Jott and Insomnia

Jott is a free service which lets you take down notes via the phone. You sign up for an account, register your number, and then you can call a toll-free number to leave a 30-second message which Jott transcribes for you. You can access these messages through Jott's interface, through the email which Jott sends you automatically, or through other web services (scheduling, blogging, and other apps) which you can link to your account. You can also send messages out to other people through contacts which you associate with your account. Jott does a pretty good job transcribing my voice- getting about 95% right- but your mileage may vary. Overall, it's a great service, though I can think of some simple improvements.



For one, I'd like to be able to record messages via the web browser. Just a simple button which allows you to record via your computer's microphone would be nice, and seems simple to implement. (Flash has this capability.) Alternatively, some sort of Skype integration would be cool, especially since Skype's founder is invested in the speech-to-text service. It'd be really cool if the system they use for transcribing speech was avaliable to the general public, as there aren't many good speech-to-text tools out there, though obviously they may want to keep their tech to themselves.

Also, Jott requires you to log in via your phone number. This seems strange to me, especially since you can change your number and link multiple numbers to one account. Why not go with the norm and offer usernames?

The biggest problem I see with Jott is that it's dependance on caller ID. Caller ID can be spoofed; this seems to me to be an obvious (though, admittedly, benign) security hazard. Caller ID also locks people who block caller ID or who simply don't have it (like Canadians?) out of the service.

It seems to me like a simple PIN system would work well. If you called from a registered phone number, you'd simply type in your PIN to confirm your identity. If you called from an unregistered number, you'd also say or type your username. It wouldn't be much of a blow to the service already offered (typing in a PIN takes only a second, and could even be optional via an account setting) and it would open up the service to people in lots of extra situations. (The only problem remaining here is calling from a phone registered to somebody else. Maybe just a hidden option up front where you could press * or something to call as a different user; because this is kind of a "power user" option, it wouldn't need to add anything extra to the call menu, which I applaud for it's brevity.)

Because I don't get good (read: any) cell service where I live, I can't use this app to it's full potential. I have found one outstanding use for it, though, as an insomnia aid. I find myself unable to sleep many nights because of the ideas running through my head. I have to get up and write down my ideas in order to clear my mind, but this voids whatever progress I had make towards brainwave heaven while milling over my thoughts. Jott offers a brilliant solution in this regards: I can just call and let them take down my thoughts for me. Then, in the morning, I convert these to blog drafts, emails, to-do's, etc. It's kind of funny seeing how, over time, the transcription gets worse and worse as I drift from clear, lucid speech to slow, sleepy mumbles.

Obviously, this particular use isn't suited towards everyone (non-insomniacs, people who share rooms, etc.). I think that many people could use this service, at least to take down those brilliant ideas which are fated to only come when there are no writing utensils handy. But some people will come up with other creative uses for this, which I'd like to see; I love to watch how people use and adapt technology for their own needs in innovative, personal ways.