GrandCentral Reborn As Google Voice 206
Some anonymous person wrote in to say that Google has relaunched and rebranded GrandCentral as "Google Voice." The article says it will "revolutionize telephones. It unifies your phone numbers, transcribes your voice mail, blocks telemarketers and elevates text messages to first-class communication citizens." Sadly, the voicemail didn't integrate very nicely w/ my phone back in the day, so I guess I should give it a shot.
Wish they would use ANI instead of CID (Score:5, Interesting)
Since Caller ID has become virtually useless for identifying anyone other than friends and family (it is regularly blocked or spoofed), it would be nice if Google Voice gave you the option to view the ANI info (which is what is used internally by the phone systems for billing and E-911, and is generally considered unspoofable). I've been waiting for someone to do so for a long time.
As a current GrandCentral user... (Score:2, Interesting)
I think I'd better keep an empty bladder for the next couple of days, so I don't pee my pants with excitement when I get the upgrade notice.
Aw man, if I had an Android phone syncing my Gmail/Google Voice contacts, too... darn you, AT&T! Hurry up with that!
Still can't port your existing number (Score:4, Interesting)
I've had a GrandCentral account for years, never used it. First thing I did today was login and search the help for "port number". As it has said for the past few years:
"Although you can't currently port your existing number to GrandCentral, we hope to offer this option in the near future. Check out our blog to stay up-to-date with GrandCentral news and learn about new features."
If I have to give the people who call me a new number, it's not worth it. Maybe if I was moving and was getting a new number anyway ( though cell phones and Vonage don't require this ), then I'd use it.
GrandCentral is spam filtering for your phone (Score:5, Interesting)
I'll admit it - I still have a landline phone in my house. My satellite receivers require it, my DSL service requires the line, I feel better knowing it's there in case of an emergency, AND it keeps my teenagers from using up all of our shared cell minutes (the boy used 2700 minutes all by himself last month). In spite of these reasons, I was growing to hate that phone. We get maybe 2 legit calls on that phone a month, the rest are all telemarketers, a dozen a day sometimes, almost always between 6:00pm-9:00pm. It was driving me nuts.
Along comes GrandCentral. Now, my home number is call-forwarded to GrandCentral. From there, I've whitelisted the numbers that are allowed to call us. Some of those numbers ring my cell, some ring my wife's, some ring both. Everything else goes to voicemail or is blocked as spam. Blocked callers hear a "number not in service" message. Voicemails are sent to us as emails.
Very slick, VERY convenient, and it's removed a serious annoyance. Bliss...
Vonage? (Score:1, Interesting)
As exciting as this would be, vonage is already doing it.
They will ring multiple numbers at the same time, provide web-based accces to voicemail, send you an email when you get a voicemail, and transcribe voicemails if you feel the need.
Re:Can't wait (Score:5, Interesting)
I don't know, I'm becoming more and more wary about all the personal information Google is acquiring, and this is another area where Google is able to collect and store such information. Gmail, Calendar, Blogger, Desktop and now essentially, Phone Manager. The way things are going, soon Google will will be able to set your alarm clock for you without your direct input. They'll just know what time you need to wake up and voila.
Re:Wish they would use ANI instead of CID (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Paradox (Score:5, Interesting)
That reminds me of a quote from Sid Meier's Aplha Centauri by entrepreneur Nwabudike Morgan: "We are not a monopoly. Our product is simply so good that no one chooses to compete with us."
I'm not terribly concerned about Google, to be honest. I know they have a lot of my personal data. But they provide high quality products/services and don't treat me like shit. They're reliable and friendly and trustworthy. Microsoft, on the other hand, has always been shifty in one way or another, and their products have always seemed only partially baked and ready.
Benevolent dictators are okay when they're actually benevolent. So far, Google hasn't done anything to wrong me.
Free Phone (So Far) (Score:2, Interesting)
I was also able to have GC import my Outlook address book (before they removed the feature) so all my contacts are already loaded.
The nice part is that ALL calls are in-bound to me (so far) so I essentially pay nothing (if sent to a phone other than my cellphone). If I need to make a call I can make it through my GC Address Book. There are even some free apps floating around that let you quickly dial your contacts or a phone number without having to log into the GC website.
I'm happy that Google is *finally* doing something with the technology. I'm willing to give Google Voice a shot once my account gets the upgrade.
Yes I use it and it is great (Score:5, Interesting)
I have a home land line, a work land line (mandatory), a work cell, and a home cell. My wife has a cell and my daughter has a cell.
I can, depending on the caller ID (and I'm talking about reliable ones from people I know -- like my boss) have GC ring all of my phones, just my phones, just me work phones, just my home phones, my daughter's phone, or just about any combination I want.
Or no phone at all.
I suggest it for anyone who deals with clients and wants their number to remain the same after they leave a job. Get a GC number and put it on your business cards. Link up your cell and your desk phone. Leave the job, keep the cards, your clients may not even know the difference.
It has always been a good service.
Re:Another so called "Revolution"? Yeah ok ... (Score:2, Interesting)
I've never had a Grand Central call go to any of my other voicemails. I set my work phone to go straight to voicemail if I'll be off for a few days. It keeps ringing on my cell and it doesn't leave a message on voicemail.
You can set up groups and route certain groups to certain phones. Friends/Family/Work/Other/Spam are the defaults. There is a "custom" but I've yet to play with that. You can also play a different greeting and have a different ringer(what the caller hears) per group.
Re:Still can't port your existing number (Score:2, Interesting)
I've been on GrandCentral for a year now, and thus far, it's been great for filtering many calls I don't care to receive much. Anytime I started a new service (cable, credit card, etc), I just tell them my GC number. Now, I don't waste my time with Comcast calling to try and tell me it's "only" $130 to add internet phone to my cable bill, or Best Buy calling me every day to say I haven't spent my $5 reward zone coupon. Hell, once I get converted and can just get text message transcripts, I'll be in heaven. My job doesn't leave able to use the cell phone, and I can't get away to listen to voicemail too often. But I can flip it open, read a text message, and put it away in five seconds to know if it's worth me following up.
So, you can just do a slow migration like this. It's free, so it's worth keeping the option open. If Google allows more groups in the address book than GC, with lots of configuration options, I could perhaps see myself migrating family/friends to that number too.
Re:Can't wait (Score:3, Interesting)
I get to say "nope, you can't have that" if someone asks rather than getting a letter saying "Oh by the by, someone came by with a Subpoena and we gave them all your voicemails/text messages for the past 3 years...".
As much as I think you are being overly paranoid (who with the power of subpoena cares about your voice mail - and if they do, they can just as well take your Asterisk box anyway) - but GrandCentral voicemail is extremely easy to hack into by ANYONE. All you need to know is the GC number and the person's actual number and you can listen to their voicemail anytime. I really hope that this is one of the first things they fix as they migrate to "Google Voice".
-Em