YouMail

[VOIPoTim]

What do you guys think of YouMail.com?

They are trying to get us to do something like Voicepulse did. Still undecided at this point.

http://www.dslreports.com/forum/r23782555-YouMail-on-VoicePulse

How interested would you guys be in seeing an integrated option available where you could select VOIPo VM or Youmail VM easily.

[uhf]

meh. I'm reasonably happy with the voicemail we have now. If it's something that you can give us that's free, and it doesn't cost Voipo anything, then sure. If it's something you're going to be paying for, then I don't see a lot of benefit.

[holmes4]

I like the transcription option - Vonage has that (for a fee, human-assisted) and the couple of times I tried it it worked well. Google Voice has it (automated) and it is ok.

I thought I once saw somewhere in the control panel a way to adjust what kind of calls (unanswered, busy, etc.) go where, but I can't find it now.

[usa2k]

Transcription is automated on YouMail with Humans doing minor editing.

I am neutral. These are the vertical services that will remain if ever VoIP morphs into a free service like email.

Your strengths are VM and Call Filtering as my key features beyond basic phone service.

[ki4zbo]

hrm... the phrase don't fix what isn't broken comes to mind.

[buckethead]

I actually think it would be a great value add to compliment the service provided, although not sure I would be willing to pay any extra for it. I do not need transcription service (although I do enjoy Google Voice when they get it right), but visual voicemail would be nice and with an app for both Android and iPhone very easy to check.

The current voicemail system just works which is great, but I guess I assume a VoIP voicemail system should be more feature rich than a traditional Bell system voicemail (.wav file aside).

[uhf]

not sure I would be willing to pay any extra for it.
Exactly my thoughts.


I do not need transcription service (although I do enjoy Google Voice when they get it right), but visual voicemail would be nice and with an app for both Android and iPhone very easy to check.

I'd love transcription, but I'm not willing to pay for that either. I'm cheap!

The visual voice mail app would make it worthwhile to me, but since they don't have an app for Windows Mobile I wouldn't use it.

As a previous poster said, if it ain't broke...

[scott2020]

It looks kind of cool. I'll have to try it sometime. I am using Google Voice for my voicemail and it works good for me. Either that or my Asterisk server voicemail that will email me an attachment when I get a voicemail.

[VOIPoTim]

It looks kind of cool. I'll have to try it sometime. I am using Google Voice for my voicemail and it works good for me. Either that or my Asterisk server voicemail that will email me an attachment when I get a voicemail.

Speaking of GV... We've though about adding an option mainly for it where you could set an alternate destination number for voicemail.

So then the system would function normally but anytime something would trigger VM, it could use the alternate number instead if set so could go to GV or whatever.

Is this something you guys would use?

[man]

Speaking of GV... We've though about adding an option mainly for it where you could set an alternate destination number for voicemail.

So then the system would function normally but anytime something would trigger VM, it could use the alternate number instead if set so could go to GV or whatever.

Is this something you guys would use?

I would use something like that.
I currently use both GV + Gizmo and Youmail on my cell. They both have their uses.

It would be nice to consolidate my voicemails.

[usa2k]

.... use the alternate number instead if set so could go to GV or whatever.

A different twist ...



I would welcome a option to point different accounts to a VOIPo voicemail.

Like a Toll Free Forwarded Account pointing to a Residential VOIPo VM.
But the forwarded number going elsewhere If I wish.

[holmes4]

Yes, I would very much like the ability to send my voicemails to Google Voice!

[rcboats24]

It would be nice to have the GV option.

[buckethead]

Google Voice would be a nice option as well and something I think we would take advantage of in our house.

[mikeb]

How interested would you guys be in seeing an integrated option available where you could select VOIPo VM or Youmail VM easily.
Not interested.


Speaking of GV... We've though about adding an option mainly for it where you could set an alternate destination number for voicemail.

So then the system would function normally but anytime something would trigger VM, it could use the alternate number instead if set so could go to GV or whatever.

Is this something you guys would use?
No.

I'm happy with the current Voipo voicemail.

I am most interested in an inexpensive and reliable phone service. I'll pass on the bells and whistles.

