Google Voice
It was recently announced that Google has snagged up 1 million phone numbers in an effort to prepare for the opening of Google Voice to additional customers. Google Voice, a product that has not gotten much press since Google acquired GrandCentral and changed the name, allows users to have a single phone number ring any combination of phone numbers they own. It's currently not open to the public but it's my belief you're going to be hearing about a lot more in the near future. Before we talk about the why, let's look at some of the benefits.
Get a call on your cell phone through GV you don't want to take it? Send it to voicemail and the message is available in your browser whenever you're ready. Talking on your work phone and need to leave to pick up the kids from daycare? Push a few buttons and transfer the call to your cell phone with having to call anyone back. Want your boss to be able to reach you on your cell phone but not when you're on vacation? Create a "Work" group and disable forwarding to your cell phone for some peace. There are plenty more, but you get the point.
The reason you're going to eventually care about GV, or at least the technology it uses, is that it's another step in the direction of blurring the line between our daily lives and the Internet. Yes, it's very convenient to give everyone one number and have that ring your work or cell phone when you deem appropriate, but the real meat of it comes from a fairly seamless blending of dumb technology like your house phone and VOIP. In essence, it uses the Internet to connect devices that were never meant to be connected to the web, let alone each other. Whether you're ready or not, this is more proof all electronic devices will be interconnected and feeding off the same massive hive that is the Internet.
As a Google Voice user, I welcome you to the collective.
Get a call on your cell phone through GV you don't want to take it? Send it to voicemail and the message is available in your browser whenever you're ready. Talking on your work phone and need to leave to pick up the kids from daycare? Push a few buttons and transfer the call to your cell phone with having to call anyone back. Want your boss to be able to reach you on your cell phone but not when you're on vacation? Create a "Work" group and disable forwarding to your cell phone for some peace. There are plenty more, but you get the point.
The reason you're going to eventually care about GV, or at least the technology it uses, is that it's another step in the direction of blurring the line between our daily lives and the Internet. Yes, it's very convenient to give everyone one number and have that ring your work or cell phone when you deem appropriate, but the real meat of it comes from a fairly seamless blending of dumb technology like your house phone and VOIP. In essence, it uses the Internet to connect devices that were never meant to be connected to the web, let alone each other. Whether you're ready or not, this is more proof all electronic devices will be interconnected and feeding off the same massive hive that is the Internet.
As a Google Voice user, I welcome you to the collective.
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home