When it comes to Web sites, reQall is one of those gems that will go horribly unnoticed unless you search for it and, in fact, probably wouldn't even have thought existed unless you knew about it in the first place. However, this is your chance to change all that because once you start using reQall, you're not likely to stop.
At its core, reQall is a personal task management tool. More broadly though, it is a way to guarantee that you'll never forget to do anything ever again. There are a staggering number of ways to use reQall: a phone interface via voice messages, a very Web 2.0 client, instant messenger bots, an e-mail service, an iPhone application and prototype software for PC and Windows Mobile systems.
Out of all those, however, I'll only be covering the phone, IM and Web options.
The most helpful of any of reQall's features is the ability to call their phone center and utilize an easy-to-use voice interface. Upon calling, you are presented with three options: add, recall and share.
With add, you can simply add a task along the lines of "haircut this Saturday at 3 p.m." or a note or shopping list item by saying "note" or "buy" at the beginning of your voice message. ReQall's voice recognition is very powerful in terms of what it understands and its voice-to-text transcriptions are usually perfect unless you're in a very noisy place where all the background fuzz will ruin your tasking. Depending on the length and complexity of your voice message, it could take anywhere from one to 15 minutes to finish the transcription.
However, this usually won't affect you as it's unlikely you'll add a task and immediately want to recall it. When you recall a message, though, you can choose from your shopping list or items due today, soon or later. It's odd that you can't recall your notes, but it's not that bothersome considering they're accessible through almost all the other interfaces. An amazingly helpful feature is recalling your shopping list as an SMS message to your phone, so once you request it, you have a visible copy of everything you need to buy right in front of you.
Sharing is just as useful because you can get reQall to text one of your tasks, shopping list or a brand new reminder to one of your reQall contacts. However, this is only helpful if you have reQall contacts to share with, meaning you've got to convince people deeply nestled in the minutia of your life to sign up and go through the process of setting up the service properly. It's absolutely worth it, but also absolutely takes a lot of effort and a lot of coaxing.
The IM interface is slightly more robust, offering a greater range of options. With any of reQall's supported instant messenger applications like AOL or Yahoo Instant Messenger, you can easily access and share your to-do items much like you would through the phone interface, add to your to-do or shopping lists or notes, send your shopping list to an e-mail address you specify or view your contacts.
This may not seem noticeably different from the phone interface, which it isn't, save for the e-mail and contact options, but with an IM application that supports mobile phone forwarding like AIM, the IM option ostensibly turns reQall into a SMS-based application. This is useful, especially when you're in a situation like class or work that doesn't permit you to state loud and proud that you have to bring 12 pounds of raw meat to the barbecue this weekend.
Lastly is the Web interface where you have total control over your reQall. You can add and edit tasks and their notifications, delete them completely or add images with a Picasa account. Online is also where you set up your phone number, IM client and notification options. Through notifications, you can get e-mail, SMS or IM transcripts and reminders of your tasks and shopping lists, so you'll never be late to a meeting again.
Impressively, reQall also offers total integration for calendar applications that support the iCal standard like Google Calendar, Apple's iCal or Outlook, so that any tasks you add to reQall are automatically added to your calendar.
ReQall is a solid and helpful application. Utilize it properly and combine it with that handy calendar application you're already using and you can forget wishing for a personal secretary.
If you've always got your phone with you, then you've always got access to your schedule, and in this day and age, where time is not only your money but everyone else's, then you've got an application you just can't miss.
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