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BrainCast Beta - Free Internet & Phone Based Memo Recording & Organization
prweb.com — There is a need for a simple and reliable method to record and transfer personal audio ings to the PC. BrainCast satisfies that need by automating the whole process while at the same time providing users with powerful organizational tools for their messages, all free of charge. This is the perfect on-the-go organizational tool....
jmazzi- 252 diggs
- digg it
- jmazzi, on 10/12/2007, -3/+5Direct link to BrainCast: http://braincast.viatalk.com
- hrbrendan, on 10/12/2007, -8/+1what a fantastic looking product!! ;)
- crawfishsoul, on 10/12/2007, -3/+4Why do most of the comments here so far stink of Digg spamming?
- scooterMX, on 10/12/2007, -4/+3Spamming - good call. I checked those account names, and almost all of them were created today...
dickwads.
Reported as Spam - AJDigg, on 10/12/2007, -5/+1It's apparent you don't realize that BrainCast just went into Beta and has invited tons of users to test it out publicly. Of course many beta users just signed up to review it and talk about it like myself.
- crawfishsoul, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3It's apparent you're full of *****. Go review somewhere else. If the program is/was good enough for Digg's real attention, it would have made it here on it's own and your company wouldn't look like a bunch of spamming asses right now.
- Coopjust, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3scootermx:
HRbrendan = HostRocket Brendan
Braincast is owned by Viatalk (VOIP). Viatalk is owned by HostRocket, my hosting company.
Jmazzi = Justin Mazzi, a member of HostRocket support.
It does seem to be a cool service, they emailed me about it. I have an invite; it works well. - Ascendant, on 10/12/2007, -1/+7Well, my digg account isn't new, but I'm signing up for this because it looks pretty sweet.
Also, as a side effect of asking people to digg their site (which many, many sites do…) they’ve expanded the digg community… that’s a good thing. Be nice to the newbs! - scooterMX, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3umm.. I don't blame them for trying, getting your 15 minutes with a new productivity app is hard these days, so Digg is a natural. But when AJDigg writes bad marketing copy like this:
"I like the idea of Braincast because it's so simple yet so functional and it brings together memo-ing and voicemail. If it starts out being this good, then I can't even imagine how nice it will be out of beta."
That's just spam, something that Digg has a policy against.
Plus, from a marketing perspective it creates controversy regarding the business tactics, which is NOT where you want any potential new customers to be spending their time.
The better way, it seems, it to pre-spam if you will.. Get some Diggsters interested, get the app legitimately reviewed, with ACTUAL feedback, and then lets see if it floats on Digg... - AJDigg, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0Sorry if I word my paragraphs well and use words wisely.
Is there some way to change my review to "dis app so coo" or "THIS IS AWESOME"? I guess I just prefer stating my opinions differently than that.
I agree with you in saying "lets see if it floats on Digg..." - IceZone, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1ScooterMX if you want to bash new people here and new articles you should not use digg......these people sound excited because of the new made program braincast, who cares how they word what they write? I see post after post of your criticism, not of the service, but of the posters. Why is it your goal to so much see the new people saying good things look bad? Do you work for a rival free service that does the same thing?? OMG conspiracy!?
- lorax727, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1I just signed up. This is really cool. I can see using this a lot.
- shoesinmouth, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1an excellent service...very cool
- AJDigg, on 10/12/2007, -3/+1This is an amazing service, I can't believe it's free!!
- tauzinger, on 10/12/2007, -3/+1So easy, a cave man can use it!
- jaycrew1, on 10/12/2007, -3/+1very cool!! can't wait to try it!
- sbradshaw, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1This is a great service and a must-have for those on the go! If you have ever been driving and all-of-sudden think of something that you need to remember later - but have no way of writing it down - no worries. Just call the toll-free number for BrainCast and leave a detailed message for yourself. You can retrieve your recorded message in the web-based interface later, attached written notes to the messages, and organize the messages for future reference. It couldn't be easier. Thanks ViaTalk!
- jzp-digg, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1while spammy, this at least tells you something about the system. why on earth is there no faq or info on the damn site? wants me to give phone numbers tied to email addresses? advertising targets and epending - no thanks.
