Via RSSOkay, I’m Impressed with Phonevite
Recently, I set up iGoogle as my homepage on my computer. I decided to do this so I could have better access to my gmail account, blogs I read, news items, and other such important necessities of life. I also added a widget that tracks my del.icio.us tags. I didn’t pay much attention to it until a few days ago.
The widget not only lists my tag lines, but also gives me a random "hotlist" of websites and blogs that might interest me. Today, I was intrigued by a website called Phonevite. After intrigue, I would have to say I was impressed….very impressed.
Phonevite is a simple tool that allows you to record a phone message and send it to a list of numbers you wish to receive the message. You can record your message online using a microphone or simply by recording using your own phone. Your phone number is what shows up on the caller ID of your friends or co-workers.
I know, most schools have a program like that in TN if you signed up to use STAR Student provided by the state. However, will your principal let you use it to call the teachers on your team? To call 4 or 5 parents about a scheduled meeting? Or to call students in your class about late homework assignments? I thought not!
Phonevite is really set up to invite a group of people to an event or party. As such, you can choose to allow recipients to respond by keypad (1 is yes, 2 is no, 3 is maybe). However, you can also choose to let them record a message back to you. When you go back into the control section, you can see the status of your calls, how long they took, what answers were keyed in, and listen to the messages left for you.
I teach middle school, so getting in touch with team members is really important at times. Not everyone checks email messages 25 times a day like I do, and making 5 or 6 calls can get tedious. So Phonevite is definitely something I will be trying this year.
Oh, did I mention that you can schedule your call to go out on a date and time somewhere in the future? Check those phone calls off your to-do list and get on with life!
You can see a brief introductory movie at the Phonevite site.
