Update:  By popular demand, here is a quick walk through of the new app.  Note that we still have a day of internal testing before we send to Apple.  Many thanks again for your patience.  We understand that we ideally would have had it out by now, but we want to make sure the product is great.

Update:  Thanks for the feedback.  We’re extending the 10% off annual plans discount for existing customers through the end of February so you all have a chance to test the new iPhone app.

Hello Jotters,

We’re testing the iPhone App now and have gotten word from the folks at Apple that the current approval process is taking up to 3 weeks (can sometimes be less).  We’re hoping the app will get through the process quickly.  It will be submitted for review this week.  It will include the ability to post to all of your Jott Links, groups, and your iPhone contacts.  It will also work with second generation iPod Touch models (if you have the earphones with the mic - not supported on 1st generation) and with first generation iPod Touch models for text input only.

If you have the old app and are a paying customer, it will continue to work after February 2nd.  If you have not upgraded to a paid plan yet, the old app will no longer transcribe the messages you leave and your messages will not be stored on Jott’s servers after February 2nd.  To those of you who have subscribed to Jott since we de-listed the iPhone application at the end of December, we’ll have it out as soon as possible.  Thanks so much for your patience.  We think you’ll love the new app.

All the best,

Doug

There have been a lot of changes at Jott recently, and one of the most exciting is the launch of our new service, Jott Voicemail.

We’ve heard from customers for some time that we should launch a voicemail service. The reason we didn’t out of the gates is that we felt Jott could be a tool that you would actively use to get more done…sort of turbo-charging your phone. Notes, reminders, calendar entries, group notifications, blog posts, price quotes, etc. We thought voicemail was a more passive problem.

The reason we’ve jumped into the voicemail game now is that our approach fits with Jott’s orientation: deliver a set of intuitive features that allow you to take action using the tools you love. A great example: you can set reminders on your voicemail so Jott will remind you to follow-up at a certain time (just like the regular Jott reminders you already know and love). You get your voicemail transcriptions in email, but you can also organize them in lists like normal Jott notes and manage them in Jott Express or in Jott for Outlook. If you want, you can have your voicemail cc’d to another person so they can help you out.

Existing customers (we love you so), you can get 10% off your monthly bill for Jott Voicemail by entering the promo code “vm[your phone number]” (e.g. “vm2065551212″) when you sign up. You’ll also get a week free trial so you can see how great it is.

Everyone around the office has been using it for a couple of months now (as have a lot of our Beta testers - thank you) and people can’t imagine going back to “old voicemail” again. We like to say that Jott Voicemail is “voicemail that’s actually useful.” We hope you think so too.

Enjoy!

Dear Jott customers,

If you’re reading this, you’ve probably heard that we’re ending Jott’s free services (Jott Basic and Jott Notepad for the iPhone). Unfortunately, it’s true, beginning on February 2nd. Plans for current paying customers are not changing.

I know you’ll have questions, so I wanted to get out in front and tell you why we’re doing this. If you already know you want to upgrade, scroll down for instructions (and a nice discount), but either way I hope you’ll read further.

Our #1 priority is to keep Jott a company that innovates on behalf of customers. It’s why Shree and I started the company in early 2006, and it’s a passion shared by everyone who works here.

Whether you are a paid or a free customer, we thank you for all of the support you’ve given us over the past couple of years, and the support you’ll hopefully give us in the future.

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Why is Jott ending its free services?
As we’ve said many times, one of our goals was to always offer a high quality, free version of Jott. But as with many businesses right now, the economic environment is forcing a change in plans. When we started, we made quality our top priority, and we will always be committed to this. As you know, we use a combination of automated speech recognition and human quality assurance to deliver this, and it costs real money to do it well.While we’ve made remarkable progress at innovating costs out of the system, the current climate is forcing us to focus 100% of our energy on getting to profitability. The great news is that with this change we are within sight of that goal.

Why can’t you pay for the free service with advertising, which was the plan?
It’s a great question – in short, the model is not viable right now. This is true for several reasons: 1) it would have required plastering the product with so much advertising that we’d ruin the experience; 2) ads are a terrible fit for important features like email delivery, Jott Links, and Jotts to Others; and 3) all indications are that advertising rates are going to see an even bigger hit in the next year. We don’t want to bet the company, and the utility that tens of thousands of you pay for, on a model that is not sustainable right now.

Jott’s price – $3.95/month – is not free of course, but it is affordable. We’ve had many paying customers tell us that the stress-relief, time savings and performance edge they get from the service makes it a bargain. David Allen, one of the kings of productivity, even called Jott one of his two “favorite product discover(ies)” of the last year in his exclusive interview with Lifehacker.

I’m going to upgrade. How do I do it?
We always try to take care of our existing customers, and if you have an existing Jott account, you’ll get an additional 10% off any of our annual plans (which already offer 2 months free) if you sign up before February 2nd. Simply go to your account page to change your plan, type in “JOTT” and your phone number (e.g. “JOTT2065551212”) as the promo code for the annual Jott plan, or “PRO” and your phone number (e.g. “PRO2065551212”) for the annual Jott Pro plan. Then enter your billing information.

UPDATE: Does Jott have any “pay-as-you-go” plans?
Absolutely. Please visit our “Pay-as-you-go” plans page. That should have most of the information you need. Jott’s pay-as-you-go plans give you access to all of Jott’s features and give you 60 seconds of recording time. You pay for a bucket of minutes and we deduct from that bucket with each recording. We don’t round up. If you speak for 23 seconds, we’ll deduct 23 seconds. We also don’t charge for the entire length of your call with Jott, only for the length of the recording(s). This is a great option if you are an infrequent user / are using it for emergency contact purposes, or if you value longer recording times. Thanks a ton for all of the inquiries about this. We (mistakenly) assumed it was easy to find as we do have many pay-as-you-go customers.

UPDATE: When will the new iPhone app be ready?
We’re working hard to finish up the new iPhone app. It should be up and ready for download before February 2nd and its usage will be included in all Jott plans.

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Other questions
If you have other questions or comments, I encourage you read the FAQ, or use the forums and customer service forms. As always, we like to hear from you…good or bad.

From everybody here at Jott in Seattle, thanks!

John Pollard, CEO and Co-founder