I’ve been getting a LOT of calls lately from PR people.

The problem is I usually can’t answer my phone when you call. 425-205-1921. Why? I’m almost always meeting with someone, interviewing someone, or in a meeting at work, or sleeping, or doing something that I don’t want to be interrupted with.

Now, if you call my cell phone, it’ll leave me your phone number (don’t leave a message, I hate voice mail).

The problem is that most of the PR people who want to reach me are calling from their office phones. So, when I call back I get their switchboards. Really really lame cause I have no idea who called me.

But, this works to my friends’ advantage. I get back to them and the heck with the PR people (my message tells to send email).

Speaking of email, I just am loading back up Clear Context (which helps prioritize your emails and helps you dig out from email overload in other ways). That system rocks for prioritizing email (I met with them yesterday). Their system, though, really assumes you are a “piler” and have left all your email in your inbox (it works really great for someone like that). Me? I’m a “filer.” I put all email into folders as soon as it comes in. I need each one of those prioritizied.

If I was a PR person, I’d only call from a phone that’d bring them directly back to me. Why? Why have a relationship with a switchboard?

Have you ever been driving, remembered something you wanted to write down or remember for later. What do you do? Safest is to pull over and write it down. But, by that time maybe you have forgotten it (I’m often on the freeway and can’t pull over quickly). Another way is to simply use Jott. Call the Jott number, it beeps, you leave a message.

To yourself.

Then Jott goes into action. They send your audio recording off, get it transcribed (my video explains how), and send it back to you as an email with both the original audio as well as the text of what you said into the phone.

My friend Buzz Bruggeman swears by this service.

Here’s the video I did with Jott’s founders.

[podtech content=http://media1.podtech.net/media/2007/03/PID_010568/Podtech_JOTT_interview.flv&postURL=http://www.podtech.net/scobleshow/technology/1390/dont-forget-jott-it-with-your-cell-phone&totalTime=1677000&breadcrumb=3F34K2L1]

This video was played at the Webby awards at SXSW. Funny, especially what the Ninja says about Kevin Rose’s underwear and Jason Calacanis’ entrepreneurial skills.