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I love getting transcripts and then returning the call that goes to their voicemail.
Voicemail’s definitely not dead.
I can’t find any voicemail services that work the way I want them to though, so I started building my own using Twilio to handle the incoming phone call + ElevenLabs for text-to-speech + AssemblyAI for speech-to-text + Trestle Smart CNAM API for identifying the caller. I’ll open-source the code once it’s ready.
Seems awfully over complicated. Why not just use some twiml verbs like <say> and <gather>?
Twilio’s TTS isn’t as good as ElevenLabs, and their transcription isn’t as good as AssemblyAI. AssemblyAI can pull key details out of the message (eg people’s names, company names, callback numbers, etc) and IIRC it’s quite a bit cheaper than Twilio’s transcription. AssemblyAI provide $50 free credit to try their service, which should last me a very long time assuming it doesn’t expire.
Plus now I can put “AI engineer” on my resume, lol. A lot of “AI” is all about gluing other people’s work together, and that’s exactly what I’m doing.
I had voicemail deactivated for decades. I’m not reachable? Call again later or write a message. Now that I’m older I had to reactivate it because contractors, pharmacy etc. expect and use it to send me information.
I hate voice messages in WhatsApp and the like but I can see the usage for others. My wife communicates with her friends this way. When you have to watch the kids you can send and listen to messages without having to look at your phone.
I think the voicemail thing is very country specific, I mean here in Poland voicemail is the first thing to disable when you get the phone number, it’s even considered rude to have it enabled, it stems from the times when the calls were billed by the minute and carriers seemed to switch to voicemails after too soon, like after 1-2 beeps and “sending signals” (calling without answering to communicate, like “I’ll send you a signal when I’ll be there” or something) was popular among the young people
On the other hand the answering machines weren’t a thing here, maybe it’s connected?
Also I don’t get the reason behind “but some random business might call me”, isn’t that an unsolicited call? Of course it’s a completely different thing when your number is a business number, but on the other hand why not send an email? Guessing it’s a deeply cultural thing stemming from aforementioned answering machines, for me listening through the voice message is inefficient, I prefer text content, like I’d rather read the article than view the video summary, but I know some people prefer it
And here we are in the times of voice messages, my wife uses it to communicate with her friend and I’m tired of hearing those umms, food swallowing, lip smacking etc
Yep, Scandinavia here signing under this as well. Well written!
Since when is voicemail dead? It’s vital for when I miss a call from a healthcare provider, pharmacy, contractor, service provider … do y’all just sit in a sealed box all day?
A basement actually
no, I call my doctors or other services to verify dates… voicemail is abused by spammers so I never listen to them
I get tons of spam calls and basically zero spam voicemail 🤷♂️
Plus with most carriers being able to transcribe voicemails I don’t even need to listen to them.
You’re aware that you can see the phone number of the caller, right?
Private or unknown number? Assuming my phone is on. Please think.
Your phone will show the phone number of the person who left the voicemail. Please think.
Not every number is private or unknown. Please think.
Don’t be mad. It’s literally someone else’s phone habits, lol. What a silly thing to get upset about.
I didn’t say every number is private - I said spammers leave voicemails from private numbers so you won’t know who they are. It makes sense, right? “Sirius XM left a voicemail” is obviously spam, but “Unknown number left a voicemail” could be somebody important. Critical thinking, friendo :) Good luck!
I’m not mad, you’re just an asshole.
Edit: Ah, called it. You’re just a troll.
You’re insulting people and calling THEM trolls? Truly the height of hypocrisy. I don’t have any more time to waste on you, so I’ll block you without reading your next response. Have the day you deserve.
See the number? Hell, I’ve had transcription since at least 2010.
That’s me. I’ve been typing out all your messages and you don’t even seem to appreciate it! My fingers hurt…
Why thank you!
Spammers never ever leave voicemails, that’s how I know a call was spam. If someone actually needs me, either I have their numbers already or they leave a voicemail
I always get “An unresolved issue in our office requires your immediate attention, please call XYZ” with no other identifying information. I’ve learned to clear my inbox without listening to anything because if we had an existing relationship they’d say so.
…did you think I was lying or something? why would you say “spammers never ever leave voicemails” if I just said they do, lol
I send all unknown calls to voice mail. I’ve had my carrier disable voice mail for my phone line.
My providers all use email or are ‘known’ by my phone. … I hope.So when the new specialty pharmacy phones you for details on where to send your prescription, you’re just gonna … not?
If I find myself in a situation like that, I have temporarily turned off automatically sending unknown numbers to voicemail. But about 99% of my existence is sending unknowns into the ether.
And what if you find yourself in a situation where you don’t know to expect a call?
