Do you wish you could manage your cell phone's calls, voice messages and other features through a web-based interface so you're not constrained by the small device? Though most BlackBerrys have a full-fledged system, it'd be easier to manage all of the calls on a PC. Skydeck lets you do that.
Although the BlackBerry comes with a desktop app, it doesn't let you do much there except sychronize the computer with your BlackBerry and move media. If you want a web-based interface for interacting with your BlackBerry's data, Skydeck makes it possible.
People using Windows Mobile devices can add and change information through Outlook. Those still using PalmOS-based devices can use Palm Desktop to add, delete, and change data then synchronize it back to the Palm.
Skydeck works the same way. It grabs all the data on your BlackBerry or other cell phone and gives you a more comfortable way to review and edit data. This app will prove useful to those who don't have a full-fledged keyboard on their devices.
Getting Started
There is one downside to Skydeck. It gives new users a free 30-day trial. However, you must add a credit card when you sign up. The company assures that it will not charge your card unless you continue with the service.
As soon as you enter your cell phone number, Skydeck sends a SMS text with a link to confirm your phone. After confirmation, download the Skydeck sync client so you can connect your cell phone with the web-based application.
A pop up window will appear a few times asking if you want give persmission for Skydeck to access your phone logs and other information. To be able to get all the data on Skydeck, you need to approve. Skydeck then syncs your contact information.
Playing with Skydeck
The first thing I did was set up call forwarding so all my BlackBerry voice mail messages would go to Skydeck. I was eager to see how its voice mail to text service worked (being a deaf person, this would be valuable). I had someone call my voice mail and I had my first transcribed voice mail within minutes. I thought it would take longer.
The text message arrived both in my email box as the below image shows and on my phone. It also appears in the Skydeck interface as the following image shows. You can change this option if you don't want to receive more than one notification. I do because I may be away from my desk or not have my cell phone close by. Since I had the caller in my contact list already, it connected the caller with the contact information as shown in the third image.
The web-based interface lets you send text messages and make calls. To make calls, you need a headset with a microphone.
The application also has a social network feature. If you have friends on Skydeck, you can connect with them. It's not obvious from the get go, but Skydeck offers one free service -- syncing your cell phone's address book with the web-based application. This works like Plaxo and that's where the connections / social feature would come in handy.
Skydeck Screen Shots
Pricing
Other services can convert voice mail to text, but they do little else. Here, your address book integrates with the application. Since the other services offer 40 voice mail to text for $9.95, I looked to find out what this one offered for $9.95.
You pay $0.20 for each voice mail conversion and $0.03 per minute for the calls you make through the service on the basic plan. So 40 messages costs $8 meaning the service with 40 messages is almost $18. I don't think the other services incorporate the address book feature, but is it worth almost $10 more?
The unlimited plan lets you pay $29.95 for unlimited transcriptions and everything else. Here are the full pricing details. The ability to make calls through the service benefit business travelers who pay high roaming costs.
| The Verdict | Rating  |
I love the fact I can receive voice mails as text messages as well as send text messages through the web application. The Web application especially the address book was slow. I have 500+ addresses, so that could be the problem.
To speed things up, I moved all contacts to the B list and then worked to select the ones to move to the A list. Unfortunately, when you use the search box to find such contacts, it doesn't give you the option to move them to the A list. So I had to go to the long B list to find contacts and move them. The application slowed down while navigating the long B list.
If you have an online account with your service provider, you can add that into Skydeck to get the call logs from the last three months. I skipped this feature.
The things Skydeck excels at are voice to text messaging, incorporating the address book with the service, sending text messages, looking up numbers to identify who called along with the street address, and searching voice mails and text messages.
As a deaf person, I'd love to publish my cell number so people can call it and leave messages knowing I'll get a transcription. As a freelancer and single user, I'm not sure the basic service plus 20 cents per transcriptions is justifiable. One problem: I get a lot of junk calls and I don't want to pay 20 cents for their transcription.
Travelers and heavy cell phone users will most likely find the service valuable. It's all about how you use your cell phone and your needs that decides what's best for you. Skydeck does a great job of making it easy to figure out the service and get going fast.
Update
After posting the review, I ran into a problem withmy address book on my BlackBerry. It went from 500+ addresses to 10. They were not A listers, either. So I go to Skydeck on the BlackBerry to sync the addresses again. This time, it synced only the A list (about five people). I had to move all B List items to A to get them all back on my BlackBerry.
I found no explanation for this goof as I hadn't done anything my with BlackBerry (it was not hooked to the computer or anything). So it led me to believe it was a problem with Skydeck. So keep an eye out for this.