[TomP]

It would be nice to be able to take advantage of the GV transcription feature (or some similar *free* service). I have a GV account and have thought about forwarding unanswered calls to my VOIPo number there for VM/transcription handling. However, while this would still allow me to get VM via email (audio &| text), the MWI light on our phones would no longer be useful, since the VM would not be stored in VOIPo's system. That's really the deal killer for me. We (esp my wife) rely on seeing the MWI light to know that messages are waiting.

[ctaranto]

Being a former VoicePulse user, I know that the voicemail system they used to have wasn't nearly as good as the one VOIPo currently has. It wasn't very responsive (sometimes waiting upwards of 5 seconds for the "password prompt", and then another 5 seconds after entering the password for the announcement of how many messages were new), the outgoing audio the caller would hear was choppy, and the "folder" management was pretty bad (for some reason, we always had something like 80 messages in some folder that we could never get rid of).

The VOIPo voicemail was rather refreshing - responsive, has time stamps of messages, no choppiness, and just works.

Like others have said, I'm paying for reliable phone service. Any efforts available should be spent keeping that up and making the web interface more usable (the one thing I miss since leaving VoicePulse).

-Craig

[burris]

Like others have said, I'm paying for reliable phone service. Any efforts available should be spent keeping that up and making the web interface more usable (the one thing I miss since leaving VoicePulse).

-Craig

I fully subscribe to this notion that you and others have stated, and I've been saying so for years.

[frankd1]

I think I'm with the crowd... I'm lukewarm on Youmail, but I have experimented with them in the past, and they seemed pretty reliable.

Having said that, if farming out the VM system would free up manpower and resources for development/improvements in other areas, I'd be supportive. If the current VM is stable, and doesn't require much attention, I'd say it ain't broken, don't fix it.

[slimone]

If this trespasses on any privacy issue..then I vote no.

[statustray]

Personally I like the idea of YouMail. I use YouMail all the time. I use GoogleVoice sometimes. It would be great to have that offered to us, and I look forward to it. Integration with YouMail would be a added benefit for me because then I could have a "one stop" shop for ALL of my voicemail.

Just my two cents, for what that's worth ;-)

[ptrowski]

I fully subscribe to this notion that you and others have stated, and I've been saying so for years.

I do have to agree with Burris et all. Vpanel needs a serious overhaul and would rather see the effport go there.

[ralfaro]

Personally, I would love to have the youmail option if I can still get MWI. I need that stutter tone if I have new voice mail. Same gos for a GV option but again only if I can still get the MWI with stutter tone.

[karlsen]

I have youmail with VoicePulse, but dropping VoicePulse. The two items I like in YouMail are:
1) The iPhone app which makes it visual voicemail
2) The ability to play the voicemails online in a browser using the embedded flash player. No need to download the file.

I have to say though, their performance is spotty. There have been days where a VM notification did not come through for hours to email, even though SMS notification had already been received.

[bakntime]

If it ain't broke, don't fix it is generally my take on something like this. Voipo already offers all the features and then some that I'd ever want or need from a voip provider. I'd rather not have to pay additional money for additional features (such as more voice mail features).

I've found that the more you rely on multiple services the more things can go wrong, and the harder it is to get it fixed. Just as an example, Voip is already subject to several factors - my internet connection, my house's power grid, and the Voipo network(s). If any one of those goes down, my voip phone is useless. Using a different VM provider (if I understand the proposition correctly) would add yet another area where things could go wrong. Even just adding the potential complexity of the option to select either voipo or youmail for VM could result in added VM routing/selection issues.

I don't mind added features, but again, only if I didn't have to eventually pay more for my standard voipo service package. When it comes to priorities in my service, first and foremost is reliability and call quality. Then come secondary features, and fairly low on the list is voice mail. Voipo VM already gives you a fairly wide range of features and several ways to access your messages, which is more than enough for me.

So my short answer is I have no interest in youmail, but I'm not categorically opposed to it under the assumption that 1) it won't raise costs, and 2) it won't be a potential risk to standard voipo voice mail reliability (due to things like added complexity of the system's functioning and vpanel operations/menus, etc).

[lost_]

speaking of gv... We've though about adding an option mainly for it where you could set an alternate destination number for voicemail.

So then the system would function normally but anytime something would trigger vm, it could use the alternate number instead if set so could go to gv or whatever.

