GV for the free transcripts, it was useless for me, still had to listen to all voicemails to figure what the message was, the transcripts never were correct. The youmail website is very user friendly and easy to add all your contacts and set-up custom greetings.

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[dohturdima]

what do you guys think? which one is better to go with since sprint killed the rip off fees

I really tried with Google Voice, really really tried to get it to work (salivating at the thought of free transcribed voicemail messages).

Two problems that I could not resolve (and thus gave up):
1) Too many rings by the time the caller reaches voicemail. Mind you, the goal was to have the caller call my cell # (not my Google Voice #) and be transferred to Google Voicemail when no one picks up. What happens is that the caller hears 3-4 busy rings from Sprint, then 3-4 more from GoogleVoice until call goes to voicemail. That's WAY TOO MANY RINGS! and Google has no option to adjust their number. Too many callers would just give up before reaching that number and hang up. Google Voice help forums don't have a solution despite hundreds of people complaining about it in various threads - and the problem has been posted about for 5 months. Epic Fail #1, Google.

2) Even though I created several groups (family, coworkers, friends etc.), recorded a custom voicemail message for each, tested and properly assigned - Google Voicemail will play back a generic "this Google Voice subscriber is not reacheable blah... blah...". The custom messages only work when you call the Google Voice #, not my Sprint #. Given that most of the people who call me call my Sprint #, that's Epic Fail #2 that is still unrsolved and unaddressed by Google in Google Help forums.

I downloaded and installed YouMail but haven't tried to use it yet, spending all this time yesterday trying to get GVoice to work. Given that it took months for Google to finally fix the GMaps not locking in Sprint Tour, who knows how long it will take to address the above 2 issues.

Those who use YouMail, please chime in on your experience with it.

[papped]

Don't really care for Youmail either because the app drains the battery so much...

[dohturdima]

I tried GV for the free transcripts, it was useless for me, still had to listen to all voicemails to figure what the message was, the transcripts never were correct. The youmail website is very user friendly and easy to add all your contacts and set-up custom greetings.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

Thank you for your input - YouMail it is, then. I will just get their cheapest transcription plan if I like the trial and will stay with it. And I agree with GV transcripts being way off... I guess you get what you pay for (or don't)

[dohturdima]

Don't really care for Youmail either because the app drains the battery so much...

That could be a problem... but if it is set it to update only every several hours or so (I assume that's the culprit for the poor battery life), and get the Voicemail notifications by Email - wouldn't that improve it?

[papped]

If the notifications are by email only, then you don't even need the app and it's push, so yeah that solves it (but kind of removes the whole "visual" aspect entirely).

If you are using the app and the interval is every few hours, that's a pretty long delay between missing a call and getting the notification....

[dohturdima]

If the notifications are by email only, then you don't even need the app and it's push, so yeah that solves it (but kind of removes the whole "visual" aspect entirely).

If you are using the app and the interval is every few hours, that's a pretty long delay between missing a call and getting the notification....

How bad is the battery drain with YouMail if you run it on the background with an interval of, say, 15 mins? I am actually OK with having email notifications, as long as they are transcribed.

-------------------------------

I just reenabled the GVoice and was able to solve the long delay to voicemail problem by removing forwarding to both of my phones and turning "do not disturb" to "on". The drawback of this whoever calls my Google Voice # will be automatically sent to voicemail, but whatever (no one knows or calls it anyway). Now, callers who call my cell #'s can get to Google Voicemail after 5 rings, not too bad considering it was ~9 before.

The nice thing about it is that the voicemail notification & transcript are instantly pushed to my Tour. I decided that I can live with that.

The problem #2 still looms large as custom greetings don't work with Google Voice, getting the generic voicemail greeting every time. I filed a support ticket with Google... but if Google cannot fix this I have to go back to Sprint Voicemail as it is my business phone and having a generic greeting is unacceptable in this circumstance.

[papped]

Main thing is to just run it and see how it affects the battery life.

I know a while back people were getting fairly heavy drain on the bold with the default settings.

[anon(1066739)]

To fix the generic greeting issue:

I have all my contacts in one group and changed the default greeting for that group for my personal greeting (if you have multiple groups, change the default greeting for each).

