Google Voice

Get your own universal phone number

If anything heralded the demise of the office desktop VoiP phone, consistent in its inane and frustrating complexity regardless of brand, it was Google’s acquisition of a small company called GrandCentral for $50 million in 2007.

The search giant’s interest was sparked by a nifty piece of call-routing technology which offers users a single, lifetime ‘universal’ phone number that directs calls through to mobile devices, landlines and desk phones, depending on time and caller: for instance, major clients can be routed through to your mobile during work hours, while the mother-in-law will always reach the phone under the stairs.

Whether you move house, get a new telecoms provider or drop your mobile
in the bath, you can just add the new number online and callers won’t notice
the difference.

Furthermore, the service includes voicemail, with personalised greetings based on who
the caller is, unlimited storage, and a device that transcribes messages, converting them to text and making them searchable and forwardable just like a user’s inbox. A rough-and-ready language translation feature is also rumoured to be in the works.

Cheap deal
Large enterprises pay sizeable fortunes for similar unified communications (UC) technology. Google’s version will be free to individuals, though there may be a
small charge for enterprise users who want additional features, reliability and no advertising. Actual calls will be bought with credit in a similar way to Skype and
at around the same price ($0.02 per minute to France or China, for instance).

Google Voice is likely to be particularly beneficial to existing users of Gmail, eventually integrating GrandCentral’s voice functionality with existing email, address book and calendar services.   

Unfortunately, the service is still in development and is only available to existing GrandCentral customers and those on Google’s list of invites. Those interested in its progress can sign up at www.google.com/voice/about