However, some folks would rather not give out a new phone number to people, and we here at VoxOx are cool with that. So, our trusted tech guys gave it some thought and found a way for you to keep your existing cell phone number and still be able to use some of the cool VoxOx perks. It works by forwarding your cell phone to VoxOx through a special set of instructions (provided below). Doing so will enable you to:

• Screen the call through the VoxOx Personal Assistant, which will ask the caller’s name
• Send the caller to voicemail, and let you Eavesdrop™ on the message as its being left – you can pick up at any time, just like those retro answering machines from the 90s!
• Record the call on-demand (*1 to start/stop recording), transfer the call to another phone (*2), and start a conference call with up to 20 people! (press *3 to add friends to your call)
• Use VoxOx voicemail, which lets you access your phone messages both via phone and online – this one’s good for folks who misplace their cell phone regularly and need to access their voicemails

Sold yet? Check out the instructions below, and remember, this is for VoxOx power users!

Instructions: How to forward your existing cell phone number to VoxOx

The instructions are a little tricky, but they work! We tried this with our CEO who has AT&T and he loves it.

(1)      Prep your VoxOx phone settings in the VoxOx client:

• Go to the General tab in Phone Settings (Tools -> Settings -> Phone -> General) and enter your name:

• Go to Tools -> Settings  -> Phone  -> Find Me. You will see your VoxOx number entered, so just enter your cell phone number after it and make sure both numbers are check-marked
• Set the number of seconds you want your VoxOx account to ring on your desktop (suggested: 1-2 seconds)
• Set the number of seconds you’d like your cell phone to ring before going to voicemail
• Where it says “Find Me”, check-mark “ring my numbers in order”:

(2) Forward your cell phone number to VoxOx:

This part is slightly different with every mobile carrier, but fairly simple to do and undo.  Below are the basic instructions, but if you have any specific questions, contact your cell phone carrier.

• With AT&T, you can forward your cell phone number with the following command:

On your cell phone, dial *004*1YOURVOXOXNUMBER*11*10# and press send.  For example: *004*13335554444*11*10#

To undo, dial ##004# on your cell phone and press send. 

• With V erizon, dial *71YOURVOXOXNUMBER on your cell and press send (Example: *713335554444); To undo, dial *73 and press send. 
• With Sprint, dial *28YOURVOXOXNUMBER on your cell and press send (Example: *283335554444); To undo, dial *38 and press send. 
• With T -Mobile, dial *004*1YOURVOXOXNUMBER# on your cell and press send (Example: *004*13335554444#); To undo, dial ##004# and press send. Note: From our research, T -Mobile seems to allow only 500 minutes of call forwarding before they charge you a fee. 

(3) THE TRICKY PART: What to do when someone calls you

You’ve followed the above instructions. Now, anytime someone calls your cell phone number, you will first hear a couple of rings on your mobile – don’t pick up. The ringing will pause for several seconds (to you it will look like you missed a call, but don’t panic, the phone will ring again). When the ringing resumes, this means that VoxOx has kicked in, so pick up and have some VoxOx fun!  As mentioned above, you can screen calls, “Eavesdrop,” record conversations, transfer your call on-the-fly, and more.

(4) Checking your voicemails

Once you’ve forwarded your mobile phone number to VoxOx, all your voicemails will now be stored in VoxOx. They are accessible online and via phone. You will be notified by text message when you have a new voicemail. Go to Notifications in (Tools -> Settings -> Notifications) and make sure that your voicemail notifications by email and text are check marked.

If you want to retrieve messages via phone, set up your 4 digit pin code (Tools -> Settings -> Phone -> Voicemail). Once you’re set up, you can call your VoxOx number anytime and press *PIN# (ex. *5555#) and you’ll get various options, including voicemail.

So there you go!  Just another way that VoxOx works hard for our loyal users. Try it and comment to let us know what you think.

Natasha Grach is a PR pro by day and singer by night -- when not telling the world about VoxOx, she can be found on stage at some of San Diego’s favorite musical theater venues. She is also a travel junkie. Her favorite countries include Turkey, Israel, Spain, UK, Italy, Russia, Lithuania. She’ll be using VoxOx SMS CallBack on her next trip around the globe!

follow natasha.grach twitter.com/natashagrach

follow VoxOx twitter.com/voxox

The video includes how to:

• Make and receive calls
• Text
• Set up your VoxOx Personal Assistant
• IM
• Email
• Share files (up to 100 MB!)
• Fax
• Use the VoxOx Universal Translator
• And more!

Become a VoxOx expert with our video tutorial!

Natasha Grach is a PR pro by day and singer by night -- when not telling the world about VoxOx, she can be found on stage at some of San Diego’s favorite musical theater venues. She is also a travel junkie. Her favorite countries include Turkey, Israel, Spain, UK, Italy, Russia, Lithuania. She’ll be using VoxOx SMS CallBack on her next trip around the globe!

follow natasha.grach twitter.com/natashagrach

follow VoxOx twitter.com/voxox

After diving into the service pretty extensively over the past few weeks, I wanted to present my list of the top five ways the VoxOx PA can help you be more productive in your business and personal life.

