Do you ever have a great idea or remember something to do at a time when it’s impossible to write it down? What happens to those thoughts when you finally have a chance to record them? If you’re like most people they’re long forgotten. I’ve found a solution that you may want to check out.
If you have attended our online Master Your Workload with Outlook or one of my live workshops, you know I preach about the value capturing your thoughts as soon as they occur. This is a challenge when you’re on the go because it’s often difficult to write things down (particularly while driving). Personally I carry a Blackberry but find it difficult to add tasks and appointments easily. As a result thoughts are often not captured and soon forgotten (at least until until 3:00 AM).
I’ve been using a small digital voice recorder to capture thoughts while driving. This was handy but it required me to take the extra step of playing the recordings, creating tasks or appointments then erasing them. An effective technique, but not always easy.
Enter Jott Assistant. On a recent Podcast I heard the co-hosts discuss the merits of using this service call Jott. They said it allows you to call in from your cell phone, record and record a note. The note is then transcribed and sent to your e-mail. I had to try it.
The process is simple. Register for Jott then add it’s toll free number to a speed dial. When you call then Jott number a voice answers with a prompt “who do you want to Jott”. To leave a note for yourself you simply say “Jott Note” or press 1 on your keypad. Initially I forgot the secret word and pressed 1 for several days. With the basic plan you have 15 second to record your note. It sounds short but it’s been plenty of time for me.
Afterwards the message is transcribed and sent to you e-mail along with a link to the original voice recording. I’ve been trying this for a couple weeks and have begun to love it. When it’s time to process my e-mail I convert the Jott Notes to tasks, appointments or contacts.
This couldn’t be easier…or so I thought.
I recently discovered that you can add contacts (name and e-mail address) to your Jott account. For example when the system asks you who you want to Jott you can say the name of your contact. They will receive an e-mail with the text of your recorded message plus a link to your original recording. Very cool. By doing this you are actually sending them a voice message. I know there are iPhone apps that do something similar, but this is a good solution for those of us deprived of good AT&T coverage.
Even better, I discovered that Jott has an Outlook link. Just download their software, run the simple installation program and re-start Outlook. It automatically adds three new lists to your Jott account: Outlook Calendar, Outlook Tasks and Outlook Drafts. It also adds a new Jott tool bar just below the Menu Bar in Outlook.
My favorite is using it to create an appointment. When the system asks “Who do you what to Jott” say the name of your meeting or person’s name. Then it asks if you want a reminder. Simply say yes and give it the date and time at the prompts. The next time you open Outlook, it will retrieve the appointment from Jott and add it to your calendar. Very slick. You can allow the system to add the appointments to your calendar as is or you can open using the Jott icon at the top of your screen and make any changes you like to the appointment.
Jott For Outlook box that is accessed from a new icon added to a new Jott tool bar that appears just below the menu bar in Outlook.
Outlook Drafts is also handy. When you say “Outlook Drafts”, Jott converts your spoken words into text that is place in the draft of an e-mail. Open your Draft folder in Outlook and your message is there ready to edit. It is also listed in the Jott For Outlook box where you can open, edit and send.
At first I didn’t like the Outlook Task option, because I don’t like machines adding tasks to my task list without being processed. Then I realized that you can simply open them in the Jott for Outlook Window where you can schedule and categorize (or even delete)them as necessary.
The Jott dashboard is very intuitive and easy to navigate.
Please note, those on corporate networks may not have authority to install the Outlook plug-in. Check with the IT gods to be sure.
It also gives you the ability to create Jotts (their term for notes) to link to a large number of services like blogs, Twitter, Google Calendar, Remember The Milk and too many others to list here.
There are two subscription plans and one pay-as-you-go plan for Jott Assistant. I subscribed to the Jott plan for $3.95 per month which gives you unlimited 15-second voice-to-text conversions. It also includes apps for Outlook and the iPhone. The Jott Pro plan is $12.95 per month which gives you unlimited 30-second voice-to-text conversions and includes a Blackberry app. Both subscriptions come with a 1-week free trial and offer a discount for annual subscriptions.
The Jott PayGo5 plan allow you to pay for what you use. For $6.95 you get 5 minutes of recordings up to 60 seconds in length. When you use up your time it automatically charges your credit card for another 5-minute batch. This plan includes the Blackberry, iPhone and Outlook apps.
I’m only scratching the surface here. Jott has a ton of other functionality including links to Salesforce.com, iPhone and Blackberry apps and a voicemail service. But these are beyond the scope of this post.
Is this the perfect solution? Not really. It still takes a while (few seconds) to dial the system, and the voice prompts can be maddening. It’s that same voice you hear on those auto attendant systems that never have the option you want. Sometimes I was cut off in mid sentence before my 15-seconds were up. But overall it works pretty good and it’s the best remote thought capture system I’ve used. I plan to keep it.
I rarely endorse products and I have no affiliation with Jott. I’m sharing this with you because Jott looks like a real time saver.
Do you use Jott, a similar service or an app? If so please use the comments to share your experience.