>> I really don't want to listen to your 3 minute audio file when I could have read it in 30 seconds.
Almost 19yrs ago, at my employer, it was common for people to send an "Octel" which was similar to a voice message. There were a couple of reasons to send an Octel instead of an email:
- You couldn't quote/parse/forward it (often used for more sensitive messages)
- The system also had an optional feature where you couldnt forward it if the sender didnt want.
- This was before smartphones, so it wasnt easy (though not impossible) to re-record it and forward it.
- It captured nuance better than email.
- It was harder to respond quickly and you thought about your response more carefully.
Most of these seem like good features, depending on your perspective. However, in 2020, none of these are possible anymore, especially with a gmail attachment.
that's feedback we received from users as well. I do agree when it's about quick and efficient (& non emotional) communication.
But I do believe that (especially now with COVID), having an async way to communicate that ressembles human communication (aka. hearing the tone of voice, the speed of talking, ..) does really add value, don't you think?
A few reasons to send an audio message for me would be:
- To give a life update
- To explain something that happened
- To share ideas
A few reasons not to send an audio message:
- To ask if you're joining the meeting on Monday
- To ask you to send a document
- T share some business KPIs
Very interesting to see audio messages pop up as a feature, especially as a value-add in an analytics tool like this!
I'm working hard on an MVP of a system with some similar ideas, so I'm keeping a keen eye out for things like this. My own work is more about bringing audio messages into the daily team chat environment, e.g. in a context similar to slack or IRC. And as one user noted is a must, it includes auto-transcription.
If anyone is interested, there's some info up about it at https://heysync.chat -- hopefully people don't feel it's too self-promotion-y to add a link!
Very interesting. We had earlier dabbled with audio platform in emails.
As it turned out, most of the money to be made is in email campaigns and for that we created personalised audio whose permalink can be shared with an image inside the email.
Thanks! I've actually been wanting a mobile version as well but it's much harder to pull off as it requires a much more in depth integration with Gmail's api.
We will build it but probably as part of our Personal CRM app and not as a stand-alone product due to the time & energy required.
What I mean is that it is first stored locally, then sent as an attachment and that's it. It's not like we upload it somewhere and add the link to the email for ex.
The only way I would even consider working with someone sending audio files over email would be if it at least included an automated transcription.
I really don't want to listen to your 3 minute audio file when I could have read it in 30 seconds.