Cox Communications has launched a service across its entire footprint that transcribes Digital Telephone customers' voicemails into text messages so they can be accessed from mobile devices, using speech-to-text technology from Nuance Communications.
To turn on Readable Voice Mail, Cox subscribers must log into the "Phone Tools" section of the MSO's website and change their voicemail notification options. Users can choose to receive only a text message, only the original voicemail (as a .wav file) or both.
According to the operator, the transcribed text is expected to be about 85% accurate, which means eight words out of every 10 should be correctly translated.
"Now, you can check your voicemail messages on your home telephone handset, by email or on your mobile device with Cox Mobile Connect," Cox vice president of product development and management Philip Nutsugah.
The Readable Voice Mail service works only with English and Spanish and transcribes the first 90 seconds of a voicemail message. According to Cox, the system "filters out most profanity based on a standard list of items."
Other providers offering a similar service include Comcast, which lets Xfinity Voice customers opt to receive transcribed voicemail messages via e-mail.
