Thursday, June 25, 2009
Rumor Has It...Google Voice Going Live, Today
The rumor is that Google Voice, Google's voicemail service, will go live in the United States, today. At this time they are still only accepting requests for invitations. I have used the service that they purchased from GrandCentral for more than a year. If you have not seen it then you are in for a pleasant telephonic surprise.
Labels: Google Voice, Grand Central, VOIP
Thursday, April 9, 2009
Google Envelopes Grand Central
Google sent me an email that they have changed the name of Grand Central to Google Voice. If you are a Grand Central member you will be prompted on your login to tie Google Voice into your Google account. Google Voice is still a closed test, so you will need to wait to sign up unless your were a previous Grand Central customer.
The service looks much more like a Google application, and they have already added some features.
The service looks much more like a Google application, and they have already added some features.
- Transcription of voice mail. You can optionally allow Google Voice to transcribe your voice mail and send it to you as a text or email.
- Access to Gmail contacts. You can optionally allow Google Voice to access your contact list in Gmail. It uses this to create group or individual customized outgoing messages.
- Outbound calls. You can choose a contact to call. Google will first call your phone, and then they will call your party. The system was surprisingly robust. A call was usually initiated in just a few seconds. United States calls are free while overseas calls are charged a small minute rate.
- Conference calling. I did not try the conference calling, but I would assume that it works as well as outbound calls.
Some of the old feature came over as well.
- Call Presentation. This features allows you to listen in as someone leaves a voice mail. It is like the old days of screening a phone call with an old mechanical answering machine.
- Individual outgoing messages. You can setup personalized outgoing messages for individuals or by contact groups.
I am excited about this development. I along with others feared that this product would not see the light of day. It appears to be coming out and growing. I believe that the possibilities for this product are incredible. Integration into Gmail and Apps would be great. Google Voice could one day grow into a full-blown PBX for small companies.
One change that I noticed was that the product now has more of a business-like feel to it. Grand Central's user interface was a bit more whimsical.
Labels: Google Voice, Grand Central, VOIP
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