Blog Over the Phone: Using Google Voice for Content Creation
The Rise of Voice Blogging: Posting to Your Blog by Phone
Imagine being on a lengthy road trip, inspiration striking for a new blog post. You pull over, dial your blog’s number, and begin dictating your thoughts.
Your voice is converted to text and automatically published. This isn’t a futuristic fantasy; it’s the reality of voice blogging. The ability to share insights and wisdom instantly, directly from a phone call, is now within reach.
After some experimentation, a system utilizing Google Voice settings, a WordPress plugin, and other techniques was developed to enable automated voice-to-blog posting using any phone.
Configuring Google Voice for Voice Blogging
Google Voice provides a unique phone number for voicemails, call forwarding, and other features. Bloggers are leveraging this by calling their blog number, having the message transcribed, and storing it within the Google Voice system.
Traditionally, this requires manually retrieving the voicemail text and embedding it into a blog. However, automation is possible, allowing incoming blog entries to be automatically published.
Begin by navigating to Settings, then selecting "Voicemail & SMS" within your Google Voice account.
Ensure the checkbox next to "Email the message to:" is checked. Enter a dedicated email address specifically for this Phone-to-Blog system. Avoid using free email accounts lacking POP3 access, as POP3 is essential for functionality.
With Google Voice configured to forward voicemails to your designated email address, the next step is to automate the posting of the transcribed text to your blog.
Utilizing the Postie WordPress Plugin
The method for automating this process varies depending on your blogging platform. For WordPress, the Postie plugin is a suitable solution. Alternative methods exist for platforms like Blogger. Download and install the appropriate plugin or tool for your blog.
Once Postie is installed, access its settings by clicking on Settings and then Postie.
Within the Postie settings, configure the email address to which your Google Voicemails are forwarded. Enter the POP3 settings as you would when setting up any standard email client.
Navigate to the "Users" tab and add "voice-noreply@google.com" to the "Authorized Addresses:" list. This authorizes incoming emails from Google Voice to automatically post to your blog.
On the "Message" tab, configure the system to remove extraneous text from the Google Voice email. The transcription begins with "Transcript:" and ends with "Play message:". Use these phrases as markers for the beginning and end of your blog post.
Blogging From Any Phone – A Test
With Google Voice set up for transcription and forwarding, and Postie configured to monitor your email and publish incoming voicemails, you’re ready to post blog entries using only your voice! This is the essence of voice blogging.
The crucial question remains: how accurate is Google Voice’s transcription, and is it sufficient for blog posts?
A test was conducted by dialing the Google Voice number from a home phone and leaving a voice message.
The message was as follows:
This is a test of using google voice to post at my blog. Hopefully google voice can transcribe my voice accurately. Let's see how well google voice can do. Thank you.
Postie was set to check the email account hourly, but a "Run Postie" button allows for manual checking. Almost immediately, the following post appeared on the blog.
Speaking slowly and clearly improves transcription accuracy. However, Google’s script sometimes struggles with the word "Google". Another issue is that the email subject, which includes the full phone number, is used as the blog title.
Currently, Google Voice doesn’t allow sending emails without a subject. Therefore, using a feature like *69 (anonymous calling) or a similar service to block your phone number is the only workaround.
Future improvements to Google Voice’s transcription accuracy and increased customization options would greatly enhance the voice blogging experience. Tailored notification emails would further streamline the process.
What are your thoughts on using Google Voice for blogging directly from your phone? Are you aware of any other alternatives? Share your feedback in the comments below.