Is this something you guys would use?


definitely.

[frankd1]

I have youmail with VoicePulse, but dropping VoicePulse. The two items I like in YouMail are:
1) The iPhone app which makes it visual voicemail
2) The ability to play the voicemails online in a browser using the embedded flash player. No need to download the file.

I have to say though, their performance is spotty. There have been days where a VM notification did not come through for hours to email, even though SMS notification had already been received.

#2 is a good point. It would seem like a fairly simple task to code an embedded player into the voicemail page. It's not a huge deal to have the player open separately when listening to VMs, but it's one extra window to close afterwards, which is a minor hassle.

[usa2k]

#2 is a good point. It would seem like a fairly simple task to code an embedded player into the voicemail page. It's not a huge deal to have the player open separately when listening to VMs, but it's one extra window to close afterwards, which is a minor hassle.
I vote for a VOIPo Flash Message player before a 3rd party VM offering.

I used to get messages from ... Vonage? packet8?
Whoever, the email attachments did not need to download to Media Player either. That was user friendly. Its a wonder GMail does not make an easy way to listen.

Really it just needs to come as MP3.
I emailed myself an MP3 and it plays right from FF/GMail.
There is a Play and Download link. That would be an A+ improvement.

[caseydoug]

I have VOIPo voicemail sent to my email. It come as a .wav file, and Outlook plays it without downloading it, using "Preview."

[usa2k]

I have VOIPo voicemail sent to my email. It come as a .wav file, and Outlook plays it without downloading it, using "Preview."
Ah. See, I don't use a PC based client. The last company I worked at for years would never sanction Outlook as anything but evil. :)

In 1999 when we were bought, IT was less successful banning outlook from the top executives. We initially used Pegasus, and now Thunderbird was being looked on favorably. (Yes, some PCs even run WIN3.1, but most run XP or Ubuntu in that workplace.)

GMail is widely popular, so that demographic can still be annoyed by wav files. I guess the flip-side is how well does Outlook handle MP3?

[caseydoug]

I guess the flip-side is how well does Outlook handle MP3?Same thing -- it plays without downloading.

[uhf]

Really it just needs to come as MP3.


I agree with this.

[buckethead]

Really it just needs to come as MP3.

This would be very nice - anything to save from having to download a .wav file for us non-Outlook users.

[MisterEd]

Same thing -- it plays without downloading.

It has been downloaded as an attachment by Outlook when you preview it or you are streaming it which is still downloading it. No matter how you cut it, it has to be downloaded. It's so small a file it may not seem like it's been downloaded, but if it's in Outlook it has.

[caseydoug]

It has been downloaded as an attachment by Outlook when you preview it or you are streaming it which is still downloading it. No matter how you cut it, it has to be downloaded. It's so small a file it may not seem like it's been downloaded, but if it's in Outlook it has.
Well, yes, anything that plays on your computer will be downloaded, otherwise it couldn't play. That is true whether you are using Outlook or gmail or any other mail client, or whether the file is .wav or .mp3. But I don't think that is the way people were using "download" in this thread. The file is not stored on my computer, however. I use IMAP, and only the headers are stored locally. When I play a .wav file, it is streamed, but not stored. Nor do I need to run Windows Media Player. Outlook has a lightweight player that plays the file as "Preview."

[usa2k]

Exactly. Cached versus added to a download directory.

[lost_]

MP3 takes more server resource to encode.

Flash attachment is like using a hammer to fix a small issue. Your browser must have an application handler configuration. For example, Firefox tools-options-application, but it's easier to just configure from the OS (e.g, Windows http://support.microsoft.com/kb/307859), then your browser would most likely prompt you to either save or open it with the associated application. XMPlay is a lightweight audio player. When I click on the WAV attachment in my Web-based email using Firefox, I get the option to play it. With Opera, it just plays when I click on the WAV attachment.

That said, we're hijacking this thread. And I still would like to have Google Voice option, Tim :)

[usa2k]

That said, we're hijacking this thread. And I still would like to have Google Voice option, Tim :) :) That's not YouMail either :) I agree though, enough said.

