Jott is a very handy new tool that combines the best of text messages, cell phones and email that I found out about from a post by principal Tim Lauer on Technology and Learning’s blog.

Ever in the car and remember something you need to do?  Can’t find a pencil (plus you are driving?)  Call the Jott phone number and record a message that gets emailed to yourself.  Want to notify a group that you are running late for a meeting?  Call the Jott number and record your message, which can be texted and emailed to the group.

One of our teachers, Constance Hanselka, has already used Jott to send messages to a small group of her students about preparing for a class assignment.  I used it this weekend from the bookstore to send myself a list of books I wanted to order for the library because I didn’t have a pen with me.

Once you create an account, Jott allows you to add your contacts and set up groups that you communicate with frequently.  When you want to send a message, you can do it from Jott.com, or if you are mobile, you can call the Jott number, and send a message from your phone to your group.

The email that arrives transcribes your message, but just in case it’s not a clear message, it also sends a audio player that plays your actual message for the recipient.

The response from tech support is quick(it may not work with every phone service), and the service itself is incredibly easy to set up and use.

I find it easier than trying to type out a long text message to myself(like a list of book titles) and having it stored in my email for later reference is also a very helpful feature.  This is the type of web 2.0 tool I love–it improves my “workflow” and is easy to use.