Google Voice

Telephone 2.0

Sometimes I’m not sure who is in charge – me or my three separate phones (home, office, cell). Truth is, I spend way too much time dashing around and collecting messages just to be sure I don’t miss anything important.

One day in 2005, Craig Walker had a big idea that will change all that. What if you had a personal phone number you could keep for life? You’d never again have to give everyone you know a new phone number simply because you moved, got a new job, or switched cell phone providers. Using this one number, you could centralize all of your voicemails on your computer. Craig and Vincent Paquet created a company called GrandCentral to bring the idea to life – adding lots of cool features along the way. Google bought the company in 2007, and renamed it Google Voice. Since then, industry watchers have been waiting for the service to become available … finally, it’s time has come.

Jeanne tested Google Voice and says it’s like having your own personal assistant – only better, because it’s free! She chats with Craig Walker in our video, and uses Google Voice to record the call so that you can listen in.

• Free phone management service lets you choose a universal phone number

• Requires a Gmail account

• Route calls to this number to any or all of your existing phone numbers

• Manage phone calls and messages through a Google dashboard

• Voicemails are translated to text and saved in your account

• Customize greetings for regular callers

• Service includes SMS capabilities and low international calling rates

• New app for BlackBerry and Android-powered phones lets you place calls using Google Voice from your cell phone