[Rocketfan]

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - Alltel Corp. is unveiling a new feature that uses voice-recognition software to allow wireless phone customers to read their voicemail messages as text messages.

Monthly fees for the Voice2TXT service start at $4.99, and users will still have the option to listen to the messages.

"It'll appeal to a broad customer base ... people who are in meetings quite regularly and can't take a phone call — it's very useful in those settings," said Wade McGill, Alltel's senior vice president of product management.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071217/ap_ ... Q220EjtBAF

[TIMSCAR20]

I have this feature at my job. Our phones are voice over IP (VOIP). I can also listen to my emails I think but I am not sure.

[flamesbball84]

I have this feature at my job. Our phones are voice over IP (VOIP). I can also listen to my emails I think but I am not sure.

I "don\'t know jack" about VOIP, but if the business\' internet goes down, does the phone service not work until the internet comes back online?

[El Scorcho]

I have this feature at my job. Our phones are voice over IP (VOIP). I can also listen to my emails I think but I am not sure.

I "don\'t know jack" about VOIP, but if the business\' internet goes down, does the phone service not work until the internet comes back online?

No, Internet connectivity does not affect VoIP unless you're routing your outbound calls to some external Internet-based VOIP service, or if you're using a software VoIP application and VPN to connect back to your VoIP PBX over the Internet. VoIP services typically operate on a company's internal network and are then connected to the phone trunks on site.

[flamesbball84]

so does it work the same for a home user too then?

[El Scorcho]

No. Home users and businesses use VoIP in totally different ways. At home you are totally dependent on the Internet if you use VoIP because your calls are being routed over the Internet to a PBX somewhere else in the world. In a business the calls are usually just being routed over a LAN to a PBX somewhere else in the same building.

Now, having said that, some businesses may choose to route VoIP traffic from branch offices over the Internet, which would change things a bit. Most, however, will use a dedicated line for such things.