Google Voice Changes How We Think About Phones

Tired of carrying around your Blackberry, iPhone, and still having to check your home machine? Google may be swooping in once again to help us manage our information (and device) overload.

Back in 2007, Google bought a company called GrandCentral. The original GrandCentral had many incredible features to offer customers who have multiple phones to manage:

• Single phone number in the area code of your choice. When anyone called this number, all connected devices rang simultaneously.
• Singe voice mail box and management
• Ability to have different voicemail greeting per caller
• Ability to specify which phones rang for each caller
• Ability to record phone calls

For the past two years, Google has been laying low about the service, but now they’re primed to rerelease it with new features that could change the way we think of managing our phones and phone numbes. They are introducing four new features: Free voicemail transcriptions: Getting voicemail in text means you can read it like a text or email. And yes, this means you could search, save, and copy and paste voicemails. Very cool. Free conference calling: No more access codes or special call in numbers. Google Voice will allow you to conference in multiple people who call your phone number. Cheap international calls: They’re promising rates lower than Skype! Ability to sort, tag, and manage text messages: Now that communications are getting shorter and more frequent, important information is now being delivered via texts.

Here are some links to learn more:

• Google Voice page
• Article in New York Times