Generally I shrug off that scenario. If I need something or want something, I’m available. But if I don’t, then it’s okay to give myself permission to be unavailable.
But also, my phone number isn’t from where I currently live. Numbers that call do show up in my call logs, even if they get sent to a nonexistent voice mail. A number from my current area code may get a call back after I look up their number. But I don’t bother to look up numbers that aren’t from where I’m currently at, or numbers that call me repeatedly. Spammers use computers that automatically retry their calls, so an unreasonable number of calls immediately after one another are a dead giveaway.
Your attention is a valuable commodity. No one is entitled to it. I take a lot of steps to ensure my attention is protected from misuse - including asking a business to give me their number so I can call them first, so they’ll be ‘known’ to my phone before they try to call me.
I would wonder why they are not emailing or texting me like they should. I can’t think of anything more rude than calling someone.
And I’m old
My pharmacies have always sent me a text notification that my prescription is ready for pick up. The only people calling my phone are scammers
I’m happy for you that you’ve never had to deal with length prior authorizations, specialty pharmacies, need for clarifications, notifications of delay …
I remember being on the phone with my pharmacist a few hours before my wedding - he called so something could get sorted out ASAP. Fortunately that one didn’t have to go to voicemail.
I sit in a box and I smear shit on the walls
cries in Lemmy
I do love the oatmeal, but everything he does now is just for money. He’s probably just got a team of writers at this point.
What makes you say that? The website seems way less ad heavy or monetized than most webcomic sites. I dont even see a link for a patreon or any sort of paywall. Theres one trailer for his netflix show but thats barely even self promotion, and doesnt come close to the shameless levels of nearly begging that a lot of webcomic artists do.
Voicemail? Dead? Naww, it’s better than ever. If you get that far spit something out so I can read the transcription or I’ll straight up block your ass and forget you for eternity. Never do a callback if it’s one of those scam robocall ring-and-hangup shits
If you’re a usual person, then “boo-hoo, people are so scared to be blocked by you”.
If you’re a moderator or something, you’re evil and unfit the position.
What? Its not dead at all.
Was gonna say I use voicemail almost everyday. For the simple reason I’m not always close to phone and don’t pickup on unknown numbers
Who even leaves voicemails anymore? If I don’t reach somebody I just sent them a quick text why I called and whatever to call back.
Doctors offices, bill collectors, anything to do with finances basically.
Finance, medical, family, contractors (yard guy, HVAC guy, etc.), service providers (auto shop, insurance, etc.) …
Yep. All of those
Really? All of those are email or texts for me. Genuinely can’t remember the last time I recieved or sent a genuine phone call.
Well that’s your zone. Where I am its email text and voicemail. Only time I get emails is from companies I deal with regularly the rest go to VM. The odd texts I get are about 60/40 spam\phish or doc appts
I think it’s early to declare voicemail dead. It was alive and kicking when I checked mine last Christmas…or was that Christmas 2019? Maybe I should check on it again.
And I’ve been assured that my work voicemail is definitely setup and functional. I trust the team that sets those things up, and I’m confident that it’s doing it’s job… whatever it’s for.
Hahahaha, have my upvote.
Yea, we don’t bother at work. You know I called, don’t waste your time listening to a message. If I called, it was urgent, get back to me as quick as you can.
Otherwise I’m gonna send you a message to setup a call.
Yeah. I’m very thankful that my work operates by the same expectations.
Anyone calling unscheduled is urgent enough that I probably shouldn’t waste time listening to the voicemail. Every other call is scheduled, anyway.
It leaves my work voicemail delightfully empty.
I want to sit down with the person who brought voice notes to Hinge, and ask them why the fuck they thought dating by voicemail was a good idea.
That drawing style remind me of the card game with the explosives and the kittens.
That’s because The Oatmeal made that game
Edit: guy hosts his comics on amazonaws.
How do you screen phone calls without voicemail?
I don’t answer the phone for unknown numbers. Super simple
Yep, if it’s important they’ll leave a message. Wait…
If it’s important I’ll be expecting a phone call or know who is calling me. All that a voicemail does is tell spammers that they have a valid and active phone number that they should keep calling.
“We’ve referred you to the specialist, their office should reach out sometime in the next 8 months”
Good luck remembering that call is coming.
Which is why they should all be sending emails
“Hi honey, it’s me. I’m calling from the hospital, my phone was damaged in the crash. I know this area code is weird, we were only about halfway to Grandma’s when we were hit…”
“Unknown number? I’m not listening to that shit, I’m waiting for my wife to call when she gets to her parents house!”
Are these people just raw dogging phones calls?
Voicemail is dead, long live the voice message.
Fucking WhatsApp, thanks for nothing assholes
