(Credit:
Google)
Google's new Google Voice has a few rough edges but for many users, it could be a life-changing experience.
The service, a relaunch of GrandCentral, which Google bought in 2007, allows you to choose a local number, which will simultaneously ring up to six phones such as your cell phone, home phone, office phone, and the phone at that vacation home that most of us can only dream about.
In addition to forwarding your calls, it also takes voice messages that you can listen to on the Web, from a phone, or read, thanks to a new feature that transcribes voice messages and sends them as e-mail and text messages.
If you have multiple phones, having a single number to reach them all can make you and your callers' lives a bit easier, and it can save space on your business card by not having to list separate numbers. The concept is simple: people are trying to reach you--not one of your phones--and Google Voice lets you decide how to route the calls.
The simultaneous ring feature can also be used by groups. Team HOPE, a support network for families of missing children, gives callers a GrandCentral number that rings the phones of several staff members to ensure that calls are always answered.
I've been using a very similar "simulring" feature on Vonage for several years and like the fact that I get to control where my calls are forwarded. Both Google and Vonage let you configure forwarding from the Web, but Google also allows you to assign a temporary forwarding number directly from the phone. That could come in handy, if you suddenly find your cell phone out of range but have access to another number where you can be reached.
The call-recording feature is very cool. At any time during an incoming call, you can press 4 to start the recorder and 4 again to stop it. That can be handy if you're driving and someone is about to give you a phone number, address, or something else that you can't write down.
The recording feature can also be used by podcasters to record phone calls that can be exported as MP3 files. And yes, there is an announcement to inform the other party that you're recording the call.
You also get free conference calls. Up to four people can dial your phone number and can be patched into the call.
Cheap international calls
People who make occasional international calls from a cell phone will get incredible savings, compared to what the carriers charge. Using Google Voice to call a landline in London, for example, costs 2 cents a minute, compared to the whopping $1.49 that Verizon Wireless and AT&T charge, if you don't purchase an international calling plan.
Even with a calling plan, the carrier rates, though much cheaper, are still higher than what Google charges. Making calls could be easier. You dial your Google number, press 2, and then punch in 011 plus the country code and phone number.
Bugs and rough edges
I have encountered a few annoying bugs in my day 1 experience with the service. For one, I'm not able to delete voice mail from my cell phone, despite following the instructions to press 7 to "archive" messages. Every time I call my voice mail, those messages are still there, as if they were new. Although the voice mail transcription service works, the message isn't always delivered promptly. Sometimes it arrives in a few minutes, but at other times, it's taken up to 20 minutes.
Although not a bug and not Google's fault, it's unfortunate that you can't use your Google number as your outgoing caller ID when you dial directly from a cell phone. Although there are ways to spoof that, for security reasons, phone companies don't allow it.
The problem is that people are in the habit of you calling back on your caller ID, which makes it harder to train them to dial your Google number. Your Google caller ID will show up correctly, however, if you initiate the call from your Google Voice Web page or if you dial your own Google number and then press 2 to dial out and type in the number. This process, I suspect, is more of a hassle than it's worth.
There also isn't yet a way to transfer an existing phone number to Google, so you're stuck having to give out the new Google number. The service works only with U.S. phone numbers; you can't forward calls overseas.
Because it's an incoming service only, you can't record outbound calls, and you can't use Google Voice to add people to a call. They have to call you.
The service is currently available only to people who had previously signed up for GrandCentral. Google hasn't announced when others can sign up.
Still, despite some flaws and limitations, this could turn out to be one of Google's most beloved services. Being able to read your voice mail and having one number that rings all your phones is terrific, especially at the amazingly low price of free.
(This post has been updated to note that your Google caller ID will display correctly if you dial via the service's Web site or use the service's dial-out feature.)
Listen to Larry's interview with Craig Walker, Google Voice guru and co-founder of GrandCentral
Listen now: Download today's podcast
While GrandCentral may have been stealing headlines lately, there's another suffix-sharing phone call management service called RingCentral that can make small businesses look and function like larger ones with some pretty neat telephonic tomfoolery. The service has been around since early 2004, and today is introducing a slew of VoIP plans called DigitalLine that give users the option to use VoIP instead of, or on top of their existing landlines.
So what can you do with RingCentral? Small business owners will love it, since you can set up a ridiculously extensive set of rules to handle incoming calls, or reroute them on the fly with a virtual phone call manager called SoftPhone. The idea is to take a single or multiline setup and spread it out intelligently, while putting all the options online for you to manage and tweak while away from your office.
Make and control calls on your desktop, be they analog or VoIP.
(Credit: CNET Networks)Like GrandCentral, you can set up calls to be routed to different phones or line extensions, there are also handy business-centric settings to tweak the response people get when they call at off-business hours. For fans of GrandCentral's multiphone ring system, RingCentral has also gone the extra step of letting you add three-digit passwords to an incoming phone call to keep unintended pickups from happening. This feature actually stemmed out of users wanting to keep their children from answering a business phone call when they had forgotten to turn off the home forwarding options off, or couldn't get to their own phone in time.