1. Screen Your Calls — One of the best things about the PA is having someone answer and screen your calls — not unlike a real secretary. When someone calls my VoxOx number, my personal assistant will answer the call and politely ask the person to identify themselves. She (yes, she is a she, although you can choose a male personal assistant) will then let me know who is calling. I can then either answer the call or send it to voicemail (I can also listen in on the voicemail and pick it up, but I’ll save that for another post). Not only does this make me feel important (!), it forces people with blocked numbers to identify themselves. Knowing who is calling each time makes me more productive. Really cool.
2. Faxing — I admit I don’t send a lot of faxes, but when that occasion occurs — usually some sort of document signing — I sure don’t feel like paying companies like eFax $17 a month for an account, and then 10 cents per page (for outbound). Through the VoxOx Personal Assistant, all inbound faxes are free and all outbound faxes correspond with regular VoxOx calling rates (about a penny a minute in the US). This aspect of the PA can save you a lot of money each month.
3. Outbound Conference Calling — It’s cool that you can use the personal assistant to make outbound conference calls from your softphone (on your desktop), but the new version of the VoxOx PA enables you to do so remotely from your cell phone. When you are on a mobile call and want to bridge other people in, just hit *3 to access your personal assistant. Enter in up to 20 numbers and the PA will call everyone, and then bridge them into the call. So no matter where you are, you can have an on-the-fly conference call. That’s productivity — at extremely low rates. Click here to access a user guide for the PA.
4. Changing Your Find Me Settings Remotely — Say what? This doesn’t sound very exciting. Oh, but it is. One of the features the VoxOx PA offers is the ability to “find you” wherever you are. That means calling you sequentially on your mobile, your office, your home phone or any other number you program in (she will also ring all your phone simultaneously). But what happens when you are traveling overseas and don’t have access to a computer? No problem, just call into your personal assistant and add the number of your pre-paid SIM card or mobile phone to your Find Me list and you are good to go. People calling you won’t necessarily know you are overseas, and you don’t have to worry about giving them a new temporary number.
5. Call Recording — Using your personal assistant, you can easily record a conversation. For example, let’s say you are talking to a customer or a friend about something important. You just hit *1 to start recording a call. The PA will let you know that call recording has begun, but the caller on the other end will have no idea (so it’s up to you to tell them if so inclined). Hit *1 to stop the recording and a sound file of the conversation will automatically be sent to your email address. Depending on the conversation, this can be hugely productive and alleviate the need for taking notes.

There you have it — five ways the VoxOx Personal Assistant can make you more productive. I’d love to hear what you think are the best or most productive PA features.

Until next time!

Erik Bratt is the master of his domain and the head of communications for TelCentris, the creator of VoxOx. He loves Quentin Tarantino movies, dabbling with the electric bass, and fiddling with the text-to-speech functionality on the VoxOx Personal Assistant.

follow erik.bratt twitter.com/erikbratt

follow VoxOx twitter.com/voxox

A small contingent from VoxOx attended the four-day event in Las Vegas last week, meeting with press, analysts and other parties to show off the second version of our VoxOx Personal Assistant, a productivity tool that helps you better manage your voice communications. Think Google Voice, but richer and more robust. The enhanced version adds remote access functionality, which is key because it takes VoxOx off the desktop and allows you to access your personal assistant from any mobile phone (read the release).

The show was big success. And now that we’ve recovered (on sleep at least; my wallet is still way too light after hitting the craps tables), I wanted to share some of our experiences, including select press coverage and random photos I took with my iPhone.

Select coverage:

• CNET: “CES: New VoxOx Features Help Even Old Cell Phones”
• PCMag: “VoxOx Universal Communicator Adds Personal Assistant”
• eWeek: “VoxOx Sprinkles Remote Access into Google Voice, Ribbit Rival”
• LA Times: “CES: Here’s What Wasn’t on the Show Floor”
• Enterprise VoIP Planet: “VoxOx Upgrade Brings Enhanced Remote Functionality”

Select photos of the show:

Arriving at CES: Outside one of the smaller entrances at the Las Vegas Convention Center.

Is This a Rave, or a Trade Show? In front of the Intel booth.

Got to See it to Believe it. CTO Kevin Hertz gives a press briefing.

Flying Thing You Control With Your iPhone: The epitome of gadget at CES, this expensive toy packed crowds all day long at CESc

Massaged to Sleep? I tried to get into one of these bad boys, but the line was too long.

Alright, there you have it. Our week at CES. If you haven’t already, be sure to download the latest version of VoxOx.

‘Til next time!

Erik Bratt is the master of his domain and the head of communications for TelCentris, the creator of VoxOx. He loves Quentin Tarantino movies, dabbling with the electric bass, and fiddling with the text-to-speech functionality on the VoxOx Personal Assistant.

follow erik.bratt twitter.com/erikbratt

follow VoxOx twitter.com/voxox