Where was I when it finally happened?  Has my proverbial head been in the sand?  Finally you can make outgoing calls directly from your computer using Google Voice. I’ve been waiting and watching for this and apparently it slipped through without me hearing about it.  Both Lifehacker.com and Makeuseof.com have done write-ups about it but why haven’t I heard about it?  Maybe it just recently became available in my area?  Who knows.  I’ve gotta pay better attention!

This has been a feature many people have been looking forward to.  The catch?  You have to do it through your Gmail account.  Oh, and you have to install a browser plugin.  No biggie though, right?  Now you can sign up with Google Voice, take part in all of the cool calling features AND make outgoing calls!

What happened was that a link at the bottom of the Google homepage caught my eye.

Now that I have installed the plugin a link to make calls shows up in my email.

When I click on the “call phone” link a keypad opens for me.

Notice the search option.  This allows me to search for Google Voice contacts on the fly.

I’ve tested this feature on a couple of calls and I have no complaints as far as VoIP services go.  Maybe I’ll eventually get a headset or something so I can make some real use of the new feature.

Lately there has been a lot of buzz about Google Voice and how it has the potential to change how we think about our phones.  I, too, have acquired an invite to try Google Voice (I was using Grandcentral.com when Google acquired it) and am loving the experience.  There are, however, some difficulties while transitioning to the new number and service.  I’d like to call it growing pains.

The good folks over at Lifehacker.com have put together an article with some tips to help ease the transition.  Here are the tips covered; I hope they help:

1. Number switching – Have you ever changed phone numbers in the past and gone through the difficult task of getting your contacts to save and call your new number?  Well, if you are to get the full advantages of Google Voice, people have GOT to start calling your ONE number!  Well, the article gives some tips to help you in this transition period.
2. Believe it or not, there are some annoyances associated with Google Voice:
   • Some text messaging issues
   • Calling out – there’s a really cool trick you can do to save contacts in your cell phone but still call using your GV (Google Voice) number!  It’s all in the article!
   • In some instances, there may be a slight voice delay.  There are some tips to help ease this pain.
3. Forming your groups – GV allows you to group different types of contacts together, such as family, friends, work, church, etc.
4. Tweaking call rules – From the horse’s mouth: “Here’s how to save money, avoid annoyances, and get more out of Google Voice’s custom calling rules.”

Of course, if you missed the prior post, you can also use GV to save money on outgoing calls on your cell phone!

Tell me, have you had the opportunity to try Google Voice?  What are your thoughts?  Can you add to the tips from Lifehacker.com?

I just heard the story that Google Voice is in the process of figuring out how to monetize Google Voice (besides the selling of overseas minutes).  In the past Google has been pretty inobtrusive with their advertising.  Their ads on sites are generally off to the side and not very distracting.

Since I’ve been using Goog-411, I have noticed that there is a quick ad stating, “Calls connected by Bandwidth.com.”  This quick little ad pops in right before the call is connected for you.  I don’t think that’s so bad.  What else could you ask for with a free service?

Well, apparently Google is looking into audio ads for Google Voice, too.  Maybe ads will be slipped in before a call is made through the service, or during a silent period, who knows.  I wouldn’t complain about ads on the site.  I may, however, complain if they have enough nerve to interupt when a conversation goes silent for a moment.

Advertising can be a touchy game to play.  You want to get the attention of the potential buyer, however you don’t want to annoy or distract them to the point of them not wanting to do any business at all!  What are your thoughts?  What type of advertisements get on your nerves the most?

Wow, now that took time!

Google Voice has been in private beta for quite some time with those already in on it raving about it’s abilities.  Now, FINALLY, they are extending invitations to those who have been signed up for so long.  They are currently working their way through the list so be patient (Brett)!  If you’re not familiar with Google Voice or its predecessor, GrandCentral, check out this video:

I had signed up for a GrandCentral number way back before Google took over so I’ve been part of the private beta.

I am currently using my Google Voice number as my home number and I’m loving it!  I did a review on it (and am testing the transcription service so drop me a line) and I even found a way to save on my cell phone bill by using it.  I even figured out how to send voicemails to multiple email addresses (now it seems Google allows this in settings anyhow)!

One annoyance I had with GrandCentral, back in the day, was the lack of flexibility of the option to “choose to not have your GrandCentral number ring your home during the day.” Several things bugged me.  First, the option was only available for the number labeled “home.”  What if I carry my cell phone to work and want my calls to only go home and not the cell?  Then there was the rigidness of the times allowed.  I don’t remember the exact times but you only had like one choice (ie. block calls 9:00AM-5:00PM/working hours).  I’m happy to announce that Google has changed this!  You can now have a “ring schedule” for each phone!

As I said, the folks at Google are working their way through the invite list.

If you head to voice.google.com, there is a “get an invite” link to get on the list, but I haven’t heard any word about how long it will take to get an invite so patience is key!

Questions!

• Do you have a Google Voice number yet?
• What do you think of the idea of it?
• How do you like the service?
• What are some interesting ways you can use the service (ie. saving money on your cell phone)?
• Why haven’t you checked out my review and dropped me a line yet?
• What concerns do you have about a service like this?