- sbradshaw, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1jzp-digg - There are no FAQs on the site because this is the first run of the beta service. This initial beta was just released. One of the developers said the list of requests for improving this service is increasing daily. Can't expect too much at this stage of the service. All ViaTalk gets out of this service is name recognition, which I'm sure will help in their VOIP business. What we get is a free service.
As for the phone numbers you need to enter in. A phone number is required to determine who's account to send the recorded message to. Everyone who signs up does not get their own 800 number to call into. We all call the same 800 number and the service determines which account to send messages to based on the incoming phone number you entered into your account preferences. If you want to only call from your home phone number, then you only need to enter that in. If you also want to call in from your work number, then you can enter that in as well (up to 3 phone numbers).
The e-mail addresses are not required. But you can enter one in for each phone number if you want an e-mail notification to be sent to you that a message has arrived. Each e-mail notification text box corresponds directly to the phone number listed above it. So I could have messages called in from my home phone notified to my wife's e-mail address and messages called in from my cell phone notified to my e-mail address. Make sense?
Anyways, I found myself using it a couple times on my commute home last night. Works great even though it's an initial beta. With all the changes I have already heard they are going to implement, it is only going to get better. And it is still going to be free. :) - jzp-digg, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1sbradshaw:
> jzp-digg - There are no FAQs on the site because this is the first run of the
> beta service. This initial beta was just released. One of the developers said
> the list of requests for improving this service is increasing daily.
Wrong. Simply usability testing, or even polling all those alpha users. Hell, if
it is too hard to think of "how do i use this" on your own, you sit someone down
in front of it and find out what they need to know to use it; offer no info and
record every question FFS. Extremely simple product development basics.
And yes, I registered and toyed with it. Lo and behold, they announced a FAQ
to all registered users on 8 Nov.
> All ViaTalk gets out of this service is name recognition, which I'm sure will
> help in their VOIP business. What we get is a free service.
I know nothing of their economic models; who knows if they need inbound calls
from some mobile operators for PSTN agreements? Or maybe this is an attempt
to stress-test some other part of their "real business" and being used as a loss
leader? I don't care - something very early for which constructive criticism is
offered doesn't need "defending", it needs to reflect on the criticism and use it.
> As for the phone numbers you need to enter in. A phone number is required
> to determine who's account to send the recorded message to.
Routing call by ANI. If you add any interesting features, expect to see one of
the numbers be shared between friends who either freak and leave each other
mesgs.
> then you can enter that in as well (up to 3 phone numbers).
One of my unanswered support questions: why only three? Anyone with a reasonable
home office setup and a 'real' office who really likes your services will have to pick
and choose.
> Anyways, I found myself using it a couple times on my commute home last night.
> Works great even though it's an initial beta. With all the changes I have already
> heard they are going to implement, it is only going to get better. And it is still
> going to be free. :)
So far, I found it interesting but not compelling. I had to do some long-distance
driving so did trial it and had a few issues. Several unanswered support requests
means I'm not jumping to use it. And free != good, so touting that as a selling point
is a non-starter.
- jzp-digg, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1while spammy, this at least tells you something about the system. why on earth is there no faq or info on the damn site? wants me to give phone numbers tied to email addresses? advertising targets and epending - no thanks.
- celeb, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2Ahh, I've met this guy. He also owns Hostrocket.com
- ahawks, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6I am thinking of signing up... but not sure it's really that great.
I can already record voice memos on my cell phone. Or my own voice mail.
The problem with ANY voice recording system for memos, is that it's not searchable, or even quickly scanable. What these things need is voice recognition, so what gets emailed to you is the *transcript* of the recording, along with the audio.- AJDigg, on 10/12/2007, -4/+0I don't know about your cell phone but memo's on the ones I have tried are very hard to navigate, organize, and overall annoying to use with any frequency. I like the idea of Braincast because it's so simple yet so functional and it brings together memo-ing and voicemail. If it starts out being this good, then I can't even imagine how nice it will be out of beta. I am using this exclusively right now with some other team leaders in an interstate project and we all like it quite a bit.
- ahawks, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2I'd just like to point out AJDigg there (^^^^), apparently signed up today just to digg this article, and make it his #1.
Actually, *most* of the people who dugg this are brand spanking new.
