Blog

Mobile Mashup - Create scheduled reminders with your voice using Jott and PingMe

Posted: Aug 20, 2007 by Stephen Lombardo Tagged pingme

How would you like to be able to “call in” a PingMe reminder over the phone?

Mike, a PingMe user, writes on his MyTechTalk blog

I think the folks at Jott and the folks at PingMe should join forces to create a stellar service. Jott’s voice to email technology could be modified by PingMe to quickly create reminders when I’m driving in my car and not in front of my computer.

Basically, Jott is a really useful mobile transcription service offering “mobile note taking and hands-free messaging”. Sign up and you can call their 800 number and speak a message that will be converted to written text and sent out by email. PingMe is a mobile service that sends out scheduled reminders to your cell phone and email on a defined schedule. Together, they are unstoppable.

We agreed it would be amazingly useful to phone in Pings while driving or just to save our fingers from typing an SMS message. Thus, we spent a little time coding up the back-end, and the PingMe / Jott mashup was born!

Start by going to http://www.jott.com to sign up. Do it now, don’t wait, because their service rocks. Follow the instructions on their site to activate your account. Then go into the contacts tab and add your PingMe address. (you can find your PingMe address in the welcome email we sent you, or on your profile page in PingMe).

We suggest you call the contact “GoPingMe”, so it’s sufficiently different than the default “Me” moniker that Jott uses for “note to self” type messages.

Then comes the fun part. Add Jott’s toll free number to your speed dial. Call up the Jott number. They say..

Who’d you want to Jott?

You say…

GoPingMe

They say…

BEEP

You speak…

Two days, hour eight, call and wish mom a happy birthday

Wait a few minutes, and voila, you’ve got a brand new Ping that will be sent to your mobile phone and email targets in two days at eight o’clock AM.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Before trying to create a Ping using Jott you should check out our help entry on mobile creation that describes the way PingMe time codes work. It explains why you’d say “2 days, hour eight” instead of “09/01/07 at 8:00am”. You should also read our recent post on Using time codes to create Pings for even more details.

Let us know what you think!


  • Saturday, May 10, 2008

    Mike McGinley says:

    That's phenomenonal! Thank you so much. You just increased the usability of both services exponentially! Now I'll need to come up with a new wish list for you to work on....

  • Saturday, May 10, 2008

    Jeff says:

    Seriously! I've seen a few Jott integrations and the Jott/PingMe combo is simple, yet so useful! Thanks PingMe and jott for being awesome!!!

  • Saturday, May 10, 2008

    Jeff says:

    Seriously! I've seen a few Jott integrations and the Jott/PingMe combo is simple, yet so useful! Thanks PingMe and jott for being awesome!!!

  • Saturday, May 10, 2008

    Beau Mac says:

    Good lord. This is so awesome it brings a tear to my eye. Seriously. Thank you guys so, so much. I hate talking to people. Clear, concise communication without human interaction? I couldn't ask for me.

  • Saturday, May 10, 2008

    danielo says:

    I love the idea, but I need a "lingo chart."<p><br>

    I sent this message: "Today, 12:30pm, call Jennifer." PingMe didn't recognize the message. I've sent another saying "Today, Hour 2 pm, Call Jennifer," and I'll see if that works.<p>

    I don't want to have to experiment with every single element of a message to discover the correct lingo -- why not just publish a list of such?<p>

    For example, how do I say 2:30pm?<p>

    "Hour 2 pm Minute 30"?<br>
    "Hour 14 Minute 30"?<br>
    "Hour 2 pm 30"?<br>
    "Hour 2 30 pm"?<p>

    Can I only say "Two days," or can I say an actual date? If so, what format must I say the date in for it to be recognized? Can I say "Next Wednesday?" Can I say "Every third Friday?"

  • Saturday, May 10, 2008

    Stephen says:

    <p>@danielo - Thanks for your feedback on PingMe. I'd suggest that you take a look in our <a href="http://www.gopingme.com/help#pings_on_the_go">help section</a> to learn more about PingMe's time codes, find <a href="http://www.gopingme.com/help#supported_intervals">the "lingo" chart you requested</a>, and read about how to create Pings. Most of the samples you've tried above are not valid PingMe syntax, which is why they aren't working for you.</p>

    <p>You might also find this post on <a href="http://www.zetetic.net/articles/2007/08/29/using-time-codes-to-create-pings">Using time codes to create Pings</a> interesting because it explains why we made PingMe time codes work the way they do today.</a>

  • Saturday, May 10, 2008

    Jeff says:

    Wow...this Jott/PingMe combo has been the talk for the past week or so! I knew Jott was going to hit it big! I've been a jotter for quite sometime and then...there were already a few integrations. Now BAM! RTM, Vitalist, Twitter, Live Journal, and now PingMe! Not to mention the little personal mash ups people have been talking about. You can't get any better with a free app! OR can you?? :)

  • Saturday, May 10, 2008

    Ken says:

    I must compliment you on a great marriage with Jott. You are the cutting edge!

