Google Voice First Impressions
After months (literally) of trying to get in I finally got a Google Voice account the other day. It seems like there are mixed results in getting a Google Voice account by request. Some people get it in minutes, others in days and others never get it at all. You can put me in the last group. From time to time I’ve tried requesting an invitation since last March but to no avail. In the end I got one from a Twitter friend.
Putting the difficulties of getting an account aside I have to say it’s a nice service.
When you set up your account you get the choice of getting a new Google Voice phone number or using your current number. I chose to use my current number so I wouldn’t have to notify all my contacts that my number had changed. The are some advantages to using a Google Voice number. For an explanation click here.
The most basic feature of Google Voice is voice mail. Once you’re set up your account Google Voice becomes your voice mail provider. In addition to the usual voice mail features (including a number to call to access your messages from any phone) Google Voice transcribes all incoming messages and will send them to you via text message and/or email (depending on your preferences). Google Voice also provides a web page that gives your voice mail messages the GMail treatment. That’s right, web based voice mail with transcriptions and saved voice messages so you can email messages to anyone you wish.
The only problem I see with the voice mail feature is that the phone interface only allows you to listen to new messages. There’s no way to listen to archived messages. This is a problem for me since sometimes I like to save messages to access later. Yes, I can access them on the web but what if I’m on the road with only my phone? The workaround is to save a message as new after listening to it but then when I call in it will include the message in the new message count. When I call in and it says I have 2 new messages I don’t want an old message included in that count. If my wireless provider gets this feature right then Google Voice must as well.
The web interface has some great features. In addition to letting you forward a voice mail via email it also allows you to add notes on a message, download the message as an MP3 and supplies code to embed the message in a web page.
You can also call someone from the web interface. Simply enter the number you want to call and select which of the phones set up in your Google Voice account you’d like to use and Google Voice will call you and dial the number you want to call after you pick up the phone. This also allows you to take advantage of Google Voice’s international calling rates instead of that of your carrier. For more information click here.
All in all Google Voice is an interesting and useful service that I plan on using for the foreseeable future.
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