Google Voice -- A Short Summary.

2009-09-19T18:04:30+02:00

Google everywhere, anytime. We have google to search, google to chat, google to email, we have Google phones and Google web statistics. So, what's next? The latest Google service is called “Google Voice”. Although it is yags (yet another google service), it is somehow special. So, what is Google Voice? Short and simple: using voice calls like email.

Well, let’s start from the beginning and then see how deep the rabbit hole goes. First of all, the service is still “beta” and only users from the USA (who have a phone number starting with +1) are able to use this service. After registering at the website you get a phone number from google, which will stay forever with you (eg. like your gmail-account).

Multi-Ring

Through the website you can configure this “voice account”. Google allows to forward calls – similar to emails – to different other caller IDs like the one of your cell as well as your land-line phone. This feature is called multi-ring. So if the phone number of the cell changes, you don’t have to bother with it. Simply change it in the web interface and someone who is calling you on your Google-Phone number will not realize the difference.

Forward Calls to Mobile Phone

Google also allows you to setup call filters to “sort” incoming calls (like in Outlook ;-). Eg: all calls after 20.00 are forwarded to your online voice mail (which then is transcribed and sent to your mobile via SMS). Another option is that specific (business) contacts will be forwarded to your voice mail over the weekend, whereas friends still can reach you

The features I like best are call widgets. You create the widget with the website (like a paypal button within paypal) and place this widget (it is actually flash) on your website. Someone who comes to your website simply enters his name and his phone number. Then google calls him and google calls you (like the jajah service). You will not be directly connected to the caller. Your “secretary” first tells you the name of the caller. Then you can decide whether you would like to take the call or redirect the caller to your voice mail.

Voice Mail Inbox

The visualized voice mail box, which can be accessed online, is very convenient. You see all the incoming and outgoing calls over time. Additionally you can listen to all voice mails (which are converted into text thru voice recognition). No mobile network operator has such a service yet, although it would be feasible and very useful for the customer

Of course there is already a special client for android that allows you to use all the services smoothly on your mobile as well. The iPhone client actually was not released yet by Apple. There is also already a BlackBerry Client and other platforms will be integrated soon.
There are lots of other features as well. As all incoming calls are routed through a google server, this server can provid different services to you such as recording calls, forwarding calls to other devices or do conference calls. (Remember on the Google-Server all the voice calls are bits & bytes …). At the moment also text messages out of the google voice network are free (eg if you are using an android phone or a blackberry with a google voice client).

Where is the Money?

“So where is the money for Google?” you might think. Well, at the moment there is no information on how to generate money out of it. But just have a look, on how Google is making money today: advertisement & long-tail. From my point of view, with this service any company (even a one-man-show) can setup a complex call-management system for eg. Automated answering calls. Additionally small shops with a website on the internet can be contacted by phone within a “click”. This might help retailers to boost business – similar to Google ad. As already mentioned it also can help you to save costs, as google voice can do all the call management for you, if you are on the road for example. Of course google gathers a lot of information on how and why someone is calling someone else. (just like in Google Analytics).
A very interesting scenario also is the following. If you have google voice running on your cell phone, Google knows who you are and where you are. If you surf to a mobile website, you could be connected to the owner of website with a click on button. The owner of the website could also be provided automatically with your phone number and location.

Using Google voice on the mobile phone generates revenue for the MNO, as Google is using ordinary voice calls and not VoIP. Google does not “kill” the MNOs business, but the brand of the MNO and its service will be pushed into the background. I suppose that’s why Apple is still considering allowing Googles App on the iPhone.

Acknowledgment

I’d especially like to thank Christian Kantner from mobilkom austria. There he is dealing with Innovation & technology in the field of m-commerce. He was selected by Google Voice as one of the beta-users and provided me with information and hardware. Thanks Chris!

Gerald Madlmayr's Forum Nokia Blog

Google Voice -- A Short Summary.