Free phone number for voice messages via Net

By Lim Tri Santosa

BANDUNG (JP): The House of Representatives is upbeat about passing the telecommunications bill by the end of August. Let's hope their action is not merely cosmetic, to achieve the deadline before they end their term. We need to be patient to wait for real action, rather than just a bill to declare that something will or will not be done. We are entering the third millennium, but our telecommunications service is still monopolized by state companies.

PT. Indosat and PT. Satelindo hold exclusive rights for international services until 2004. It's sad and a pity.

Even though the Internet has gained popularity these days, people are not really relying on e-mail for day-to-day activities; they still feel more comfortable with voice communication by phone. It is not a kind of cultural barrier here, but speaking what our minds are thinking is easier and more comfortable than writing it.

The following story is about how to send and receive voice messages over the Internet between two parties, even if one of the parties doesn't have access to an Internet connection (as long as they have a telephone). Also, how to get your free private phone number in the U.S. You can either choose a local U.S. city phone number, or get a toll-free phone number with a private extension (thus everyone who wants to leave voice messages for you will not be burdened by phone charges if they call within the U.S.).

By the way, I am not talking about choppy lapsing Internet telephony anymore; these free services will deliver clear, streaming voices to both parties.

We in Indonesia can leave voice messages to our friends, family, or business associates in the U.S. They can hear the voice mail messages you sent via the Internet by dialing their private phone number in the U.S. If they intend to leave voice messages for you, they can just dial your private phone number in the U.S., and the voice will be delivered as an attachment file to your e-mail address or you can play it via the service's web site. Thus both parties can leave voice messages to each other. It's two-way communication, although not real online talking at the same time like phone conversations.

The requirement to carry out the services are access to an Internet connection, Windows 95 or 98, a sound card, including speakers, microphone and a browser -- Netscape 4 or above or Internet Explorer 4 or above (Java script enabled).

Deliver messages

There are several free voice message services. I have tried them all, only the three best services are suitable for users in Indonesia to communicate with U.S. callers. First, the Jfax company (http://jfax.com) offers free voice service; the registrant will be given a local U.S. city phone number, free (amazing). The downside is you can't choose the city. Callers can dial your personal phone number and leave voice messages after the "beep" as long as the caller wants to speak.

After hanging up, the voice will be compressed into a "gsm" voice file and delivered as an attachment to your e-mail address. To hear the "gsm" file you need a specific "gsm" player that you can download at the Jfax homepage. I think Jfax services only give us one-way communication, because we can't send our voice mail to recipients in the U.S. via the Internet.

Second, Shoutmail (http://www.shoutmail.com) lets you send voice messages by e-mail without Internet connection access. All the caller need's is a telephone. Users need to sign up at Shoutmail's web site, and will be given a free e-mail address, phone access code, and password code.

The phone access and password codes are at least four digit numbers (not alphanumeric). Users should fill the address book, their "personal directory", with recipients' contact names and e- mail addresses. Avoid using the same first three letters in recipients' contact names. Why? Because to address a voice-email, the Shoutmail system will ask for the first three letters of the intended recipient's name (using the number pad on the telephone) from your directory.

It is easy to send voice e-mail with Shoutmail from a telephone. The procedure is like using a prepaid phone card. First dial 1-800-713-6888, enter the phone access code and password code followed by the pound key ("#"). Press two ("2") on the touch-tone pad to send voice e-mail. The caller can send messages to anyone listed in his or her personal directory. The caller simply dictates the message over the phone; Shoutmail will attach the recorded voice message.

The advantage of Shoutmail is the toll-free number. Everyone who wants to send voice attachment e-mail to you will not be burdened by phone charges as long as they call within USA. No need for computers or Internet connections, just an ordinary telephone, and speak as long as the caller wants. If you have friends or family in the U.S., who don't know about the Internet or are too busy to write an e-mail for you, this service is really very helpful.

Third is Onebox.com (http://onebox.com). When you sign up, you get a free local phone number with a 4-digit private extension, 4-digit PIN password, and an e-mail address with 3 megabytes of storage capacity.

The best thing is that you can choose the city, like New York, Oakland, San Francisco, New Jersey, Austin, to have your number in. By the end of this year, Onebox phone numbers will be available in 80 percent of major U.S. cities.

Onebox lets users funnels voice messages, e-mail and faxes to a free local phone number. All the messages can be retrieved via telephone or the World Wide Web. My main focus here is voice messages.

Callers now can leave you a voice message by calling your Onebox phone number and entering your 4-digit private extension. The 3-megabyte storage capacity can hold 35 minutes of voice messages.

You also can leave voice messages for the caller, but you must do it via the Onebox web site. After you log on to Onebox, grab your microphone, press the "record" button on the Onebox web page and speak.

Then enter your caller's phone number, including the private extension, and click the "send" button.

My suggestion is you should make a separate phone number for the caller in order to send your voice messages to him or her. Your Onebox phone number is used by the caller to drop voice messages for you. The caller's Onebox phone number is used by you to send voice messages to him or her. The caller can check the voice messages by calling this number.

Retrieve messages

Either Shoutmail or Onebox will notify you, by e-mail, whenever new voice messages enter your voice mailbox at their server, but you should let them know your original e-mail address to do this. Shoutmail's e-mail notification will give a "http" location address that you can use to retrieve the voice message. You can hear directly from their web site using a RealAudio streaming program. I recommend you to download the voice messages as "wav" files, because RealAudio needs a separate RealAudio player and if your Internet connection is crawling, the chance is you will hear a broken voice message.

Point your mouse cursor on the "hear" button, then you will see the full path location address of the "wav" file. Write down the file name (usually at http://207.138.33.143/wav/filename.wav). Still remember my previous article about download services? Here's the cool way to expedite downloading "wav" files, use Emi@lfile services (http://www.emailfile.com) to deliver it to your original e-mail address.

At Onebox, you use the World Wide Web to retrieve voice messages. The caller uses his or her Onebox phone number to check the voice messages that you sent. If you have already heard the message, it would be better to delete it to maintain the full storage capacity. If you think the message is worth being saved, you can download directly from the web and save it to your hard disk.

The bottom-line is if you want to communicate in a two-way voice conversation with your friends, family, or anybody in the U.S. who does not have Internet access (as long as they have telephone), you needn't use your phone to make an International Direct Dial (IDD) from Indonesia.

You use your Internet access to deliver your voice messages and retrieve their voice messages, but they use their telephone (no IDD charges) to deliver their messages and retrieve your voice messages. Although it is not real online talking at the same time, it is guaranteed to fulfill your deep anxious longing for the voice you miss very much. Choose the most suitable service for you; don't forget to print the free personal phone number on your name card. It's very simple, but it surely will save your international phone bill.