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Usher In New Gen: Voice What?

Voice-to-text or voice mail transcription is definitely a feature that every UC solution should incorporate. The younger generation may not be the sole reason to eliminate “traditional voice mail,” but it’s a good one.

There are generational differences when it comes to technologies and users. It seems that 20-somethings could care less about voice mail, let alone voice. They prefer contact via IM, texting and even email, in lieu of anything connected to voice. When and if they do come calling and you miss their call, you are then expected to know to call them back using their Caller-ID stamp on your phone log. It may be wiser to text their phone to get a faster response.

In the Forbes article, 20 Things 20-Year-Olds Don't Get, contributor Jason Nazar wrote, "Pick up the phone. Stop hiding behind your computer." There is merit to this advice, as I've long held that answering the phone can bring a wealth of opportunities to your desk. The rejection of certain technology by this younger generation is evident - when calling them, I often find that their voice mailboxes are inactive on both cell and office phones. Why? They don't like voice. This could be troublesome for carriers and manufacturers of smartphones and businesses that require employees to speak to other humans.

Even so, voice-to-text or voice mail transcription is definitely a feature that every UC solution should incorporate. The younger generation may not be the sole reason to eliminate "traditional voice mail," but it's a good one.

Transcribing voice messages into text or email messages makes sense. It really adds to the value if the transcription takes place while the caller is leaving the message. It's convenient but it also places the "message" in a date/time order within email or via text. When I removed our voice processing system and integrated our voice mail in the cloud, the message waiting lamps on all the phones – DECT, proprietary, IP and SIP – now remain dark, and they aren't missed since voice mail arrives as email just like faxes. So in keeping step with the industry pundits, my proclamation is, "Message Waiting Lamps are obsolete!"

How well transcription occurs could be problematic and even potentially create liabilities unless the called mailbox has the warning message, "Please do not leave sensitive or highly specialized messages in this mailbox that could be misinterpreted by our transcription."

Even so, arguably all messages should end up in just one bucket, and this may be where users differ. Multiple Gmail accounts are supported by my Gmail iPhone app. Then, Hotmail and Yahoo mail apps mean more messages in different places, along with Apple Mail and of course Outlook sporting an account on the iPhone too.

Looking back, I need to ask myself, how did I end up with so many email accounts, apps for IM, and clients for various UC solutions and softphones? Does UC really deliver on unifying, or are user expectations defeating the purposeful strategy of a good UC foundation? I tend to think the idea of having voice mail transcribed is more than good karma. Considering the amount of email and number of email buckets to keep up with, it almost seems as if users (including me) are self-defeating any centralization effort. The reality is choices are endless, and this is still pretty cool but remains challenging to bring all messaging under one solution. [Editor's note: For more on this, see Dave Michels' latest post].

The various email accounts, clients and apps used throughout the day may or may not be indicative of need, but the choices are endless. In keeping with the mantra of connecting or communicating how, when, where and with what you want to communicate, the lack in UC seems to be a bridge to unify all the tools under one hood. But this isn't new – there's always been an idea of having a "miracle bridge" that connects all communications under one roof.

The challenge will be inter-generational. The 20-somethings may not like voice contact and their preference to read voice mails instead of listening to them along with using electronic means to communicate, rather than verbalization, indicates that UC efforts can meet these needs.

Whether or not UC will unify the various tools as a potential miracle bridge remains to be seen. Then if unification occurs, how difficult will it be to secure and manage? Perhaps there is middle ground along with middle-ware that will address a little of each and still let users freely pick and choose from their communications carte du jour.

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