Using CaptionMate
CaptionMate is a free real-time phone captioning app available in the US. I recently partnered with CaptionMate and have been using their product for a little while now.
It makes me feel better about answering unexpected phone calls and speaking to people whose voices I am not familiar with.
The other day I got a call that I needed to pick my daughter up from school. She had hurt herself. We took her to the ER and at the end of the day, she was fine and we are grateful and happy she is safe.
I want to talk about the phone call I received asking me to pick her up.
I have call-forwarding turned on for CaptionMate which allowed me to answer the call in the CaptionMate app. While I am able to understand those who I know well on the phone, in a moment of worry, and shock – CaptionMate allowed me to make sure that I wasn’t missing any of the information that was being relayed to me. I could follow up, ask questions and confirm (always verbally confirm even if it’s written) what was being said. I was able to accurately tell my husband what I had been told.
In the past I would say “what I believe they said was… ”. This time I wasn’t assuming. I knew exactly what I had been told.
When we got to the ER, we were asked for a timeline of events. Because the CaptionMate app keeps a transcript on the device I used (my phone), I was able to go through the conversation, and let the doctor know the timeline. There was no last minute scrambling to text or call anyone to recite the timeline. Saving invaluable time.
While it was a small part of the days events, it also made things easier by helping to provide access for those who otherwise need to pull a lot of information together.
I’ve also talked on my Instagram channel about why I like CaptionMate. These are the highlights:
I feel more comfortable on calls with people who’s voices I don’t know well. Especially when I want to make sure that I’m get the time and date right for appointments.
There’s a log of my call in the app. I can go back and refer to the transcript.
CaptionMate provides a permanent phone number that will open your calls in the app, or you can use call-forwarding and use your same phone number.
I can get captioning on my Zoom calls as well by logging into my account through the browser and keep the browser next to the call.
CaptionMate cares about privacy. Any phone calls you make that are transcribed, while there is a log on your phone, it is not stored on any servers. When you delete the app from your phone, it’s gone.
If you are interested in trying CaptionMate, and are in the US, you can download it from your respective app store. Please use the sign up code ‘Janna’ when you register your account.
This blog post is part of a paid partnership with CaptionMate.