Like many others recently, I have just received my Google Voice telephone number. It’s great! I can now keep the same telephone number for the rest of my life. I know, Local Number Portability, is suppose to help with this, but it’s only local and can be a hassle. Along with a host of great features, I got to review a long list of telephone number to choose. It even has a great feature that allows you to type a word and they will look for an available telephone that uses the corresponding numbers.
As for the site, it’s a pretty typical Google UI:
The service has a bunch of great features, such as:
- Call screening – Announce and screen callers
- Listen in – Listen before taking a call
- Block calls – Keep unwanted callers at bay
- SMS – Send, receive, and store SMS
- Place calls – Call US numbers for free
- Taking calls – Answer on any of your phones
- Phone routing – Phones ring based on who calls
- Forwarding phones – Add phones and decide which ring
- Voicemail transcripts – Read what your voicemail says
- Listen to voicemail – Check online or from your phone
- Notifications – Receive voicemails via email or SMS
- Personalize greeting – Vary greetings by caller
- Share voicemail – Forward or download voicemails
- Conference calling – Join people into a single call
- Call record – Record calls and store them online
- Call switch – Switch phones during a call
- Mobile site – View your inbox from your mobile
- GOOG-411 – Check directory assistance
- Manage groups – Set preferences by group
The invitation came pretty quickly, so if you are interested check it out at: https://services.google.com/fb/forms/googlevoiceinvite/