Sounds like someone is gaming digg again... - AJDigg, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1Is there something wrong with adding to the community, starting Digg off with one article from a new service I was invited to use, and being a new user? Looking at your comments on this thread nothing you have done here has been anything but bash the comments placed and point out the fact everyone knows that many new users of Digg have came from the ViaTalk/BrainCast community. Does that invalidate the 100+ diggs? Does that make any positive points about the service mean nothing? Hardly. If the service sucks, it will be dug down, if not it will be up here for 5 billion years. Who knows, I thought this was the point of Digg from what I've read. Stop adding useless comments, you haven't even tried the service.
- ahawks, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2@AJDigg,
Sorry if I come off as bashing you, if you are really new to digg and this is the first article you came across, then that's just a misunderstanding.
There is a problem in the digg system, where there are groups of users who digg each other's postings to get the to the front page. This is usually referred to as gaming digg. Since I noticed you have only dugg this one article, I assumed your account is a front, a fake, just used to bump someone else's submissions to the front page. - AJDigg, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1Yes, I am very new to Digg and that is the only crime I have committed so to speak. I dugg this because I use it, like it, and even want to let others know about its usefulness for being FREE. This is not some service that costs money and makes a company rich. It's new, it's free, and it's fun. Oh, and I don't know when you've checked my duggs, maybe when I made the account, but I've spent all day browsing Digg now and have read/dugg many articles I liked. I actually think this site is pretty useful and wouldn't mind dugging an article on digg too!
- tauzinger, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Voice recognition to text/email would be *GREAT*, I just didn't expect it from a free beta service that is barely a few days old, but it never hurts to ask. Foreign accents/languages would be a plus ;-)
- BriBabe4040, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0Don't fret about users like ahawks AJDigg, there'll always be crazies on places like this. I think it's great you enjoy the new service and it really sounds nifty. I'm gonna try it out because of all the positive feedback on here and ignore the only spam on this article - the negatives who are talking about spam! Get a life boys, who spams for a free service.
- Dested, on 10/12/2007, -2/+4=/ I think their phone system has been *****.
- Diggerr, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4A bunch of glowing comments by mostly new users or users that have submitted other stories related to viatalk. hrbrendan is the owner of ViaTalk too. Marked as spam.
- hrbrendan, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2I didnt realize it was against the rules to dig something related to my own company. If it is I apologize. My comment was meant as a joke.. hence the wink.
- EricAnderton, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4"There is a need for a simple and reliable method to record and transfer personal audio ings to the PC"
Uh, no. No there isn't. This is kind of like the notion of a "self-help book" - if you have it together enough to get the service and the tools to interface with it, you probably don't need the service in the first place.
It's a neat idea, but I can't imagine this being useful unless I'm disabled, have a great idea for a song*, or have a cellphone but no pen/paper to write with.
(*even then, I'd probably likely have something that can record on the spot so I can get nifty sound samples wherever I am.)- tauzinger, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0Commute, lunch, grocery store ... all places where you can use the cell phone to jot down ideas. Also, I get my best ideas in the shower, but the note paper always gets wet, ... well that's a stretch ;-)
- jsowder18, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3This service is neato ...
go toss some salads u damn spammers, I'm not even gonna bother to click on the link
someone should just let a product do the speaking for them... - haggie, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2Next up from the inventors of BrainCast its the remarkable Fish Bicycle! Yes, that's right, a bicycle for fish!
Kudos for inventing a simple service that no one wants or needs and definitely wouldn't pay to use!- SchoJose, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2dude, its free
- crawfishsoul, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3I could give away free dog *****, doesn't mean anyone wants it.
- mynameisregex, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2But until you tried it, you'd never know.
Dog ***** is actually pretty good fertilizer, and it just so happens that I'm trying to spruce up my lawn before winter... - SchoJose, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1just because you think its dog ***** and are too stubborn to even try it, doesn't mean its useless for the rest of the world too, some people, like viatalk customers, think its a great idea. so go take some midol
- aximeverything, on 10/12/2007, -3/+1Very Sweet Service :) In reply to this moron:
scooterMX 2 minutes ago Block/Report this User
[comment buried, show commenthide comment] + 1 digg bury this digg this
Spamming - good call. I checked those account names, and almost all of them were created today...
dickwads.