    I had to change my Jott name to "Message Me" as it could not understand Gopingme.

    HOWEVER, I am still having trouble getting your time lingo to work (yes i have read and re-read the chart).

    I have been testing it while sitting at my desk and reading from a prepared script, but to no avail. Jott is getting my message but my phone is not!

  • Saturday, May 10, 2008

    Jeff says:

    Ken... I'm not sure if you are still having the same frustrations, but if so...try out Jott's new reminder services. And I'm sure you've gotten an email about the other new services. Jott links has to be one of the best things for jott...seriously. Especially that Zillow link...real estate has to be catching on to this one. WoW Jott. Thanks!

  • Saturday, May 10, 2008

    Bernard says:

    You've got to remove those spam trackbacks. They make it hard to find the comments.

    I'm really starting to like Jott.com and now I get to check out PingMe as well. I wonder how much better it is than the Reminder facility in Jott? From Ken's comment it sounds as if Reminder trumps PingMe.

  • Saturday, May 10, 2008

    Billy Gray says:

    <p>@Bernard:</p>

    <p>Jott's reminder service is an obvious addition for them, but it's not nearly as flexible as PingMe, IMNSHO (I'm a PingMe developer). </p>

    <p>Sending a reminder to someone is no particularly hard task, but implementing a system that allows for scheduling reminders and updating other reminders on the fly is the trick. Jott is a great transcription service, but it's not a great dedicated reminder service for keeping track of the things you need to get done.</p>

    <p>When you get a reminder from PingMe you can simply write back '1h' or '1d' to reschedule it for another time. PingMe takes into account that most of our plans are always subject to change, and that when we get our reminders, we're often not ready for them.</p>

    <p>The other huge difference between PingMe and Jott's reminder add-on is that reminders with PingMe are collaborative, they're just the sort of thing to make sure everyone in a team of people gets a message about some item that needs to be acted on.</p>

    <p>Anyway, Bernard, I encourage you to give both services a shot and see what you think. I think that if you're looking to really stay on top of things, PingMe is where you'd want to go. If you're looking for a no-frills, casual reminder, then maybe Jott's reminder add-on is for you.</p>

    <p>Cheers,<br />
    Billy</p>

  • Saturday, May 10, 2008

    Billy Gray says:

    @Ken: Your trouble with your phone might not be our integration with Jott, but how you've got your mobile target configured in PingMe. Not everybody gets it right the first time. Send an email to support@gopingme.com if you'd like us to take a look at your account and help you out.

  • Saturday, May 10, 2008

    proxy site says:

    ...Wow...this Jott/PingMe combo has been the talk for the past week or so! I knew Jott was going to hit it big! I've been a jotter for quite sometime and then...there were already a few integrations. Now BAM! RTM, Vitalist, Twitter, Live Journal, and now PingMe! Not to mention the little personal mash ups people have been talking about. You can't get any better with a free app! OR can you?? :)..

  • Saturday, May 10, 2008

    dave says:

    I think this is an awesome idea, but I can't get it to send to my cell phone. It sends to my email fine. I think i set it up right. any ideas?

  • Saturday, May 10, 2008

    anonymous proxy says:

    []Good lord. This is so awesome it brings a tear to my eye. Seriously. Thank you guys so, so much. I hate talking to people. Clear, concise communication without human interaction? I couldn't ask for me.[]

  • Saturday, May 10, 2008

    automotive repair manual says:

    You've got to empty out those spam trackbacks. They strike out it assiduous to catching the comments. I'm extraordinarily starting to like Jott.com and now I get to assort with out PingMe as well. I skepticismful thing how much better it is than the Reminder barbershop in Jott? From Ken's comment it sounds as if Reminder trumps PingMe.

  • Saturday, May 10, 2008

    Golf cart says:

    The other huge difference between PingMe and Jott's reminder add-on is that reminders with PingMe are collaborative, they're just the sort of thing to make sure everyone in a team of people gets a message about some item that needs to be acted on.

  • Saturday, May 10, 2008

    Atlanta Real Estate says:

    Jott's reminder service is an obvious addition to me as well. Do you think Jott's reminder service is better than all of the others like PimgMe?

  • Wednesday, March 25, 2009

    Miami Houses, Atlanta Houses says:

    This is so awesome it brings a tear to my eye. Seriously. Thank you guys so, so much. I hate talking to people. Clear, concise communication without human interaction?

  • Wednesday, February 03, 2010

    Woodstock real estate says:

    I have been using ping me for years with great success. I have never tried Jott’s though.

Add a comment