Review Voice123

[KatsVoice]

I make money from this site. Currently, I am disheartened by the recent change and how incompetent V123 seems in handling our questions.

No matter how great the concept is, the customer service and tone from the staff at V123 has left a sour taste in my mouth. I Will renew, but will not refer people to the site any longer.....that is, unless, things change.

My likes:

I like that I am now getting more direct contact from seekers and private invitations to bid on projects.

I like the feature where Seekers can ask the Talent to resubmit a script with direction due to making the "short list". This just happened to me and I LOVED IT!

I like that most of my submissions are getting opened (although, I have only submitted 26 proposals)

I like that V123 finally has higher quality uploads.

My dislikes:

Poor Customer Service

Inability to wrap my head around SmartCast...it's like a strange puzzle...kind of like their all trying to trick the talents into not understanding the system so noone can market for the system.

I don't like leveling the playing field for everyone.....it implies that everyone should be a voice talent.

My thoughts........for now. :?

[avitoots]

I am very disappointed with V123. I signed up at the end of May and when I first started pre-upgrade, I was responding to 4-10 leads a day. I'm lucky if I get 4 leads a day let alone 4 leads that I would even consider answering. I haven't been on the system long enough for any of the stats to mean anything in the new system. Also, I have complained twice about not receiving e-mails from the system and they have always responded that it was something I'm doing because, supposedly, their e-mail system was working. Shortly after I received the "e-mail system working" response, there was a posting on the now locked chatboard that one talent hadn't received a job offer for 24 hours! The talent didn't respond so it made the talent look very unprofessional and inconsiderate. There probably was no way the client could tell that the talent hadn't received the offer. So much for their e-mail system working.

I do like the fact that we can send our demo along with the custom copy.

The leads I get are scarce, low dollar amounts, inappropriate for me due to required accents or ethnic parameters. Since the "upgrade" I have received one truly decent lead that was closed by the time I recorded something I thought was worthy of being submitted (and, I can tell you, it didn't take me several hours to record).

As far as the confusion of how the system actually works, the V123 staff has been hiding behind a curtain of privilege. They're claiming that they can't share the most basic information because they're afraid someone will steal their precious patent-pending formulas. Like any of us have time to screw around with their mathematical formulas. It's like the Wizard of Oz. Ignore the man behind the curtain. Once the curtain is drawn, all that is revealed is a fraud.

Unless there are major changes made to this system, I will not be doing business with this company again. From the tenor of Juan's last posting they're more concerned with the non-paying voice seekers than the talent that pay their bills. The attitude of it's not us it's all of you just creates an atmosphere that I think is unprofessional and dishonest and I don't do business for long with people who are unprofessional and dishonest.

Arlene Kahn

[Colin Campbell]

Here's my take. In the depths of their ignorance, Voice123 thinks they are weeding out "the great unwashed." Raising their fees (with more increases to come I'm sure) and making it tougher to audition via SmartCast. I have so many problems with these people it's hard to articulate.

First and foremost, it is run by people who are not EITHER talent or clients. They have no F'ing clue about to thie industry. Just how corporate radio is killing that industry by robbing it of its soul and then blaming everyone else for its demise.

[AlexisAdair]

I noticed that, of the things Kat said she liked, none of them had anything to do with SmartCast.

There are a number of changes in the 2.0 version that are improvements, but those are cosmetic or feature changes, like the ability to add the standard demo along with custom (though it might be nicer it that were optional rather than required).

Direct contact and private invitations has to do with the search function, not SmartCast (and, incidentally, a lot of talents have noted that their privated leads have dropped off precipitously).

Number of submissions opened *may* have something to do with SmartCast, although Seekers always had the option to close a lead once they found what they wanted, they just may not have exercised it.

Incidentally, the Team Blog posted a new entry August 2 touting that they had "proof" that talents' audition-to-booking ratios had improved, but the only information they cited in support of that was that opened auditions had increased from 34% to over 50%, which has absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with audition-to-booking ratio. And half of auditions opened is still nothing to be proud of.

Higher quality uploads is good. That resubmit with direction feature sounds neat, I haven't encountered it yet. But again, these are unrelated to SmartCast.

And in case this is coming across the wrong way, Kat, I'm not criticising what you do or don't like about the site - it's actually awesome to hear specific comments. I just found it interesting that none of those features are related to SmartCast. V123 could completely eliminate SmartCast and still keep all those changes (and I wish they would).

I personally love the little customizable flash player add-your-demos-to-your site thing they added. I now have my demos playable on my MySpace page, something I couldn't do before without creating a band page. But again, they don't need SmartCast to have that feature.

