Every hard of hearing person struggles on the phone at some point.  Some phones are better than others, some people speak better than others.  My most frustrating moments on the phone are usually voicemail related.  My family members are regularly called to assist me in deciphering a message.  “What did she say?  Did she say anything else?  Are you sure?  Did she saying anything about ….” I ask.  I would love to be more independent and have my privacy back! 

This week, Line1 Communications announced new service called Spinvox.  Spinvox transcribes your voicemail to your email.  Now, if you get a voicemail you can’t understand, you can log onto your email and read it.

Here’s how it works: 

• Sign up for a phone number through Line1.  Only 904, 850 or toll-free 866 numbers available right now. 
• Use this number as your main telephone number or forward your current home phone or mobile phone to this new number.
• When a call comes, either directly to the new number or through a transfer from your land/cell line, your new voicemail picks up.  (You set this up as part of the new phone service.)
• Any messages left in this new voicemail are automatically transcribed and sent to your email.
• The voicemail message stays available as well, until you delete either on your phone or online.
• If you use an email-enabled cell phone, your messages show up on your device.  If not, check your email on your computer and there they are.

What it costs: 

• $9.95 for the Line1 phone number
• The cost of your home or mobile number if you are forwarding another number.
• The cost of SpinVox, which is from .44 cents a message to $50 a month for 175 messages and on up.
• You get charged for every message you receive, even if you listen to it first and never read it.

The pros on this service are obvious.  It’s a great way to read messages that are too difficult to hear, as well as save important messages or print out complicated details like directions that are left on voicemail.  The cons are that it is an additional expense and an extra personal phone number.  This is an administrative detail that is easy to overcome, in fact once it is set up, it is transparent, but it is one more service to manage. 

If you want to try it out, Line 1 offers a free trial week.  Perhaps there will be integration of this software and other land line and cell phone service providers in the future.  When that happens, I’m signing up.  In the meantime, upgrading your land line phone to a voice amplified model or using a portable amplifier can help.  And be sure to look at your options when purchasing your next cell phone.  Buy one that works with your aid. 

If you try Spinvox, let us know about your experience.  Happy listening.