VOIP -- good techonology/good comic relief!

So, most of you know we have a telephone number through a voice-over internet provider (VOIP ) -- which means, our phone line is run through the internet. Brian could probably tell you the technical details, but all I know is that when the internet works, our phone works; when it doesn't work, our phone doesn't work either. Most of the time it works, and works well, thankfully!

We started using a VOIP line when we lived in London. This gave our family and friends a US number to call, so they didn't have to worry about international phone rates. It worked well enough that we've kept it this whole time since then. (Let's all knock on wood that it continues to work well.) When you stop to think about it, it's actually pretty amazing, the things we can do with technology, right?

Well, a few months ago, our VOIP provider offered us a new additional service that we thought would be pretty cool... When someone leaves us a message on our voicemail, our VOIP service automatically transcribes it into an email and sends it to us, so we can READ our messages when we check emails. (I know, it would be even more cool if we actually used smart phones and could read our voicemail throughout the day as we walked around glued to our phone like most everyone else... keep persuading us, maybe we'll get there someday.)

Anyway, the transcribing-to-email idea is pretty cool, but well... sometimes it's pretty obvious the VOIP provider is making a guess in the dark at some of the things our callers actually MEANT to say to us. It's provided some great comic relief for us from time to time. I usually delete them after having a little laugh. But this one from today was just so funny I thought I'd share, in case anyone else needs a little humor right now...

Actual voicemail message I heard on the phone: (about the upcoming election)
I'm a volunteer calling on behalf of the Travis Manning campaign. As you know, tomorrow is election day. I'm really excited to support Travis. He is running as a conservative Democrat for the Idaho Caldwell seat eight. As a teacher at the Vallivue High School he wants what's best for students. He also wants ethical leaders in government and a stronger economy. Please check out his website at votetravismanning.com.

VOIP TRANSCRIPTION on email:
"I don't want you calling on behalf of the truck man I just complete. As you know tomorrow is election day. I'm really excited but Travis is trying to compare with the Democrat. I called seek and eight. As a teacher at the lot of the high school. She wants one starts for students. So if you want to at the Cooley, listen Carmen it's to calling. Please check out she's upset and so it's roslyn.com." 


So... if you wonder where I'll be tomorrow, I'll be down at the "Cooley," listening to "Carmen" since "she's upset!" ha!!
Happy elections, ya'll! Here's one pic we saw in Santa Fe, appealing to the Spanish vote, ha!