[Web 2.0] Jott Helps You Remember Stuff You’re Likely To Forget Otherwise

Here at TheContentWrangler.com, we’re big on productivity. We often receive email messages from readers asking how on earth we find time to do all the things we do.

Here’s our secret: work-minimization. That’s it in a nutshell. We look for ways to reduce the amount of work it takes to do almost any task imaginable. We are often able to find a better way to do just about anything. And, increasingly, it’s free Web 2.0 tools that we are finding offer the most promise in the time-saving and waste-reduction arenas.

Recently, we made a few human errors. Those errors weren’t earth-shattering, but they were preventable and irritating. They were caused by a common human weakness—forgetfulness. So, after admitting that we aren’t always as good about remembering things as we wish we were, we sought out a tool designed to help us avoid forgetting important information.

Enter Jott—a free, online tool that allows you to use your mobile phone to record reminders about things you don’t want to forget. Using Jott is simple. Visit http://www.jott.com. Set up an account. You’ll be provided with a toll-free phone number. Enter this number into your mobile phone. Set the number to speed dial (for one button access). When you think of something you want to remember ("Get kitty litter."), dial up Jott. A voice activated response system will answer and ask you, “Who do you want to Jott?” You say, “Me.” When you hear the beep, you can record the message you need to remember. Then, hang up. You’re done.

Jott records both an audio file of the reminder and it automatically transcribes the audio and sends you a text version via email as your reminder. You can listen to the actual recording, or view the text transcription. All of your Jotts are stored in your Jott account, so you can visit once a day and check off all of the items you completed, and let Jott remind you of the tasks you’ve yet to complete. If you’re like us, and you find yourself using Jott several times a day, you can set your email reminders to digest and receive just one Jott reminder per day.

Additionally, you can Jott other people. Just enter them into your account. When you call in to Jott, just say their name and record a message to whomever you need to remind, Jott handles the rest.

So far, we’ve managed to use Jott in several useful ways. You may find many others. Here’s a few we found helpful:

Remembering license plate number after a hit-and-run
Capturing the name of that song we heard on the bus, but can’t seem to remember when we are at home searching iTunes
Remembering doctor’s appointments

Take a video tour and see how Jott works. Then, give it a whirl. Jott is a beta product and new features are being added.

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Comments

By EileenP on August 8, 2007 -- 11:33am

When I saw “toll-free number”, it was a tip-off that Jott is only available to US and Canadian users. And that’s correct. This version can’t be used by those of us who live in Europe, for example.

By ScottAbel on August 9, 2007 -- 6:59am

Yes, you are right! But, as a beta service, you can’t expect a worldwide roll-out. We expect that to change in the future. Until then, stay tuned.

Scott Abel
TheContentWrangler