Archive for April, 2010

Mobile Phone Etiquette – When to Zip It

Friday, April 23rd, 2010 | located in Tips/Tricks | No Comments »

Have you ever stood in front of a group of people you didn’t know, and revealed personal information that they (most likely) didn’t want to know?  Sounds crazy, right?  Well, if you’ve ever spoken on your mobile phone in a public place, you’ve done exactly that.

Talking on the phone in public has become an acceptable habit – but there are limits to what is appropriate and what is not. Answering a call to quickly say, “I’m on my way” in a low volume is reasonable.  Yammering on for 40 loud minutes about your doctor visit? Not so much.  If you weren’t talking on the phone… you probably wouldn’t announce this information to everyone on the train.

There are numerous places and situations where talking on a mobile phone would be “poor form.”  One such place is on the workout floor of the gym.  Most gyms I’ve been in prohibit mobile phone use in both the locker rooms and on the gym floor, yet there is inevitably someone who thinks that the rule doesn’t apply to him or her.

Case in point:  I was toiling away on the treadmill the other day, along with several others.  Behind us was a small row of recumbent bikes, also occupied.  We were all going about our merry sweaty way when something jolted us all out of our endorphin-laced bliss – RING, RING.  It became more insistent – RING, RING!  And then, to my horror, “HELLO?”  The minutes that followed filled my unwilling ears with details of a day spent at Fisherman’s Wharf, a mediocre dinner, and the internal aftermath of said dinner.  When another frustrated exerciser politely asked the offender to end her call or take it outside, the oversharer responded, “But that was my daughter, I didn’t want to miss her call.”

There’s a time to talk and a time to be discreet.  Most of us (I hope) have mastered the art of putting our phones (and ourselves) on silent mode when appropriate.  When you’re in a no-mobile-phone zone, you don’t have to worry about missing important calls - Ribbit Mobile will take your voicemail message and transcribe it to text – minutes later, you’ll be reading it as a text message and email.  You’re getting the information you need without disturbing everyone around you.  It’s a win-win, and trust me - we thank you for it.

Photo credit: Cayusa

Ribbit Mobile: April News

Monday, April 19th, 2010 | located in News | 1 Comment »

Spring Is Here — Ribbit Mobile Is Budding with Ideas!

We’re flourishing because of you.  Thanks so much for using Ribbit Mobile and offering your support over the past few months.  We’re taking all of your ideas and suggestions into consideration to deliver the communications service YOU want.  Stay tuned for updates and highlights from the Ribbit Mobile team.

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Your Happiness Is Contagious

You’ve put a spring in our step with the wonderful things you’ve said about your experience with Ribbit Mobile!  We’d like to share a few of your enthusiastic comments:

• “A great, reliable voice mail service that will make your life a lot easier”
• “Makes conference calls from home or on the fly easy”
• “Accuracy of transcriptions is scary good”

Want to share your thoughts? Leave a comment here, or follow us on Twitter and tell us what’s on your mind!

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Calling All iPhone Users

The Ribbit Mobile iPhone App makes it easier than ever to read, manage, and share your voicemail directly on your iPhone. Have you tried it yet?  Get the iPhone app.

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Look Who’s a Fan of Ribbit Mobile

The word is out — CNN’s HLN Money Expert Clark Howard has spiritedly described Ribbit Mobile as “absolutely neat.”  Mr. Howard strongly encourages his viewers to check out the “fanciest voicemail system ever” and to experience the features Ribbit Mobile has to offer.  Thanks for the kind words and support, Clark! Check out the CNN segment here.

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We’re excited to have you as an integral part of our community, and we’d love to include more people you know.  Spread the word about Ribbit Mobile.  Invite a friend – there are 3 free invites in your Ribbit Mobile account.  Don’t keep something this good to yourself!

Who’s Greeting Your Callers?

Wednesday, April 14th, 2010 | located in Features | No Comments »

Ring, ring.  Click.  “Hello, you’ve reached Jane Doe.  I’m not available to take your call right now.  Please leave your name, number, and a brief message, and I will get back to you as soon as I can.  Thank you and have a great day.” Beep.

YAWN!  How many times have you heard this message?  Well, maybe not this exact one, but a reasonable facsimile.  Just substitute any number of names, and you have the standard voicemail greeting. While there must be some sense of uniformity in many business practices, is there really any good reason to have an outgoing message that puts your clients to sleep?  Worse yet, is there any reason to have such a bland message on your personal voicemail?  In a world where everything you say, post, or tweet tells everyone who you are and what’s on your mind, why would you resort to a generic, uninspired, easy-way-out message?

I must admit that I am guilty of having used the automated she-bot voicemail message that records my name and takes care of the rest. I did it because I was lazy.  But is that the impression I want to give my callers?  While mulling over this depersonalized message epidemic, I was alerted to this little gem, featuring a creatively appropriate outgoing message.  The man behind this makes some great points about gearing your message toward the image and attitude of your company.

As for your personal voicemail, why not give your callers a little taste of your personality?  That’s not to say that you should record a lengthy, badly-acted scenario with a barely identifiable audio track in the background.  That’s just annoying.  But you can explore your creativity in 10 seconds or less.

So, you’ve come up with a perfect outgoing message that is quintessentially you.  You’ve recorded it, gotten numerous compliments, and now think: “I’m never changing this message.”  Until something comes up.  Maybe you are going on vacation and need to alert callers.  Maybe you’re involved in a project that you need to leave special information about.  If only you could save your fantastic message to use again later…

Ribbit Mobile allows you to record and store different voicemail greetings for future use.  Now you don’t have to record the same things over and over, and having these greetings at your fingertips certainly makes life easier when you’re on the go.  Which gives you more time to think up your next great recording!