By Sprint Android customers, if you haven’t already been prompted with a message from your voicemail app, there’s finally a new update available and it adds a very nice feature: voicemail-to-text. It’s not unlike Google Voice’s transcription service, except for one angle: you’ll have to pay to use it. It’ll run you an extra $1.99 per month, but if you don’t like Google Voice, it might be worth it. You can try it free for 30 days. [via AndroidTapp]
I’ll just listen to them thank you…
oh yea…and first!
What a bonehead move by Sprint. I’m a long time customer and fan of Sprint but, seriously?! Why waste resources to provide a service that is already being handled pretty well FOR FREE?! Couldn’t the tech’s time have been better spent on upgrading the OS on some of it’s phones not running an updated version of Android? Or anything other than this waste of time\tech…
hmmmm.. no. it’s a cool feature but not worth paying for.
This is such crap for Sprint to try and charge for this service. WHY would anyone pay for this when Google Voice does such a great job already. Sprint is doing a wonderful job of nickel and dime-ing us to DEATH! UHG!
I have Sprint and an EVO. Does having my voicemail messages forward to Google Voice cost anything?
I get maybe 2-3 voice mails per month. I don’t leave voice mails any more. SO yea. Not worth it. Should be free.
You can forward your unanswered calls to use Google Voice’s voicemail for free on Sprint.
I can’t see this being any better then the other services already available but lets be honest here..
Transcribing sucks!!!
“Hey this is Rick James and its a celebration bitches”
transcribes into
“De so Dick an a celebrity dishes”
@Kai – sprint “techs” do not write this stuff or write operating systems for phones. These are products that sprint purchases and incorporates into their network.
I wouldn’t pay for it either, but relying on a free product from Google can be a problem if you have technical issues
I will stick to just listening to them. It is not worth paying for. I honestly only get like 2 or 3 vm a month and most of them are sales calls. Normally if someone calls and I do not answer…they just text me.
Wow. If I needed more incentive to switch to the Google Voice voicemail service, this is it.
…Unless they plan on blocking the feature from Google in the near future so that we will HAVE to pay for it from them?!
@DCM5150~ And flying on a plane can cause death. Who lives their life based on that kind of thought process. If I have a problem with it, i’ll stop using it. That simple. It’s not a vital feature on a phone and the fact that other than most Androids, most phones don’t have it at this point tells you no one will die when we have technical issues. “Relying on a free product” is a dumb thing to say for an “optional” app.
How disingenuous to offer a product for a FEE which is currently available for FREE, lmao!
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Can anyone say – “FAIL!!!”
“No update is available at this time.” — Sprint Voicemail app, Samsung Epic 4G
@Kai – Most commercial companies operate that way. Google offers free version of Microsoft Office yet not every company that uses Office has switched to Google Docs. A lot of people also make that kind of thought process when buying products. Lots of people buy “name brand” products instead of a cheaper yet equivalent product because of customer support in case something goes wrong.
I don’t know what you mean by optional. Every app is optional. Buying a phone is optional. Everything you do is optional. Flying in a plane is optional, but I have no idea why you bring that up.
I am now getting a Google Voice error as of this past “mandatory” SPRINT voicemail update. Everytime I attempt to use Google Voice, it runs for 2 seconds and then force closes. I then reset my phone(erasing everything) and reinstalled Google Voice…and, yes, it worked fine. After then updating the voicemail application yet again based upon the update prompt, I again starting getting the same error. So it is the Sprint voicemail update that is preventing the Google Voice application from functioning correctly.
I hate this update. Mandatory so it can spam me with a button? It also wiped out all my saved voice mails. This is the last Sprint phone I will ever buy again and I’ll never purchase another Handmark app ever.
Lets start a boycott!
To complain about an extra two dollars to get voicemails transcribed into text is a bit much. I personally have the service and love it to death. I don’t have to wait until break to look at my phone’s voicemails. Instead, Ic an flick on the screen at my desk and see exactly what people have left me, and the transcribing is far better than expected (especially with previous experience on an iPhone). I find it a marvelous update especially to those who can never understand the people on the other end, and when you’re just not in a service area to call up the voicemail.
I mean seriously, if you have to complain about two dollars extra over possible technical issues with Google Voice (a company you cannot call at ALL), then maybe you need to sit down and reconsider your financial management. Or your attitude.
I just asked Sprint and found out that it is Droid Update that no one seems to want. They have removed it from the OTA server so if you get the mandatory update notification and hit ok it will not function and you will have to force close it. Sprint is trying to resolve the issue.
What happens when my free trial runs out? This service is laughably bad to the point of being usable ONLY as a source of comedy. I am not interested in paying for this however.
I have been trying to unsubscribe to this but it does not tell you how. I do not want this service on my EVO sprint phone.
I was forced into a free trial period for the voice to text service. I don’t want it. The voicemail widget on my home page is broken now as a result. Sprint tech support came to the conclusion (after about an hour on the phone) that they could not remove the service. The voicemail widget is still broken. Their recommendation is to wait until the free trial period is over and then see if the voicemail widget repairs itself. Before ending the call, the Sprint tech rep asked me to give her a good review because this matter was out of her control (she is probably correct). I have been a loyal Sprint customer for many years. This is shabby treatment. Will someone at Sprint please wake up and see the damage they are doing to the customer relationship?
Shame on Sprint! I too was forced into the trial and my Voicemail widget is trashed as a result. After 45 min. w/Tech Sup. they concluded they could remove it but would have to do a total reset of the phone to “out of the box” state. By any definition, that makes it a virus. Shame on Sprint!