Tell us about your organization
A Way with Words is run by a nonprofit with an educational mission: to further understanding of language, to encourage life-long learning, and to promote human understanding through better communication. It airs in 73 different cities and at a lot of different times, so, our toll-free number is a necessity. We can't be there at all hours to answer.
How are you using Google Voice?
Calls go from the toll-free number to a local number to voicemail -- Google Voice -- where we archive them and use them to plan future shows. Five of us look at the transcripts and listen to the calls. We use the notes field to indicate which are feedback for follow-ups, which are new questions that we might want to turn into segments, and which are stories from listeners who want to be heard but maybe don't want to be on the air. We mix those with what we get via email and social media, and in that way put together a show.
Now that we have more than 2800 calls saved on Google Voice we can use it like we already use our email: as a repository of questions and comments from listeners. So if one person asks about, say, why bell peppers are called mangoes in part of the country, we can search through the voicemail transcripts (which, while imperfect, are good enough), and our email, and begin to get an idea of what a lot of people want to know about that topic. It helps tailor each segment of the show.
There is an insatiable need -- a hunger, even -- to have questions about language answered. People ask us more questions in a given week than we could possibly ever answer in a weekly, hour-long show. But we're doing more than we were before, and Google Voice is a part of that.
If you or someone you know is using Google Voice in a unique way, we’d love to hear about it! Fill out this short form and your story may get featured on the Google Voice blog.
Posted by Michael Bolognino, Product Marketing Manager
