Voice mail to voice quilt

While email seems to make the world go round, humans still connect to the sound of the human voice. Voice Quilt combines high-tech and high touch to make it easy for people to create highly personal audio gifts for friends and family. The process is simple. Customers set up an account at voicequilt.com. They purchase phone time and issue an invitation to friends and family, providing them with the toll-free phone number they need to call to record their message. Phone time costs from USD 9.95 for a MiniQuilt (3-5 Messages, ½ hr), to USD 34.95 for a Community Quilt (40-50 Messages, 3 hrs). The customer then listens to the recordings and creates a playlist. Once the playlist has been finalized, the Voice Quilt is shipped to the recipient on a CD (USD 11.95), inside a wooden keepsake box (USD 79.95 – 139.95), or downloaded from the internet (no extra cost). Founder Hope Flammer came up with the idea after her best friend’s husband became ill and lapsed into a coma. She accompanied her friend to the hospital every day to visit with him, speaking, laughing and playing his favourite music as if he were awake and participating in the conversation with them. Fortunately he recovered. “I came away from that experienced convinced that loving voices can make a difference,” Hope says. “Preserved for years to come, the greetings and memories of close friends can remind us of special times. A family story, a child’s laughter, a best friend’s quirky expressions… these are sounds that nurture the spirit.” Voice Quilt’s strength lies in its simplicity. One person arranges everything online, and the others just dial in whenever it suits them: it’s as easy as leaving voice mail. One to set up locally! Spotted by: Joanne Reed