And Colin, I don't actually think V123 *wants* to weed out "the great unwashed" masses. That's their bread-and-butter. A dollar and a dream... With over 4,000 paying talents, I'd bet a significant proportion are not professional-caliber. In fact, I suspect the whole concept of sending leads to people who audition LESS was to try and please those "great unwashed" who complained about never booking work. They're trying to please everyone, and really pleasing no one.

Some people won't realize they're being screwed. You have to investigate the Daily and Weekly Summaries, and study the Project Directories, to see what you're not being invited to, or what you're being 5th-round invited to. You have to understand how SmartCast works to understand how it doesn't work.

Seekers believe it when they're being told that SmartCast will find them "the best talent for the job", in spite of the fact that virtually every one of SmartCast's stated parameters has *nothing* to do with the quality of the talent. So they don't know that, of the people not invited to audition, or "too slow" to get in an audition, there may well have been numerous people they would have preferred to the "best" of the group who made it in.

Rather than reinventing the wheel, V123 could and should have offered instructions to inexperienced seekers, letting them know that because the system does not involve pre-screening by agents or casting directors, that there are all levels of talents auditioning on the system, with all different qualities of equipment and recording studios, and that the seekers should expect to spend a significant amount of time reviewing auditions in order to find the best match for what they want. And they should have advised talent that there are numerous reasons why they might not book work, and that they should constantly be engaging in practice and training, improving their skills and upgrading their equipment, participating in and getting feedback from the forums, etc.

But anyway, one of these days I'll write my complete "manifesto" detailing everything that's wrong, from flawed intent to poor design to false and misleading advertising promises and so on. Eventually... But like you said, Colin, there's just so much that's wrong...

[KatsVoice]

Hey Alexis....

You are absolutely right about SmartCast. That's why it is listed as a "dislike" of V123.

I was merely reviewing the site as a whole, by breaking down the parts.

So, I didn't take your post the wrong way.....I think that Smart Cast is a ridiculous idea to solve and unsolvable dilemma of trying to please everyone.

Anyone read any Ayn Rand? :wink:

[AlexisAdair]

I think there are some people over at the V123 forums who aren't differentiating the good new features that have nothing to do with SmartCast from the mess that is SmartCast, which I guess is part of why I felt the need to make the point. No one over there who says they like the new system will say why, so I can only assume they like things that aren't related to SmartCast. Someone actually referred to the private leads they were getting, but that has *nothing* to do with SmartCast. Juan even stated that expressly early on after the change.

And people who don't have Joe's understanding of programming won't realize that most of the problems with SmartCast *CAN'T* be fixed. There's just no way to program what they think they want to do, or ought to be trying to do. They're trying to create a software program to act like an agent or casting director to do pre-screening, but not actually just to find the best talent, it also has to share out the auditions so less talented people or those who audition infrequently still get an opportunity (so V123 can justify taking their $300). But even without the additional complicating factors of "fairness", casting isn't a process that can be quantified - you can't reduce it to numbers or algorithms. Until artificial intelligence can get goosebumps, it ain't there.

As with politics, people are happy to vote against their own economic best interests if you just make it sound good to them, no truth required. :\

Alexis

And I haven't read Ayn Rand yet, though I've bought a couple of her books. Interestingly enough, I seem to recall someone else referring to her books over at the Savvy forums not all that long ago...

[Scott Pollak]

Voice123.com USED to be my online voice-site of choice. No longer. And it's especially ironic because I'm one of the introductory voices they used in the welcoming tutorial and now I feel like a lying shill having my voice on it. Even worse, I did it as a trade and have a 'paid' membership for the next 2 and 1/2 years so I'm stuck with it whether I like it or not.

But I'll be honest with you... I seldom even look at leads there any more because I know that 9 times out of 10 - LITERALLY - I won't be able to respond. The very few that are still open are often totally inappropriate for me. Just this morning I deleted a still-open lead to be the voice image of an R&B/Rap online station. yeah, I'm sure THAT'S in my keywords somewhere!

The combination of the total failure of SmartCast (I find it so difficult to even use that word, just as I much prefer to refer to so-called 'terrorists' as 'cowards') and the abhorrent lack of customer response from Alex and his gang have pretty permanently soured me. Voices.com is my site of choice now along with private connections.

It honestly wouldn't surprise me if in a few years that if V123 doesn't make sweeping changes to correct this monumental blunder that they're gone from the map. What a shame, too. They used to be the best voice site on the net.

But then, GM used to lead the world in auto sales, too.

[Grant Holmes]

Julie, is there something wrong with the poll? Looks duplicated to me.

I'll keep this short. I've spent WAY TOO MUCH TIME typing to 123, with no real resolution to spend even more time helping them. I offer this as help to those considering joining.