The new VoIP implementation is fairly straightforward. All incoming calls can be set to be received via VoIP, letting you receive and manage phone calls while away from your landline. You can also get various minute packages to use VoIP to make outgoing calls, including an all-you-can-eat plan of outgoing VoIP for around $25/month. In contrast to consumer VoIP services like Vonage, Skype, or Comcast's DigitalVoice, RingCentral isn't aiming at cheap outgoing long distance providers, as much as the multi-line business crowd who's looking for a way to handle several lines without the hardware or staffing.
For a shot of the call log interface, click the read more link below.
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SunRocket, a voice over IP provider, told employees on Monday that it's shutting down, according to several reports from former employees.
The company's Web site is still up, but its customer service line has this recording: "We are no longer taking customer service or sales calls. Goodbye." An internal memo from Sonya Jefferson, director of routing and carrier services for SunRocket was posted on the GigaOm blog earlier Monday.
"Unfortunately this email contains very bad news. We have just been informed that any and all last ditch efforts to keep operations running as well as a potential sale of the company have not gone through and that SunRocket will cease operations at COB today. As such, today is my last day and everyone else you may have worked with at SunRocket. Regarding outstanding and future invoices: Sherwood Partners out of Palo Alto will be handling the close down of all invoices, current and outstanding."
SunRocket, which claimed it had 200,000 customers as of April, was one of several companies to offer an inexpensive telephony service that competed against the traditional phone companies. SunRocket's demise is not surprising. Thanks to IP, voice has become just another software application with companies like AOL, Google, Yahoo, and EarthLink incorporating it into other Web services.
Analysts have been predicting that it would be difficult for companies, like SunRocket and the more popular Vonage, to base an entire business around a VoIP service. While VoIP makes it relatively cheap to serve customers, it's still expensive to acquire them. And that is just the problem that Vonage faces.
Vonage, the most well known VoIP company, last reported it had about 2.2 million subscribers. But the company has also been struggling. Earlier this year a jury in Virginia found the company had infringed on three Verizon patents. Vonage is currently appealing the decision, but the legal battle is taking a toll on the company. In court in April, it said that it has been losing about 50,000 customers a month.
The trouble that SunRocket and Vonage is having is a clear indication how hard it is for a start-up to compete head-to-head with the traditional phone companies. Some of the newer VoIP companies, like JaJah, have learned this lesson. And they're designing services that work alongside traditional phone services, instead of simply replacing them.
(Credit:
CNET Networks)
Skype is set to launch a new version of its VoIP phone service for international customers in 24 countries. The new service, named Skype Pro, won't charge by the minute for its SkypeOut service, which lets computers call landlines. Instead, it will charge users a €2-per-month subscription fee and €3.9 cents-per-call connection fee.
There are some benefits to the new system over the old one: specifically, free Skype voicemail (which used to cost about $20 a year) and a large discount on a SkypeIn number at which regular phones can call you. All in all, it's a pretty good deal.
In the United States, we've been spoiled with relatively cheap, all-you-can-talk VoIP plans from Vonage and Comcast Digital Voice. In fact, Skype's latest North American effort, $15-per-year unlimited service, makes it seem like international customers are being taken for a ride. Connection fees are a thing of the past. Sooner or later Skype needs to realize that.
-- Skype on a cell phone. You don't need a Skype-only handset or a bulky laptop to use Skype while traveling. Nokia has a Skype client built-in on its new N800 series. The good news is you can get your hands on the handset right away; the bad news is you won't be able to use Skype on it until June (Crave).
-- Yahoo launches Go 2.0. This new tool combines several of Yahoo's brands into a single mobile app. Most important is the new search tool called OneSearch, which is optimized for mobile phones. There's also Yahoo Local, Mail and Flickr photo management. (CNET News)
-- Vonage to resell EarthLink wireless Net service. Wimax isn't here just yet, so in the meantime, Vonage is going to let you access citywide Wi-Fi networks owned by Earthlink. In a perfect world, this means your VoIP calling could go uninterrupted over long distances akin to that of cellular networks. (CNET News)
-- Google developing search engine for ubertelescope. Three billion pixels makes for pretty large pictures, which is why Google is teaming up with The Large Synoptic Survey Telescope Project to help them sort out the data for easy searching. They're also planning to make a version of this project available to the public, which means the long-awaited Google Sky is a reality. (CNET News)
-- Modeo Launches Live Mobile TV Beta Service In Nation's Largest Metro Area. New York beta testers for Modeo's mobile TV service will be able to get a group of channels on demand to their mobile devices. These aren't strange IPTV channels either, including Fox News and The Discovery Channel. Soon you'll be able to watch Meerkat Manor and Bill O'Reilly on the go. (Engadget)
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