Callwave: Visual Voice Mail Widget

We have learned by now that Apple iPhone will sport a new unique feature called Visual Voice mail when it ships, hopefully in June 2007. But why wait until then, when we can enjoy it now on our desktop? Callwave Free Visual Voice Mail Widget is a dashboard application that allows you to see and hear your mobile phone mail messages, not in the order they were traditionally received, but in the order they are important to you.

Should someone call your cellular phone and it was not answered, the call gets forwarded to Callwave. Callwave will then record the voice mail if the caller leaves one, and present it on the widget with the call number, the date, the time and the duration of the message. Even if your caller does not leave a message, Callwave will still log it as illustrated on the screenshot below.

You can also delete voice mail (and undo) and add / edit caller’s name right from the widget. You can also specify how many calls you want the widget to show on its preferences’ window and whether to display the activation instructions (you only need to activate your phone once) as shown above. If you want to look at past history calls, simply click on “See All Calls” at the bottom of the widget and you will be forwarded to their website, where you can view deleted calls, refresh lists of calls, and manage your contacts.

One feature that I wish I can turn off is that Callwave will always send you an sms if you miss a call. A note will be displayed on your phone’s screen when you miss a call anyway, so I don’t need to be reminded twice. In addition, for some people, receiving sms on their phone will actually incur charges.

There is one cool feature called “Call Back” that you might want to try when you are on your account’s website. Let’s say after you have listened to a particular voice mail, you decide to return the call. Instead of fiddling with your phone to go to the “missed calls” menu, you can have Callwave connect both of you automagically with a single click.

Callwave Free Visual Voice Mail widget works with major U.S. carriers like Cingular, T-Mobile, Sprint, Verizon and 30 others. Download and give this widget a try here