Jott Boosts Mobile Productivity Through the Power of Voice

Recently I wrote about Pinger and how it was a useful tool for using your voice to send "voicemail-based" text messages to individuals as well as different groups. I still use it for very specific messaging with my various teams.

In addition to Pinger, there's a new service which I can't seem to stop using. And, since I'm on the road quite a bit these days, it is helping me keep pace with my workflow as if I were in the office.

I have to confess, I "was" a compulsive text and drive kind of person. And, using the iPhone, I must admit, it was no easy task. But I'm happy to report that I've since retired the dangerous practice thanks to Jott and Pinger.

The truth is that in order to keep up with today's social economy and the break-neck speed of innovation and the business of news, texting, emailing, twittering, and calls consume a greater part of my day. Using Jott, I can now make one call and dictate a blog post, record my ideas and tasks, create reminders, and also share my thoughts with one or many people via text, email as well as microblogs.

Jott is a voice services company that translates your voice into text, aka Jotts, across a myriad of useful applications. Simply make Jott's dial-in number a short-cut on your phone and it will recognize your account through caller ID and then rest is a painless and simple process of following instructions. After a few calls, you get the hang of it and are able to vocalize instructions without waiting for prompts.

For example, I've been using Jott to send reminders to myself, which post on Jott.com as well as sending an email reminder of my action. This comes in handy especially since the iphone doesn't yet offer a voice recorder option for notes, reminders, and tasks. Jott as replaced my task list Outlook and is keeping my on top of my game not only at Jott.com but also at 30boxes.

But it's much more than a simple list of action items and reminders. Jott offers the ability to create folders to save and organize information for future reference and simplified accessibility. For example, I create reminders and tasks across my folders for client work, bub.blicio.us as well as PR 2.0.



Jott not only helps me stay organized, remember events, and tasks, it also improves how I communicate with those around me.

Similar to Pinger, you can create groups to update specific people without having to individually text or call everyone. I've created groups for project teams, writers, friends and family, so that I can phone-in one message and have it sent simultaneously to those I need to reach. I can also text individuals anywhere, anytime, by pressing "Jott" on my favorites list and saying the person's name I want to reach.

One of the more interesting uses though, is the ability to phone-in updates to Twitter or Jaiku from the road. Similar to Dave Winer's Twittergram, I can simply call Jott and say "Twitter" or "Jaiku" and then record my message. Within moments, my voice message is converted into text and then posted onto Twitter. With Twittergram, my friends can hear my voice recording direct from a link that is posted on Twitter. I would love to see support for Tumblr. And from what I understand, there is a kit to help developers connect their apps to Jott.

Examples:

briansolis Testing Jotts ability to convert voice to text. from Jott

Testing Jott on Jaiku

Jott supports many popular external "Jott Links," which I'm sure will expand over time. In addition to Jaiku and Twitter, Jott also connects directly to Yahoo Groups, Zillow, and 30 Boxes.

As I mentioned earlier, Jott provides the ability for you to dictate blog posts for those times when you need to share a thought with the world but don't have the ability to type. Jott already supports the more popular blogging services including Blogger, WordPress, LiveJournal, and TypePad, covering a fair share of the potential services for bloggers. In fact, this entire post was phoned in while I was driving earlier today. OK, not really. But according to several friends, Jott is pretty good at getting a first draft out there.

Up until this point, Jott was a very interesting, productive and fun tool to use - beyond experimenting with it for an article. After checking out the Jott Labs tab on my online dashboard, I found a link to Jott Express. Using Adobe's Air, Jott provides a desktop-based applet that duplicates the online experience, making it easy for me to create, review and organize Jotts.

So far, I have noticed that Jott struggles with small accuracy issue. The first handful of phoned-in Tweets were published at about 90% recognition. Of the 10 or so I phoned in, for both Twitter and Jaiku, about 50% of them wouldn't publish at all, simply sending a note reading "Instant Jott" but providing a link to my recorded message. I'm not sure if this was an issue on Jott's behalf or simply because of the mic on the iPhone.

I can tell you this however, Jott likes the Jawbone, which in my opinion is the highest performing headset I've ever used, as it obstructs outside interference and channels your voice in a much clearer and focused stream.

Jawbone + iPhone + Jott = Productivity



After running a few tests on Twitter, a few friends chimed in to share their support for Jott.

jquig99 @briansolis been using Jott for a couple of months and love it. Can even post to my blogs! Jane Quigley

sandrafdzh @briansolis I have Jott on my "to test" list, love the idea of voice-to-text functionality. Have heard it's not foolproof. Need to find out. Sandra Fernandez

mikefj40 @briansolis - I love jott. It correctly spelled ciao when i messaged someone. It's the only way to sms while driving!

Connect on Twitter, Jaiku, Pownce or Facebook.

twitter jaiku jott jott.com pinger jawbone iphone apple pr2.0 communications pr 2.0 productivity workflow streamline work task calendar 30boxes zillow blogger livejournal wordpress blog blogging dictation voice voice+recognition recognition tumblr microblog