As a happily hyper-busy real estate professional, one of my biggest challenges is keeping up with voice mail messages during a typical work day.  On the other hand, when I am “off duty” I like to be present and attentive to my friends and family and purposefully do not answer calls.  Sometimes this is a problem.  What I needed was a more efficient monitoring system to keep up with urgent messages and separate them from non-urgent messages.   I found Google Voice and a dedicated email address on my Blackberry to be an ideal solution, here are the benefits of setting this system up for yourself:

• Voice mails are transcribed to text so you can quickly read them anytime you can’t or don’t want to answer
• The recorded messages are available to listen on your phone or the internet at any time in any order
• A phone log is automatically generated of all your messages to save or plug into CRM later
• You can “return calls” via SMS or email rather than calling back if appropriate
• No need to log-in to voice mail or take notes about the messages (or worry about losing your notes)

Following is “before and after” voice mail story and an easy to set-up system that allowed me to respond more efficiently to clients and customers and also enjoy free time without the stress that I might missing something critical.

My Problem with Voice Mail

Here’s a typical scenario that used to happen to me all the time, which I refer to as Voice Mail Hell:  I have a two hour meeting in the morning with an investor group.  Because I need to focus completely on the meeting, I have my phone set to silent.  But the phone lights up every 15 minutes and people are leaving voice mail messages.

At the end of the meeting I have seven new voice messages to listen to and then return calls.  The first message I take down notes in my handy voice mail log sheet, but the second is urgent, so I hang-up to return the call right away.  There are still five messages left in my voice mail box.

After I finish the urgent call, I dial in again to the voice mail system.  I get three more messages written down and the phone rings.  It is an important client calling.  Again, I drop the voice mail system to take the call.  During my twenty minute client conversation, two more calls come in and more messages stack up.  You get the picture.

How did I cope?  I have always been pretty diligent about updating my contacts, so when people call who are in my database, I can see their name on caller ID.  This is helpful because I can just call them right back without listening to all the voice mails.  But I also get a lot of calls from numbers that are not in my contacts, some of which may be urgent calls.   In order to get to those messages, I have to troll through the voice mails in the order they came in.  I am a pretty committed Blackberry fan, but do envy iPhone users who can skip over and listen to voice mails in any order.  Even so, I think this system is better yet…

Google Voice Mail Transcription, Free!

The answer to my voice mail challenges was a new Google Voice phone number that transcribes messages into text, and then forwards them to my SMS and/or email inboxes.  Here is how it works:

• Callers dial my cell phone number, which auto forwards to my Google Voice number if I do not answer
• Voice mail messages are recorded at my Google Voice inbox rather than my cellular voice mail
• The voice mail is transcribed by Google Voice into text, which is programmed to send a copy to a dedicated email account on my Blackberry (it can be programmed to deliver SMS text messages of the transcription also, but I prefer just the email version on my phone)
• The recorded message is stored in my Google Voice inbox online.  The message is also available to listen on my phone browser.
• I can quickly view a list and the complete contents of all my voice mails on my cell phone in text so I can read them during meetings
• I am now free to read, listen and respond in order of priority either via email or by returning the calls.

This system is extremely efficient for me compared to having to dial into my voice mail and listen to messages (in chronological order).  Also, I don’t have to write down any messages, or worry about losing notes.  Having a written log and the recordings kept in an inbox on my computer has been heavenly.   When convenient I can save or delete or plan extended follow-ups for the calls.  Finally, a text system is discreet enough to check messages during a meeting (or at the ballpark) without having to hold a phone to your ear and take notes!

Thanks Google Voice!