I guess there are five camps from what I've read:


Add a YouMail option
Don't fix what's not broken
Improve the current VM system
Add another option - like GV support
Work on more important things (Documentation and Web Interface)

[caseydoug]

I guess there are five camps from what I've read:


Add a YouMail option
Don't fix what's not broken
Improve the current VM system
Add another option - like GV support
Work on more important things (Documentation and Web Interface)


Plus 6 - 14: All of the combinations of 1, 3, 4, and 5. :)

[lost_]

:) That's not YouMail either :)

I was responding to Tim's question about having GV/3rd party VM as an option, on whether or not it would be something users would utilize.

Choose two: speed of implementation, quality, cost (I'm in software development, and clients always want all three)

[ctaranto]

Or, more commonly: Faster, Better, Cheaper. Pick two.

/c

[burris]

I wonder....

Except for the handful of frequent posters( a vocal minority) answering Tim's questions, I can't begin to figure out how he can come up with an accepted solution.

In reality, the only single benchmark of whether the service works or not, is whether the service works or not. I suspect that this would be the most important facet of the service.
Sure, a few may bolt because they can't have some esoteric feature that they want or maybe had with a previous provider, but for me, the only crucial feature is that the service works with a high % of reliability. If that does not happen, no feature will take its place.

I know how difficult it must be for Tim to try to please everyone, but I wonder, in the end, if that is possible.
I would also guess that, and I've said this many times before, what would a service be like in quality and price if only a handful of basic features were offered and the development and support minimized in order to keep the costs down.

[usa2k]

Tim could charge for YouMail, just to see how badly some want it :)
Even if just a setup fee.

[TimThom]

I use You Mail with my cell and like it.

[ellinj]

I'd like to see no answer forward. Seems like it could solve a lot of problems. You can forward to Youmail, GV or anywhere you want.

[usa2k]

I'd like to see no answer forward.


A great call hunt tool that I would likely use.

I'm not crazy about Call Waiting.


Still, I'd like a fall back to VOIPo Voice Mail after X rings no answer.

[mbnb]

Personally, I would definitely use something like this if it was free, but I probably wouldn't pay extra for it (mostly due to my current financial situation). I do think that this type of feature set is on it's way to being the norm and it will be offered by more carriers soon. My opinion is the VOIPo should at least scope what it takes to implement this. You don't want to be too far behind if your competitors start offering it...

EDIT - want to add one other thing after looking at the voicepulse posts. VOIPo customers should be able to choose from three things: free basic VOIPo voicemail (not part of YouMail), basic YouMail (free but with ads) or premium YouMail. I don't want to be forced into using a voicemail service with ads. Thanks

[aposner]

Yes, to Youmail. Love to be able to assign different greeting to different phone numbers, especially telemarketers.

Changing greetings online is also a plus.

[WildKid]

I don't get very many (less than 10 voicemails per quarter), so I wouldn't have a need.

Besides, I find VOIPo's voicemail is excellent. :p

[stevech]

I don't get very many (less than 10 voicemails per quarter), so I wouldn't have a need.

Besides, I find VOIPo's voicemail is excellent. :pMade me stop and think... I get maybe 3 voice mails a week - and those are usually people returning calls I made. Interesting how we all use so much email now.

[normduquette]

Voicemail is not the problem. Getting them is!

Its so hard to get remotely that I just wait till I get home.

All we need is a better way to get them, android/iphone apps with visual voicemail and voipo settings manager would be AWESOME, but what about those that have some other phone.

The most cost effective and rather simple approach, a non bloated mobile website, with perhaps three tabs:
voicemail, missed calls, and settings (dnd, forward, etc.)

All this can be done very easily, with little cost, and be implemented sooner than later. Start with voicemail, then add features over time which is easy with websites because there is no software on the users end.

Now your android / iphone app can be as simple as an icon which opens a url, coded with a few auto login credentials so you can auto login. EASY PEASY


If all that is just to hard, expand the API so others can work together to make a cool mobile app. Voipo already started with the API but currently it is to limited. It should be as easy as getting info from the database, vms, missed calls, settings, etc.

Just my 84cents. (Just realized the is no cent symbol on the keyboard!

[burris]

Hold down the alt button while entering 0162 ¢

[eroomjt]

Getting the voicemail .wav file sent to my email address is all I need. Transcriptions sound like a cool idea (as part of an email) but I would not pay extra for it.