There may be some controversy as to when the Google Voice early adoption phase ended. I tend to think it was when the invite-only beta ended and GV was opened up to the general public back in June, 2010. Certainly, the ability to port your number to Google Voice is the signal that the late majority will be swarming in soon. So for those of you who pride yourselves on being in the smartly coveted Early Majority - get off your butts and start using Google Voice!
What is Google Voice?
Why Should I Use It?
1. It's free.
2. "One number for all your phones". It's almost... dare I say... magical. One number can be given out to your friends, and no matter where you are - work, home, roaming around with only your cell phone - your phone will ring. Not only do I use Google Voice, but I want my friends to use it too! Don't make me call 3 numbers to find you!
3. Micro-control over your phone calls. With Google Voice you can control who calls you, when to receive those calls, how to route calls based on contact groupings, personalized greetings (ie work vs. friends and family), call blocking, call screening, call recording, and a host of other features too numerous to list.
4. Did I mention it's free?
5. Transcribed Voicemails. Where else can you get this?
"Hey don't forget your dad killed her name. Be careful on the way. Read
some pretty clear down here bomb within like 130 to be careful. Bye"
From this:
"Hey don't forget your dad's pills, honey. And be careful on the way home;
Roads look pretty clear down here, I don't know what it is like on 30 so
be careful. Bye."
There's a whole blog dedicated to Google Voice transcription screw-ups, so why do you need that headache? Because 99% of the time I get the gist of the transcription and this saves me the hassle of listening to voicemails. More importantly, when I'm tied up in a meeting, I can see why the nanny called and ascertain if I need to step out and call back.
6. Free SMS. You read that right, free SMS. Cancel your text messaging plans and give Google Voice to your teenagers. Hate texting from your phone? You can text from your computer as well. SMS are saved in your inbox on Google's servers so you don't have to worry about losing important texts if your phone dies. --MMS is not currently supported by Google Voice so you have to send your pictures via GMail.
7. VOIP Calling and cheap international calling.
8. It's never been easier to use Google Voice on the fly. Apps are available for Android, iOS, Blackberry, webOS, and WP7.
Obvious Caveats to Any Free Service
Signing up for Google Voice requires signing away all rights to your personal communication, web history and basically your digital life. Not a problem? Then navigate over to the sign-up page (assuming you have a gmail account already - come on, you're an early majority adopter, you gave up your Hotmail account two years ago DIDN'T YOU?), enter your gmail credentials, and get started enjoying Google Voice.
Great Reading for Getting Started with Google Voice:
Google Voice Blog
Lifehacker
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