I keep checking and it seems that Google Voice is still only available to the Grandcentral users from when they were open to Beta users way back when!  I wonder how long they’ll stay closed.  Well, for you lucky ones (and those planning on signing up is ever it is open), check out this trick to help save on your cell phone bill!

First off, you have to have one of those plans where you can add numbers you use often to your “friends and family” network or whatever your service calls it.  Then you add your Google Voice number on to your list. Now you can call your Google Voice number without using minutes up.   There are two reasons for this:

1. You can check Google Voice messages with your cell without using cell phone minutes
2. You can make calls out using Google Voice (so your Google Voice number shows up on caller ID) without using cell phone minutes

Right now, all calls within the United States are free through Google Voice.  All you have to do is call your Google Voice number from your cell (which is hopefully attached to your Google Voice account), punch in your four digit code and hit option two in oder to make a call out.  Every time you do this, the call will be free PLUS you won’t use up any cell phone minutes!

Neat, huh?  Claps for Google once again!

As many of you have already heard, Google is finally doing something with Grandcentral. They had acquired it awhile back and the Beta has been closed to new users pretty much ever since. HOWEVER, timmyjohnboy acquired a number before they closed and I love it!

As is Google’s habit when they acquire projects, they’ve redone everything, hopefully for the better (not that I haven’t loved Grandcentral so far)!  Grandcentral went from this:

to this:

As you can see the look has definitely changed to a more “Google” type of look.  As usual, Google Voice has fewer graphics making it look pretty, however they’ve made the usability consistent with other Google services.  Is this a good thing?  If you’re used to using Google then it will be.

Let’s go over some of the features of Grandcentral and how Google Voice has changed them.

Grandcentral as a service promised people one phone number “for life.”  Basically, it gave the ability to obtain a local phone number, and forward calls to it to your other phones (ie. home, cell, work, etc.).  This way, you can give out one number and receive calls wherever you need to.  It also gave people options such as:

1. Voice mail (retrievable by calling your GC number or online),
2. Voice mail listening in (allowing you to listen as someone records a voicemail – creepy?),
3. Call recording (I believe it notifies both ends that recording has begun),
4. Call forwarding to your other numbers (answer a call on your cell that was intended for your wife?  Send it to the home number for her!),
5. Block unwanted callers (send calls to a SPAM voice mail box or block them completely and play the “This number is not in service” message),
6. Ring different phones depending on who’s calling (family can be directed to one number and work contacts can be forwarded to another, etc. – you can even use different greetings according to the person calling!),
7. Webcall Button (visitors can call you directly from your blog or website, the enter their number and Grand central would ring their phone and then connect them to you)
8. Switch calls to different phones depending on the time of day, as in after work hours, etc. (this feature was fairly limited to the times Grandcentral offered.  I’m hoping Google gives us more flexibility)

Wow!  Now that’s a lot of feaures!  The one’s I like to use are voice mail, and ring multiple phones.  I’m also using the webcall widget (check out my contact page).

As you know, Google has reworked Grandcentral into what they are calling Google Voice.  They’ve kept most of the features and have added a few of their own, including:

1. Conference calling – check out the video:
   
2. SMS – send, receive, or store text messages – check out the video:
3. Voice mail transcriptions – check out the video:

I’m sure there are more features to come and they’re working on imporving the features they already offer (for instance, the transcription service isn’t word-perfect but they are working on improvements).

Head over to Google Voice’s website and get an invite when they open back up (I think in a matter of weeks, they say).

One more thing… I want to put the transcription service to the test!  When someone calls and leaves a message for me in my Google Voice mail box, they automatically transcribe it for me (this option can be turned off).  Either head over to my contact page or use the widget I posted below and drop me a line!  I want to see if the transcription is fairly accurate.  If you are going to call, and if you want to be part of  this test, follow these guidelines:

1. Leave your first name
2. Let me know that I have your permission to post the voice clip and transcription on this blog
3. No profanity or offensive speech (I’m the sole judge) or I won’t post it
4. Tell me I am cool! (ok, this one isn’t mandatory, but I’ll be your friend!)

Thanks a bunch!

OK, here goes!  Thank you to the following readers willing to help me test Google Voice’s voice mail transcription service.  Check out the following:

• Brett:  “hey dan john button it’s your buddy brat i’m trying to go if alright johnson and i’m looking forward to whenthey go public alright thanks hope this helps” – They’ll get better, I’m sure!  Thanks Brett, nice to hear from you!
• Jessica: “hey guys it’s jessica i just wanna let you know that my sister’s just drop me off at the church but i will need a ride home so i hope you get this i’ll talk to you later bye” – Wow!  I think it only missed one word!
• Jim: “hey this is bernard test my name is jim and i know you want us to transcription service and i want to test it too thanks for taking the time to see you later” – Not the worst one so far but better than Brett’s (sorry brett)!  Nice to hear from you JIM and thanks for helping me test!

Anyone else willing to help me test Google Voice?  Use the “Call Me” widget above!