Google Voice - Demystified

I may surely sound like a Google fan to you all as most of my posts discuss Google technologies usually. Well, I surely am getting closer to becoming a fan I must admit as it’s a great pleasure to write for Google and their technologies which are not just path-breaking but extremely innovative too.


In this article, I am going to give you a quick heads up on somewhat-new-still-in-beta technology or a service called Google Voice which was announced early this year. Just like many other Google products, this service is also available through an invite only and fortunately I was sent an invite a few months later itself.

Okay, so what is Google Voice, anyways? You will be surprised to know that it is primarily a telecommunication service. Telecom & Google, what’s-going-on-here you must be thinking, right? Yes, that’s the reaction you will usually get from other readers also. Google Voice allows you, upon signup, to select a local U.S. phone number (which however depends on the state & the city you are located in) for free.

So, is it basically just a virtual telephone? No, it has lot more to offer than your conventional phone does. Surely it allows you to receive incoming calls and make outgoing calls but does it with a difference. Let’s setup a quick scenario here –

• Mr. A is a small time businessman based out of New York.
• His business requires him to place lot of long distance calls, using his business phone, almost on a daily basis.
• He also owns a cell phone which is primarily for personal use only.

Now, let’s build scenario further by adding some before & after scenarios:
Before - Google Voice

• Mr. A has shared his business phone number with his customers, business partners, etc.
• He has not shared his personal cell phone number with them as it is for personal use.
• When not in office, he cannot receive business calls unless a call forwarding facility is setup which definitely comes at a cost.
• He also has to get back in office to review the voice mails recorded by his business phone.
• When he is travelling outside the home network, he has to have his calls diverted from his business phone to his personal cell phone to be able to stay in touch with his customers; again cost is involved.

After - Google Voice

• Mr. A has setup Google Voice which allowed him to select a local number.
• He shares this number with customers & business folks, etc.
• He receives the calls from them on his mobile also when he not in his office even.
• Or if he opts not to take the call as he is having dinner with his cool chic, he returns back home and browses through his voice mailbox.
• While travelling out for a short trip to his grandma’s home in Ohio, he takes his calls on the local landline number at his grandma’s house.

Whoa, so very confusing!! Yes, I am sure you would be feeling puzzled by now so let’s decrypt & differentiate the scenarios we just discussed and see how the ‘after’ scenario will work wonders for Mr. A.

1. Firstly, Google Voice allows Mr. A to not just select a local number but also allows you to configure the forwarding facility which lets you receive calls on any of the numbers configured by him. In our scenario, the business phone as well as his cell phone start ringing anytime his customer calls on his Google Voice number.
2. Secondly, as most of his customers belong to a neighboring state, he has selected a Google Voice number which his customers can access locally without need for any long distance calling facility; again cost saved for the customers is business won for self, I would say.
3. After returning back, Mr. A reconfigures his Google Voice account to forward the calls to his business phone & the cell phone instead.

How did Mr. A benefit from Google Voice facility? The benefits are numerous –

• A single number which can be shared while maintaining other numbers unexposed/private.
• The same single number represents all your other phones and when you receive call on the Google Voice number, you are notified on all other configured phones as all those phones ring simultaneously hence you never miss a call.
• Make long distance international calls through Google Voice using your regular phone or through web interface at low rates.
• Receive voicemails directly in your Google Voice inbox and replay them at your convenience anytime.
• Record calls so you always have a track of your important business discussions.
• Call forwarding is fully configurable allowing you to choose which phones to ring and you can even define rules or filters.

 

You can benefit too. But unfortunately, this service is limited to US (limited regions) only but we shall wait to experience another great & innovative approach from Google.

Till then, keep reading…