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Google Voice

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"GrandCentral" redirects here. For other uses, see Grand Central.
File:Googlevoicelogo.gif
Google Voice logo

Google Voice (formerly GrandCentral) is a free Google-owned[1] Internet service that uses voice over internet protocol (VoIP)[2] to link customers' phone numbers together.[3] GrandCentral was relaunched as Google Voice on March 11, 2009 with new features, including voicemail transcriptions and SMS managing. Current GrandCentral customers will be able to transfer their accounts to Google Voice, and Google announced that the service would start accepting new members within weeks.[3][4]

Overview

Whenever the customer's Google Voice number is called, any or all of the customer's phones may be set to ring, allowing the customer to answer the call from any of several phone lines. Which phones ring can be chosen based on time of day; for example, the home phone can be turned off during business hours, and based on groups (Family, Friends, Work, Web Button, Others) or personalized based on an address book.

The site also offers centralized voicemail that can be checked from the website or through a phone, as well as numerous other services, including call screening and name-based caller ID from a customer's contact list; free voicemail transcription; blocking of incoming calls (including automatic blocking of telemarketer numbers previously reported as such in a database); call recording; SMS forwarding and management; the ability to switch lines during a call; the ability to forward calls to Gizmo Project SIP number; and different voice mail greetings based on the caller. A GrandCentral feature to cause callers to hear alternative ring signals was available and included European and Asian styled ringing indicators, but this is not available in Google Voice. There was briefly a feature to allow users to upload their own ringtones via MP3 file, but it was canceled due to potential copyright infringements by users who could upload music or other intellectual property. The service only has phone numbers located in the USA. Similar in concept, free Personal Numbering services have been continuously available in the UK, since 1993.

Currently, the Google Voice service is only available to former GrandCentral customers, a group that only included people who had been invited to the service before invitations were terminated in March 2008.[3][5]

While Google Voice is similar in concept to AT&T True Connections 500 service offered in the 1990s, Google Voice is a more robust offering. TrueConnect also offered a single number that routed to customers' selected phone lines. However, AT&T's service required intervention on part of AT&T to change the phone number list. Google Voice uses a customer self-service webpage to allow customers to alter phone settings themselves, without any manual intervention on Google's part.

History

The service was founded in 2005 by Craig Walker and Vincent Paquet, who previously ran Dialpad Communications. GrandCentral was funded by Minor Ventures, and purchased by Google on July 2, 2007 for US$95 million with the acquisition being led by Wesley Chan.[citation needed] After acquiring GrandCentral, Google appeared to have abandoned the project, and very little information about it was released. Posters in the GrandCentral support forums complained frequently of the dearth of information about the service and the lack of customer support (it has been noted that the last blog entry from GrandCentral's technical team was eight months old as of January, 2009). An "open letter" in Salon.com by reporter Judi Sohn entitled, "Will the Last One to Leave GrandCentral Please Turn Out the Lights?" reflected the frustration many of GrandCentral's early adopters have expressed in the GrandCentral forums. However, Google had apparently been secretly working on Google Voice during that entire period.[3]

Changes With Google Voice

When transitioning from GrandCentral to Google Voice the following features are added:

  • Calling International phone numbers (with a fee)
  • Conference Calling
  • Automatic Voicemail Transcripts
  • Sending and Receiving SMS messages using your Google Voice number
  • Goog411 integration
  • Calling directly from voicemail

The only feature that is lost is the RingShare feature.

References

  1. ^ Chan, Wesley (2007-07-02). "Official Google Blog: All aboard". Google. Retrieved 2008-03-12. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  2. ^ GrandCentral Basics : About GrandCentral - GrandCentral Help Center
  3. ^ a b c d Pogue, David (2009-03-11). "One Number to Ring Them All". The New York Times.
  4. ^ "Moving to Google Voice!". Official Google Voice Blog. 2009-03-12. Retrieved 2009-03-13.
  5. ^ http://groups.google.com/group/grandcentral-help-alerts/msg/f3b285a65f5d90ff?hl=en
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