WASHINGTON — One of the most difficult aspects of losing a loved one is realizing you won’t hear his voice again.
A new, free, easy to use web application saves your dearly departed’s voicemail greeting, so you can listen to it forever.
“I think we often end up talking to the important people in our lives on the phone more often than in person,” says Peter Keen, the Michigan software developer who invented VMSave, which saves a person’s voicemail greeting as an MP3 file.
Keen tells WTOP listening to a loved one’s voice after death is bittersweet.
“Hearing that message after someone dies is so emotional because it brings up all these feelings of hope and familiarity, and then a realization that they’re not going to be calling back,” says Keen.
While people who have recently lost a loved one often search for any tangible connection, Keen believes photos aren’t as evocative as spoken words.
“Pictures capture a single moment in time. A voice can represent a whole person and all of your memories of them.
“They’re both rich triggers for thinking about a person, but somehow voice lets your thoughts transcend any one particular moment,” says Keen.
How it works
To use the service, before deactivating the deceased person’s cellular or home phone service, type the phone number in the VMSave website.
Within seconds, the service will automatically dial the deceased’s phone number — the call will come from 734-217-2065. It’s important that nobody answer the call.
The service will record the outgoing message, and leave a link on the website to download the recording as an MP3.
Each phone number can only be called once every three months, although Keen says he can reset numbers on a case-by-case basis.
Keen says the recordings will be deleted every 24 hours.
The service is free, although Keen says he’s accepting PayPal donations to keep the service running for a long time.
