This week Google launched their Google Voice service, which technically, is a relaunch of their Grand Central service.
So what exactly is Google Voice and what can it do for you?
Well, first things first, Google Voice is free. And at the time of this writing, it’s only available to existing Grand Central subscribers. But Google plans to make it available to everyone in the next few weeks.
But onto the features. With Google Voice, you can have one central, local number (that Google gives you), which can be used to ring up to six different phones.
For example, let’s say the number Google gives you is 555-555-5555. You can list that number of your web site, give it to your clients, friends and so on. Then when someone calls that number, you can have it ring your cell phone, home phone, business line and more.
But that’s really just the tip of the iceberg. It also takes voice mail for you, delivers that voice mail via email or SMS and even transcribes that voice mail into text, so you can read it instead of listening to it.
You can also record your telephone conversations by pressing a single button…the number 4. The person on the other end will be notified that the call is being recorded, by the way. To end recording, just press 4 again. These recordings can also be saved as MP3 files…very handy is you’re doing audio podcasts or doing telephone interviews.
What else? How about free conference calls with up to 4 people. International calls at 2 cents a minute. Free U.S. based calls. The ability to block calls. Forward voice mails. Have your Google number show up on people’s caller ID’s (in a slightly round-about way) and more.
It’s important to note that Google Voice is an inbound call service though. That means, for example, to record a phone conversation, the person has to call you…you can’t call them. And to do conference calls, everyone has to call you (that doesn’t mean you can’t call people though…you can just like you always have).
You also can’t use your existing number with Google Voice…you must use the number they give you. But all in all, given the feature set Google is providing…and the cost (it’s free)…Google Voice may very well turn out to be one of the most popular services it offers. Of course they have to make money some way, so expect unobtrusive ads at some point.
Below are some videos showing the features of Google Voice:
Voicemail Transcripts
Conference Calling
Call Screening
Phone Routing
To learn more about Google Voice and sign-up to be notified once the service is made public, click here.