Hello Google Voice, Goodbye Skype

After nearly a 2 year delay, Google has finally put Grandcentral, a service it acquired back in 2007, to good use. The new service is called Google Voice, and it’s currently available as a preview to GrandCentral users and a small number of users with invites.

UPDATES:
* Mar 31, 2009 - Skype roll out latest version (v 4.0)

The service looks a lot like Gmail for voicemail, although you don’t have to be a Gmail user to use it. It lets you retrieve transcripts of your voicemail, archive and search all your sent and received SMS messages, and you can make calls directly from Google Voice’s interface. The calls are free in the US, and cost a small fee internationally.

The automated transcripts are definitely one of the most interesting features; Google has invested a lot in voice-to-text and text-to-voice conversions lately, and this feature will probably be reliable enough for most users. If you like, you can set Google Voice to email or SMS you the transcriptions.

However, Google Voice can also be seen as an aggregator for all various forms of phone communication. It lets you pick one phone number, and reroute voicemail, SMS and phone calls from other to that number, or several numbers. Depending on the adoption rate of Google Voice, it could be a huge threat to a number of other popular services; VoIP clients such as Skype, as well as voicemail transcription services such as Spinvox, come to mind.

New Features of Google Voice:

Google’s added new features and plugged some big holes that limited the original service. Some of the more useful and innovating new features:

Text Messaging: Google wants people to use their Google Voice phone number exclusively (and in fact it’s the only way to use it properly). A problem with the original service – it didn’t allow text messaging, so you had to tell people your mobile number as well if you wanted to send and receive text messages with them. Now, Google Voice will accept text messages and forward them on to your mobile phone. You can respond to those messages as well. Google is using the existing Gateway technology (which is used by Google Chat) to power this feature.

Voicemail Transcription: Google also added a nifty transcription feature (which is using the same subscription service as Google 411) for voicemails. All voicemails are transcribed easily saved into the system and searchable. Users can add notes or tags to voicemails and each transcription details how confident Google is about the success of voice transcription; Google Voice highlights word in lighter color that they are not confident were subscribed properly. And transcription takes about 30 seconds to be seen in the system from the end of a voicemail. All in all, Google may have unkilled the dreaded voicemail.

Friend Settings: Google has added new settings that allow users to route calls from specific people straight to voicemail, or your mobile phone, etc, instead of having to state their name and then be forwarded accordingly.

New User Interface: The primary user interface for Google Voice is through your phone via an audio menu. But users can also log in to the website to administer the account and view activity. This interface has undergone a makeover - It now looks very much like a comprehensive Gmail inbox with tabs for Voicemail, SMS, Recorded calls, Placed calls, Received calls and Missed calls. And the Google Voice is easily integrated into the list of links to Google apps at the top left of each application. All SMS and transcribed voicemails are searchable and taggable, which is very useful and will change the way people interact with these messages. Google also says that full integration with Gmail is coming, but won’t say when. Personally, having all my email, SMS and transcribed voicemails in a single inbox could be life-changing. You can also respond to text messages from the interface and initiate phone calls, which then calls your designated phone and then the recipient.

Conference and International Calls: Google Voice also added a conference calling feature allowing conference calls of up to six participants and recording abilities. International calls can also be made through the system at very reasonable rates. For example, voice calls to France are $0.02 per minute, to France mobile phones $0.15 per minute, and to China $0.02 per minute. These rates are about the same as Skype’s international phone rates.

BlogTactic Notes: Barely 24 hours after this post, there were some queries on the Internet checking whether there is an affiliate program of this Google Voice. Duh.

Source: Google Voice is Like Gmail for Voicemail and GrandCentral To (Finally) Launch As Google Voice. It’s Very, Very Good.

Internet Topics: Google vs Skype | Google Voice International rates | Google Voice low rates | Google Text to Voice | Google Voice Skype rate | Google Voice Gmail integration | choice between Google Voice or Skype