April 16, 2009

Google Voice? They talk now, too???

In the next couple of weeks, Google’s $50mil acquisition of startup GrandCentral will be officially released to the public. If you already have a Google Account, you can take a quick preview tour of the available features.

What’s it do?
Well, its best explained by Google, themselves..

With Google Voice, you get all your calls through a single number. Just add your other numbers to Google Voice and then make your own rules for how your phones ring. Click the Settings link on the right side of the page and click the Phones tab to change your phone settings and add the numbers you want to forward your calls to.

You can access and make calls from the phone and the Web, block annoying callers at will, and record custom greetings for different callers or groups of callers.

With Google Voice, you’ll get all your voicemails in one place, saved for as long as you want. If you don’t answer a call to your Google number, your callers will be sent to your Google voicemail. You can check messages by calling your Google number, by signing in to Google Voice, or by opting in to receive notifications.

You’ll also get more handy features that work across all your phones:

ListenIn as callers leave you a message

Record calls on the fly so you never have to fumble for a pen again

Switch phones mid-call without your caller knowing

And more…

Its reported that they will not be using the new platform as an ad serving extension to their services; (wish they did that with gMail); so, it remains to be seen what the exact direction they’re planning on going with this new service.

Yet, if you ask me, the goal would seem to be making current and new comer Internet users more reliant on Google, as a whole. This in and of itself can have profound implications on the emphatically growing Internet space.

With people & businesses still attempting to figure out what exactly to do with the Internet (next), seems to me that Google’s plan is initially to just acquire as much real estate as quickly and as diversified as possible.

Microsoft did the same thing with their aggressive campaign for PC real estate back in the 80’s; and now you can’t buy a PC without it having some version of Windows on it without a special request.

Keep your eyes on the non-evil ones. I know I will be.

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