Also, not sure if this is necessary, but I also included my Sprint # in the group. Since using GV for voicemail relies on call forwarding, I wanted to make sure that calls from my Sprint # (i.e., forwarded calls to voicemail) would also receive my personalized greeting.

I've had a number of people test this for me (including people who are not my contacts), and so far they have all said they got my personalized greeting. Hope this helps.

[dohturdima]

To fix the generic greeting issue:

I have all my contacts in one group and changed the default greeting for that group for my personal greeting (if you have multiple groups, change the default greeting for each).

Also, not sure if this is necessary, but I also included my Sprint # in the group. Since using GV for voicemail relies on call forwarding, I wanted to make sure that calls from my Sprint # (i.e., forwarded calls to voicemail) would also receive my personalized greeting.

I've had a number of people test this for me (including people who are not my contacts), and so far they have all said they got my personalized greeting. Hope this helps.

Maybe I am not understanding something, but I did the same thing (replaced the system greeting with custom ones). Do you mean re-recording the default greeting for each group in the options or actually creating a new greeting (with a custom name) and then using the drop-down & save as the group greeting? I tried the latter and it did not work for me.

EDIT: It worked. Rerecorded the custom messages for each group with new ones and done! Thanks a bunch.

[anon(1066739)]

No problem, glad to hear it.

[iLovemy_bb]

Listen up...

My boss(Attorney) uses Youmail on his Tour all day everyday(inspiration for me to get it even though I don't need it). I use it as well and it stays open in the background. It works when closed as well. It doesn't bother you with too many notifications, it is fast and quite useful and totally free. I say get it. It will be worth it even if you don't use vm a lot. My favorite feature is the fact that it will tell you if you've missed a call (i.e. if you didn't have service when you got the call)

[maxxgrl]

I use GV like the options to send to vm or to listen in on call... the transcript isn't the best, always call me carol when my friends would use the word girl.

[noto220]

Is youmail really free?

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[berrygirly]

IMO, you can't beat the free transcripts. I got a lengthy voicemail on my GV last night and it was not PERFECT, but it was darn close - and you simply press the play button if you need to hear the voicemail inside the GV app. You can at least see what the message is about and then listen if it's not exact in the transcript.. I hope that GV will enable a rating system for how well the message was transcribed beyond the "was this transcript helpful" - and let's face it, sometimes your callers will mumble....not much can be done about that other than making your personal message state "please speak clearly as your message will be transcribed to me in an email" ...

As for the person who mentioned "NEEDING" custom greetings for business reasons, are you serious? Why does each person need to be greeted personally? Just make one custom greeting and have it play for everyone.. it doesn't have to be the system standard greeting.

[sawedust]

Is youmail really free?

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Depending on your carrier, yes.

[sawedust]

For those concerned about battery issues:

What I've done is close the YouMail app on my phone so it doesn't run in the background. However, I have email and text notifications on so if I miss a call and get a voicemail message, I'm bound to receive a message from one or both of the two options.

I have not used GV, so I cannot comment on that. But as far as YouMail goes, it's pretty awesome. Custom greetings for contacts, easy navigation, allows for access through the phone or internet, and best of all it's FREE (for me at least, YMMV).

From there, I open the YouMail app, listen to the message(s), and close it when done.

[udg21]

I've been trying to get google voice for weeks without success. What's the secret?

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[noto220]

Depending on your carrier, yes.

Referring to Sprint. I thought it cost .20c per forward.

[dohturdima]

As for the person who mentioned "NEEDING" custom greetings for business reasons, are you serious? Why does each person need to be greeted personally? Just make one custom greeting and have it play for everyone.. it doesn't have to be the system standard greeting.

Yes, I need custom greetings - just two: for clients
And everyone else. One for clients has very specific instuctions that are necessary, which would weird out everyone else. GVoice does not seem to allow this (a bug)

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[dohturdima]

Referring to Sprint. I thought it cost .20c per forward.

Not anymore - conditional (indirect) forwarding has been free since 11/8. Search the forum re. This.

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[dohturdima]

I've been trying to get google voice for weeks without success. What's the secret?

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

Apply for an invite and wait.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[noto220]

Not anymore - conditional (indirect) forwarding has been free since 11/8. Search the forum re. This.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

Thanks. I'm using it now pretty nice service.