GrandCentral Is Now Google Voice – SWEET

// March 13th, 2009 // cool, Mobile

I’ve been a GrandCentral user for over a year, and use it constantly. Mostly, I use my GrandCentral number as a ‘throwaway’ number that I can freely give to anyone. I’m extremely protective of my ‘real’ cell phone number (haven’t had a landline for years) because I’ve had the same cell number for nearly a decade. I’m one of the few who hasn’t changed numbers, and I also don’t get spam on my cell phone, either via SMS or via voice calls. I have my GrandCentral number listed on my business cards, and it is the number that I spout off whenever a service/store requests a number.

Unfortunately, when Google purchased GrandCentral, it mostly died. Sure, it’s still functional, but as with most of Google’s acquisitions, nothing new happened to it – it was left in what is most accurately called suspended animation – just kinda there. Today, however, Google changed that, relaunching GrandCentral as Google Voice, and bringing in the one feature that I’ve been anxiously awaiting – SMS. Previously, when someone would SMS my GrandCentral number, it went precisely nowhere. The message basically vanished into the ether. Now, though, I’m going to be able to forward it anywhere I want – even receive it as an email. Brilliant.

So, who cares? We all have cell phones now, and they come with a free number. VOIP services like Skype and Gizmo Project have offered you another number for years – what does anyone want with a Google Voice number? The key, in my opinion, is to use Google Voice as a gateway – similar to how you might use a 24-7 assistant or secretary. This person is in control of who gets to talk to me, when, and through what method (voice, email, sms, etc). With Google Voice, I can direct callers to any number (or prevent them from getting through on a number) that I want, and I can setup custom voicemail recordings for different contacts.

Some will also point to the new transcription service as a competitor to Spinvox or YouMail, and while sure, the features are the same, I don’t think Google Voice will compete with Spinvox’s quality transcription (you should see some of the messages that they’ve gotten right – it’s astounding, really) or YouMail’s complete voicemail replacement, with more options than you can shake a stick at.

I’m hoping that Google Voice will prompt the wireless carriers to offer more call management options, personally. It’s absurd that I cannot block a specific number from ringing through to my phone, or that I cannot temporarily forward all of my SMS to another number (when I’m travelling internationally, for instance).

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While Ricky Cadden is currently employed by RadioShack, Inc, all the thoughts, opinions, and views shared here and elsewhere online are his own and in no way reflect those of RadioShack, Inc. You can read more about Ricky Cadden here, or contact him at Ricky(at)RickyCadden(dot)com.