YouMail – Voicemail Done Right

I miss answering machines. Allow me to clarify: let’s go back approximately ten years when there were still answering machines around. I call you, you’re not home. The answering machine picks up, plays your little message, beeps, and I say what I need to say. Done.

Today’s voicemail service could learn a thing or two from the simplicity of the answering machine. That’s where YouMail comes in. Read on to see how this new service is changing the voicemail game.

I heard about YouMail through the wonderful Lifehacker blog. I decided to check it out, and I’m glad I did. In less than 5 minutes, I was set up to use YouMail voicemail instead of the default Verizon offering.

The list of features that YouMail offers is too long to list here, so I’m just going to rattle off some of the things that were important to me.

1. YouMail does not require a new number.
2. YouMail makes it easy on the caller (message, beep, done).
3. YouMail can send emails or texts when you get a new voicemail. (including an attached mp3, if you so desire)
4. YouMail allows custom messages for different people.
5. YouMail allows uploaded mp3s for your voicemail messages.
6. YouMail is free*

So it’s pretty awesome, in my opinion. I’ve really just started using it, so I’ll provide an update down the road to see how I like it in a month or so.

* The only thing YouMail charges for is message transcription. For a reasonable price, real people will listen to your message and transcribe it. The results are much better than a computer (as long as you trust the YouMail transcribers).

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