Find out who is calling with 800 Notes.

If a number comes through on my cell phone that I don't know, I do not answer it! Instead, I grab the number (memorize it, write it down, copy/paste) and type it into 800 Notes immediately.

Sometimes, if I'm really on the ball, I even get the results before the call finishes ringing, and I can answer the call if it's someone I actually want to talk to...like the car dealership or my credit card company.

Make sure to read through several of the comments to get a good feel for the company that is calling. The first comment listed isn't always 100% correct. I usually go with the majority of responders.

If the cell phone companies would join the 21st century and introduce caller ID, the problem would be moot, but until then, I use 800 Notes. If you know of similar sites or a better way to check numbers as they come in on your cell phone, please post them in the comments.

Go straight to voice mail when calling mobile phones with Slydial

I recently found a service called Slydial that forces your calls to bypass the chance of talking to a person and goes straight to their voice mail! This service works like a charm, does not require registration and is free! Here are a few situations when the service might be useful. 

How to Get Started: Add the Slydial phone number (267-SLYDIAL or 267-759-3425) to your contacts on your phone. Call the number, and when prompted, enter the mobile number that you would like to slydial. Wait for a bit, and you are connected straight to voice mail. That's it!

Limitations: This service only works with mobile numbers. You do have to listen to an advertisement while you wait for your call to connect, but it didn't bother me. I have used it three times so far, and two of the three times, it worked. I am guessing that the third person I tried to call did not have voice mail turned on on their mobile phone. Even with the limitations listed above, I am going to continue using the service.

Premium Service: Slydial does have a premium service that removes advertising from the calls and offers several other features. The service is $2.95 per month or $29.95 per year. Or, you can per single use at $.10 per slydial.

Mobile Apps: There is an iPhone app for Slydial, but it received bad reviews in its current version, so I'm going to pass on that for now. There are also apps for Android, Blackberry, and Windows Mobile, but I don't have any knowledge of how well they work.

Use SlyDial to go straight to voice mail when you are calling mobile numbers. Let me know if it works for you.

Google Voice, Revisited

I wrote about Google Voice several months back, but they have so many new features that I knew it was time to share again!

Google Voice is yet another amazing and free tool that, once you start using it regularly, you will never know how you lived without it before! The service provides you with a free virtual telephone number that you can forward to any phone number or straight to an email address if you choose not to take calls.

Here's an example: You spend the weekdays at work where you have bad cell reception, so during the weekday work hours, you can forward your Google Voice (GV) number to your work phone. After work, you can forward your GV number to your cell phone. And at night when you are sleeping, you can forward your GV number straight to email so that you will not be interrupted.  You distribute your GV number, and you decide when, where and how you are contacted each day.

How I Use Google Voice:

• I give my GV number to those businesses that I want to contact me again, but I don't want them to have direct access to me.  I want to choose how and when we communicate. For example, when I give blood, I give the agency my GV number because I don't want to answer their weekly calls requesting more of my blood for the rest of my adult life! I still would like to know that they called and that they have a shortage of my blood type, but I much prefer they just leave me a voice mail that I can hear later.
• My high school students who want to use me as a reference for a prospective job. I really don't want to give them my cell phone number, but I don't mind giving them my GV number since all calls and voice mails are sent directly to my email account.  No prank calls at 2am!
• Sign up to get text messages from my stores and other businesses. Some of my favorite stores have text message sign ups, and I want to be included on their text messages including sales and coupons, but I don't really want all of their advertising to clutter my text message inbox. 
  

(Note: I use GV as my secondary phone number as you see above, but Google now offers number porting, so you could move your cell phone number into GV if you want to use it in that way.) 

All of these calls, voice mails, and text messages go straight to my GV account then I receive an email notification. The great part about GV is its ability to personalize. You can receive calls to any phone number at specific hours of the day or never at all.

After you have created an account, you will be amazed at all of the ways people use GV!  They have a YouTube Channel with more ways to fully utilize their service.

I would love to hear how you are using Google Voice!

Google Voice

Google has a new service called Google Voice that allows you to have a virtual phone number to give away to people who you don't want calling your home and cell numbers.  I use my Google Voice number for people whose calls I don't have to answer right away, like blood donation companies, salesmen, etc.

The service has many options, like sending your calls to your cell phone or home phone or just sending them straight to voice mail.  If a caller leaves you a voice mail, you will receive a transcription of the message in your email.  Great feature!

Until recently, Google Voice was only available by invitation and to college students.  Now, it's open for all.  Sign up and let me know what you think in the comments.