Lately, my voicemail always fills up as quickly as I clean it out.

I hate to admit it, but lately I feel like I've become one of those REO agents everyone complains about.  Luckily, it only lasted a week, the length of a typical vacation.  We all "fall down" every once in awhile, right?  Can everyone reassure me here, please?

I actually enjoy talking on the phone, but these days, clients, prospects, other agents and anyone else who calls has gotten the "we're sorry, this voicemail box is full" message when calling my cell.  I hate when someones voicemail is full, and I am certain that I've upset many people with persistent voicemail box full messages.

Tonight I set out to find a solution, and I found it in VoiceCloud.

For just $19.95/mo. all calls going to voicemail on my cell phone are routed to VoiceCloud.  VoiceCloud records the message, transcribes it in near real-time and forwards it to my email with the message typed out in the body of the email and an MP3 attached with the actual audio file.

The shear volume of the calls is not too much -- call management was my problem.  I was notorious for saving important messages -- that took away critical space for others to leave messages, which will no longer be a problem with VoiceCloud, which has no limits.

This will help me in many ways as I am someone who is devoted to one-on-one attention.  I do not believe in answering my phone when I am in front of and talking with someone else.  I very rarely ask someone to hold so that I can take another phone call coming in.  I think it is semi-rude (almost as rude as letting your voicemail fill up...LOL). 

However, there are times when I have 7 voice mails that I plan on returning later when I get a call that I think has an important voicemail along with it.  Now, rather than running through all of them and hitting save to get to the one I need to immediately address, I can check my phone for the email and read the text.  If need be, I can play the MP3 on my phone.

I am also going to be better able to prioritize phone calls.  A voicemail from an agent informing me that one of my listings has been broken into is much more important than an agent who will be showing a listing tomorrow and wants to know if there are any other offers.  Yes, the second agent's phone call is important, but more important is securing that home for my client.

For agents that do not have email to phone capabilities, VoiceCloud optionally sends a SMS text to the subscribers cell phone with the transcribed voice message.

I am now happy to report that nobody will ever encounter a "sorry, this mailbox is full" message when calling my cell -- EVER!  With so many of my listings going into contract (about 9 or 40%) in the last two weeks, I have been much busier than I usually am and I would be lying if I said I've been easily accessible.

However, now that I have found a solution to the problem (that's what life is all about, right?), I am comfortable talking about how horrible I've felt knowing people have repeatedly gotten that dreaded full mailbox message.

Now I just need to finish catching on email (this blog entry was a much needed break from doing so) -- the one thing I am usually always on top of.

Everyone with a cell phone can benefit from VoiceCloud.  They even offer a free 7 day trial -- give it a try!

PS  I am still looking for a great agent to join The Barron Team!  Having an additional team member will be a great help!  In the meantime, now that I've found a solution to my biggest problem, I can return to being a star agent!  ;)

PPS  I've also listened to all of the people that say you should "time block."  My voicemail greeting now indicates that I try to make myself available for phone calls Monday through Saturday, from 2 PM to 7 PM and that I will also be returning calls during those times.  That way, I can manage the expectations of the caller rather than leaving them wondering when/if I will be calling them back.

Edit:  I just thought of another two great uses!  Now, I can print out the transcipt of a voicemail message for my files.  Also, I can save every email I receive and have a permanent record of that voice recording.  With the $19.95/mo. plan, VoiceCloud will save your messages as long as you like...but I also like the idea of having them in my Outlook forever!  As we all know, maintaing thorough and complete records in real estate is a very important thing!

Finally, VoiceCloud lets you search your messages by text strings on their site, so if somebody says "I left you three voice mails" and I know they actually haven't...I can now prove it to myself so I won't beat myself over it! :)