The Internet: Online voice-mail services

“Weeding through voice-mail can be deeply tedious.” Two new sites offer faster ways to get the message.

Grandcentral.com is a “free and feature-filled” service from Google that lets you view voice messages as if they were e-mails. Listen to them via the Web interface, sort them in any order you like, and save them forever, if you prefer. You can also block phone numbers, route calls to multiple phones, and even “listen in live as callers leave messages.”

Callwave.com may be the “fastest way” yet to check voice messages. For $15 to $50 a month, it will send text messages or e-mails containing either summaries or entire transcripts of callers’ messages. The service can quickly become costly, however, since it “relies on your phone’s call-forwarding feature” and thus may incur charges from your provider.

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Source: Popular Mechanics