Do you want the good news or the bad news first? I’ll start with the good news: Google Voice is the best thing that has happened to phones (including cell phones) and voice mail in decades… and it’s another free Google service! The bad news: It is only available if you live in the United States. So that means I cannot use it here in Canada where I live.
So for those of you living in the US, feel free to go to the Google Voice “Invite” website, and request an invite. If not, take a seat on the bench beside me and wait for Google to roll out the service here in Canada. Google has publicly stated that they will make Google Voice available in other countries, but have not given a time-table. So what are we missing?
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cOZU7BOeQ58]
Here are a couple more videos that talk more about specific benefits, and I’ll copy some text from the Google website outlining the features of Google Voice that explain why I think it is so revolutionary:
Use Google Voice with your existing number and get:
- Google voicemail: voicemail like email
- Voicemail transcription: read what your voicemail says
- Custom greetings: vary voicemail greetings by caller
- International calling: low-cost calls to the world
- Notifications: read voicemail messages via email or SMS
- Share voicemails: forward, embed, or download voicemails
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m4Q9MJdT5Ds]
Add a Google number to get these additional features:
- One number: a single phone number that rings all your phones
- Free SMS: send, receive & store text messages online
- Block calls: send unwanted callers straight to voicemail
- Record calls: record phone calls and store them online
- Conference calls: join several people into a single call
- Screen callers: hear who is calling before you pick up
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ua9Q5frlQ2M]