There is SO much wrong with that system that has nothing to do with casting. From bad page layout, what I'll call "text overload", bad lead-through, dumb navigation and more that I'm amazed. If I had seen this stuff in a portfolio of an applicant, I would've passed.

'nuff said. I'm really just tired of the whole thing. I've gone back and forth on asking for a refund. One one side, the few things I actually get to respond to every week allow me as a relative newbie to practice and get better. So on that side I might justify the $195 I spent to sign up before SC as a "forced practice" of sorts.

But the frustration of the system, the interface and quite frankly, customer service at its worst. I'm about 85% decided to move on.

I'm not sure how I could be more disappointed. Whoops. Just figured it out. IF I'd paid the new higher price to join. THAT would've done it.

But then, as we've all read for at least on spot..."Your results may vary" (but I doubt it).

[Julie Williams]

A post I put on another forum. A guy there blasted voice123 for a number of reasons, including the backgrounds of the two partners:

Today, I auditioned for a $5000-$10,000 job on voice123.
Yes, I hate their new smartcast system (not the new interface, just the exclusivity of smartcast and how it's really just a "who gets there first" now, and the ratingsystem--although I seem to be doing well there. I object to people who've never worked with me having an impact on how many leads I get.)

Yes, there are a fair number of bottom feeder leads out there. But to address a couple of your concerns specifically:

1) Writing proposals: In a perfect world, voice123 would do what voices.com does... allow us to save templates. Pull down menu, click on template we previously wrote, add client name... send. Takes about 5 seconds. But from the beginning, I created a word doc with everythning I wanted to say. It was a full page. Started with greeting, then went on to more detailed info that they didn't have to read but was there if they wanted top (description of studio, etc.)

2) If Juan and Alex's backgrounds are what you say... WOW! They have done an amazing job in creating a major enterprise without the qualifications to do that. ! I say hats off to them for their ingenuity and biz savvy! Granted, I think they're screwing it all up now. I do hope they start listening to their customers, because I'd hate to see them go under. Their new system is amazing, and I can't imagine what it cost, but it's based on flawed premeses, which I don't want to go into right now. I'd love to see SmartCast and the rating system bite the dust, but some of the changes are good. (below)

3) I wish whoever did voice123's SEO or marketing to find leads were working for me!

4) They have bottom feeders, yes. And they allow people to post jobs at below $100 which I don't like. But I have no problem workin for "End users!" Some of the "end users" who have hired me have paid a LOT more than the $100-$250 level. I've voiced software programs... and yes, voicemail greetings... but they only take 5 minutes to do and I charge $125. That really adds up.


Meantime, admist so much negativity (even from me) I feel compelled to add what i DO LIKE about voice123.
*I like that we can upload BOTH a demo and custom audition. I woke up hoarse today... I can do my read, but won't sound as good as normal. I didn't have to choose between custom or demo... I uploaded both.
*I like their new interface
*I like that we can see if our audition has been opened.
*I like that when we're invited personally by a voice seeker, that we can email them without having it delete our one opportunity to audition, and that we can upload a file in that email.
*I like that we can see the ratings they put on our auditions (although I hate the rating system)
*I like that we can check a box to see if our audition has been opened yet.
*I really like the reminder the system send us if we havn't auditioned for a job we've been personally invited to.
**I really like that lately I've received so many personal invitations to audition. I have no idea how I'm found by so many people... amidst thousands of talent. But the personal invitation rate is higher than ever. Ironically, I suspect it might be that rating system I hate so much!
* I like the sheer number of leads that come in.

That said, I may not stay with voice123. I have a few months to decide. It's definitely worth the money. I'm not sure it's worth the stress! (I do literally receive leads AFTER they're closed at times!

But I will remain on voices.com, for sure. These two services have garnered more leads for me than any of my several agents all over the country.

[avitoots]

Julie -- I wish I was having one quarter of the positive experience you're having with V123. Even though I always check the box to receive notification that my audition has been opened, I have yet to receive any e-mails to that regard. I have contacted customer service twice and was basically told that it is my problem. The one thing they did suggest, changing e-mail addresses, I had already done and yet no e-mail notifications have come to me at either my CompuServe or AT&T e-mail address. The tone of the customer service response was so cold and uncaring that I've come to the point of being too tired to try to get things to work properly with them. Then I joined Voices.com and their customer service was such a pleasant experience. They talked me through an issue on their live chat and the problem was resolved in about 15 minutes. Another problem I was having was resolved in 24 hours with very easy to understand and follow instructions. Since I'm not a techy, easy to understand instructions are a must.

If I get bad service from a company I end my association with that company. Right now I'm planning on sticking out my membership but things will have to drastically change for me to renew. That would be the case even if their membership fee hadn't been increased.

Arlene Kahn