June 26, 2009
Google has started sending out invitations to Google Voice to people beyond the long-time GrandCentral user base. People who requested an invitation from Google are gradually receiving them.
Google also started warning GrandCentral users who haven’t made the move yet that it’s about time to upgrade. (The harsh expression we used in Silicon Valley back in the day was “get on the train or die”.)
GrandCentral founder and Google Voice product manager Craig Walker tweets that it will take “a little bit” to work through the backlog of requests, but at least the process has started.
However, there’s a subtle dilemma here for those who want to do more than just experiment with Google Voice. If you join today, you’ll be given a chance to choose a new number. The Google Voice sign-up process even helps you enter words and see if any available phone numbers match them.
But if you wait you may get a chance to start your time on Google Voice by porting an existing number, such as your cell phone number, to Google Voice. (This is called “inbound phone number portability”.) You may have to pay a penalty to your service provider, and you’ll have to get a new number for your actual cell phone to run on. But you won’t have to re-educate all the people who have your cell phone number to use your Google Voice number instead.
Or, I should say, try to re-educate them. Many people will “not get the memo” and keep calling your cell phone directly. And regardless, you still have to educate people who have your home phone number, and potentially your work phone number as well, to use your new Google Voice number instead.
Google Voice will save some of us so much money on long-distance calls, especially if you make them from a cell phone, that there’s no choice; you need to start using Google Voice as soon as possible. For the rest of us, though, it’s a dilemma. Will you stay on your current setup until you can use inbound phone number portability – or will you go to Google Voice right away?
PS Thanks to Paul for the correction to Craig Walker’s title and role.
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Posted by Bud Man
June 25, 2009
Janet Shamlian says "I'm ready to turn three phones into one" to Craig Walker
Even in this age when media attention is fragmented – and the old Big 3 networks and newspapers are suffering – there are still a few iconic spots where any company would love to see their product appear. Google Voice has already hit a home run with David Pogue of the New York Times and lit up the blogosphere. Today it’s received favorable notices on the iconic Today show.
In the three-minute segment, Matt Lauer introduces Google Voice as “a single way that you can be reached”. Reporter Janet Shamlian describes Google Voice as a “huge convenience.”
She describes her two months of experience using Google Voice to juggle her busy schedule as an NBC News reporter and the mother of five children. Only a few of Google Voice’s top features get mentioned – cheap calls, custom voicemail message and spam filtering are shown. Google Voice is compared favorably to Google Search.
Grand Central founder Craig Walker gets a precious 10 seconds on-camera with the reporter to describe Google Voice as putting people back in control. The overall impression is that Google Voice simplifies her life and helps her with work and, perhaps more importantly, with family.
The segment raises privacy concerns about having all your voice messages go through one central service, but in the end Janet gives Google Voice a big thumbs up.
Our take: Google Voice was probably already bound to be a hit with the early adopters out there – and, eventually, with “the rest of us” as well. Favorable reports like on Today may help create a bit of a feeding frenzy when the service finally launches, with people who usually wait for a technology to prove itself rushing in to be among the first to get Google Voice.
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Posted by Bud Man
June 13, 2009
When we named this blog Get Google Voice, we never thought it would take so long before people could, well, get Google Voice!
As of today, the service is still limited to people upgrading from GrandCentral – see the previous entry below – and a few lucky stiffs who have gotten invites to the beta program.
It seems Google has been giving out a few more beta invites, because a couple new stories appeared today that are worth a look.
The first was a brief update from Mobile Tech Manor – sounds like a play on Jerry Pournelle’s Chaos Manor in Byte, back in the day. Anyway, there was just one paragraph on Google Voice, but it was a good one:
“Picking up the Pre insured that phones were on my mind all week as it made for the fourth smartphone I have. I got into the Google Voice beta program and so far it has worked flawlessly for me. I no longer worry about missing phone calls or text messages that might be sent to one of the phones I’m not using at that moment. Google Voice gets hold of me no matter which of the four phones I’m carrying. I especially like how calls get announced on the phone; the caller announces themselves to me so I can decide whether to answer or not. It’s a great service so far.”
Google Voice does a lot, but this is a good summary of why it’s going to be worthwhile for so many people. Read more from Mobile Tech Manor here.
In a similar vein, there’s a useful video clip showing off Google Voice as well, from 33 TV in Dallas-Fort Worth. It’s only two and a half minutes long and sums things up pretty well.
Check it out and keep the faith – Google Voice has to be made available to “the rest of us” soon!
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Posted by Bud Man
Google Voice: Make my (To)day!
June 25, 2009Janet Shamlian says "I'm ready to turn three phones into one" to Craig Walker
Even in this age when media attention is fragmented – and the old Big 3 networks and newspapers are suffering – there are still a few iconic spots where any company would love to see their product appear. Google Voice has already hit a home run with David Pogue of the New York Times and lit up the blogosphere. Today it’s received favorable notices on the iconic Today show.
In the three-minute segment, Matt Lauer introduces Google Voice as “a single way that you can be reached”. Reporter Janet Shamlian describes Google Voice as a “huge convenience.”
She describes her two months of experience using Google Voice to juggle her busy schedule as an NBC News reporter and the mother of five children. Only a few of Google Voice’s top features get mentioned – cheap calls, custom voicemail message and spam filtering are shown. Google Voice is compared favorably to Google Search.
Grand Central founder Craig Walker gets a precious 10 seconds on-camera with the reporter to describe Google Voice as putting people back in control. The overall impression is that Google Voice simplifies her life and helps her with work and, perhaps more importantly, with family.
The segment raises privacy concerns about having all your voice messages go through one central service, but in the end Janet gives Google Voice a big thumbs up.
Our take: Google Voice was probably already bound to be a hit with the early adopters out there – and, eventually, with “the rest of us” as well. Favorable reports like on Today may help create a bit of a feeding frenzy when the service finally launches, with people who usually wait for a technology to prove itself rushing in to be among the first to get Google Voice.