The CEO was nice enough to PM people from DSLR and ask people to DIGG this story if they found his service useful. Most people do not know about DIGG or if they do like me.
Do not have an account because they never DUG anything before. Think before you speak!
Reported as Spam- scooterMX, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Okay, going with your 'nice enough' approach, it would have been 'nicer' if their CEO (as you suggest) were to have surveyed the landscape a little before dumping a blog link on it.
I'm not saying that they are evil, just spammers fer chrissake.
And their app is an interesting little niche product, and will probably find a nice audience. It has high redundancy and low automation, so as a productivity application they could have waited for some of the other ideas mentioned here, like voice recognition, auto tagging/organization, better relationships between the number and email accounts (like rollovers, one to manys, etc.)
And most of all, how about a clearly stated privacy policy that tells me that they aren't farming phone numbers and email addresses? Nowhere in their registration process is it shown, and it's not even there after you sign up. It makes ya wonder... - tauzinger, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1From the BrainCast website:
" * BrainCast does not now and will not in the future share these or any email addresses for marketing or any other purpose."
P.S.: All the posts and digs of BrainCast users are 100% in compliance with the Digg "Terms of use", as far as I can see. If there are any unwritten rules that have been violated, then maybe now would be a good time to start writing them down.
- scooterMX, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Okay, going with your 'nice enough' approach, it would have been 'nicer' if their CEO (as you suggest) were to have surveyed the landscape a little before dumping a blog link on it.
- daleeburg, on 10/12/2007, -3/+0Really this is just an extension of the other front page digg article, but it is still a really cool and good service and best of all, it is FREE
- diskgrinder, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2where can i get some of they "audio ings", I got some oral ings, some Simon Ings and Ingslish Bull Terrorist already. Maybe some spam ings on the digg ings.
- hrbrendan, on 10/12/2007, -3/+2We have the wonderful editors at PRWeb to thank for that one. At least they credited back the cost of the press release but I'd prefer they not screwed it up in the first place.
- ahawks, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2Why is everyone burrying hrbrendan? He's the owner of BrainCast, right?
Therefore, his voice would be the closest to the source of this product as you can get. I would think anything he puts in the comments here (that is useful, anyway), should be dugg.
(At the time of this comment, his post above me is -1)
- jtablerd, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1is support email the same as bug report?
Love the concept of the product, but can't get it to work (even though it seems remarkably simple).... - rsayers, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Only allows US based numbers... that sucks. Perhaps they could offer a non toll free number for international users?
- ahawks, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2You'd pretty much be an idiot to pay a toll for every single voice memo you want o record.
- slazer, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0i kind of regret signing up now because of that.
plus, itd be cool if anyone could leave you a message with the toll free number.
maybe BrainCast Charlie will be better.
- sujeet, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2
Organizing thoughts via phone on a beta free service?
Whatever happened to handheld voice recorders that allowed USB plug-n-play and direct download? Oh, wait - nothing did. They're still around. Meaning, this must be a useless service.
Given that the website clearly explains the difference between using their service and using a "traditional" voice recorder, I'm really tempted to sign up...not!- hrbrendan, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1This is kinda targeted towards people who don't want to carry around multiple devices or bother with usb plug and play direct download. None of thats necessary... and last check generally those handheld voice recorders cost money.
- sbradshaw, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1Enjoy carrying around your handheld voice recorder wherever you go. If the website has to explain the difference between their service and a "traditional" voice recorder for you, then maybe this service is not for you.
- kylevonolbert, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1If you were curious, the 866 area code that this site uses is toll-free. All 1-866 numbers are free.
(apparently only 85% of the public knows this...)
src: http://www.tollfreenumber.org/866-numbers/ - sbradshaw, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0I checked my BrainCast account today and already there are some new improvements to the service, including more explanations of how to properly enter data into the fields, as well as stating that no information entered would be used for marketing purposes.
I have been using this company's VOIP service for some time now and can attest that they have never used the information they collect for any marketing purposes nor do they sell this information to other companies. I would know as one of the e-mail addresses I use is strictly used for communications with their company. I have never received any e-mail to that account other than from the company itself (and only in response to either a request for information or from the announcement e-mails that I signed up to receive). - bartango007, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Anyone know of a similar service (preferably gratis!) that would work in the UK?
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