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GrandCentral Reborn As Google Voice
Some anonymous person wrote in to say that Google has relaunched and rebranded GrandCentral as "Google Voice." The article says it will "revolutionize telephones. It unifies your phone numbers, transcribes your voice mail, blocks telemarketers and elevates text messages to first-class communication citizens." Sadly, the voicemail didn't integrate very nicely w/ my phone back in the day, so I guess I should give it a shot.
I signed up to be notified when it's available to new users.
https://services.google.com/fb/forms/googlevoiceinvite/
Tic-Tac-Toe, Global Thermonuclear War, and relationships all have the same winning move.
It would be a voice synth or something, that was really high quality. I was disapointed.
Obligatory blog plug: http://www.caseybanner.ca/
Maybe Google gave it up for undisclosed cash to Apple since they are using the same term for a new type of multicore support in Snow Leopard. Eric Schmidt sits on Apple's board. Crazier things have happened.
"Im sorry, I can't take your call right now, but if you leave your name, phone number and message, I will get back to you as soon as I am out of Beta...."
Last I heard all their features were free, but I kinda felt bad because I knew the ones I liked could disappear at any time because that was what they said the plan was after they left beta.
All features would be free during the beta, and then they said the "core" ones would be free after that with the rest being paid.
I don't want a revolutionary new phone - the basic idea of the telephone was got pretty much spot on in the 19th century - talk into mic , listen from earpiece. What I want is a phone service thats reliable , cheap and works in an emergency. What I DO NOT want is a phone service that gives me a friggin "select from the following options" load of BS when I lift up the receiver! I have enough of that crap when phoning help desks. As for listening in when someone leaves a message - wooooo! Someone correct me but I believe you've been able to do that with steam powered cassette based answerphones since the 1970s.
Since Caller ID has become virtually useless for identifying anyone other than friends and family (it is regularly blocked or spoofed), it would be nice if Google Voice gave you the option to view the ANI info (which is what is used internally by the phone systems for billing and E-911, and is generally considered unspoofable). I've been waiting for someone to do so for a long time.
I've had a GrandCentral account for years, never used it. First thing I did today was login and search the help for "port number". As it has said for the past few years:
"Although you can't currently port your existing number to GrandCentral, we hope to offer this option in the near future. Check out our blog to stay up-to-date with GrandCentral news and learn about new features."
If I have to give the people who call me a new number, it's not worth it. Maybe if I was moving and was getting a new number anyway ( though cell phones and Vonage don't require this ), then I'd use it.
I'll admit it - I still have a landline phone in my house. My satellite receivers require it, my DSL service requires the line, I feel better knowing it's there in case of an emergency, AND it keeps my teenagers from using up all of our shared cell minutes (the boy used 2700 minutes all by himself last month). In spite of these reasons, I was growing to hate that phone. We get maybe 2 legit calls on that phone a month, the rest are all telemarketers, a dozen a day sometimes, almost always between 6:00pm-9:00pm. It was driving me nuts.
Along comes GrandCentral. Now, my home number is call-forwarded to GrandCentral. From there, I've whitelisted the numbers that are allowed to call us. Some of those numbers ring my cell, some ring my wife's, some ring both. Everything else goes to voicemail or is blocked as spam. Blocked callers hear a "number not in service" message. Voicemails are sent to us as emails.
Very slick, VERY convenient, and it's removed a serious annoyance. Bliss...
Hey, G1 Central author here. Glad to hear you like the app; it's been a lot of fun to write. I'm looking forward to seeing what I can do with Google Voice once I get the option to upgrade.
P.S. - G1 Central is available under the Apache 2 license. http://svn.evancharlton.com/wsvn/G1Central
Project page here: http://evancharlton.com/projects/g1central
They are now listening in and converting Voice to Text. I suspect that they are using an AI to figure out the heurestics of converting voice to Text. At some point, that will be useful in a number of new areas. Not just better transcription, but will be EXTREMELY useful for selling products to the Feds. Want to know exactly what Abdula is saying to his Cousin Obama in Pakistan or Saudi Arabia? Of course, that will lead to new translators as well. It could convert nicely from Arabic to English.
I prefer the "u" in honour as it seems to be missing these days.
So, now instead of listening to 3 different phone numbers for one person, the NSA simply has to listen to one, or just play the calls back later at their convenience. It's PERFECT! /I am not currently a tinfoil subscriber, I just channel their logic sometimes.
How does google plan to make money off of this? TFA mentions that they'll be transcribing voicemail to text in near real-time. Will they also be sifting those voicemails for marketing keywords? If my buddy calls to brag about his new car, will I be seeing BMW ads next time I log into gmail?
*Pulling the tinfoil hat even lower over the brow now* Will Google Talk also have the ability to monitor calls made through their service for marketing info?
Yeah, it sounds like a great service, but what's the cost in privacy?
In bulk they are almost nothing, in the cents-per-month range.
"Patriotism is your conviction that this country is superior to all other countries because you were born in it." -- GBS
I was just thinking the same thing - Google is in many ways an engine of innovation, and they bring a lot of cash to bear on a problem. But as you suggest, the same was true of Microsoft in the late 80s and early 90s. The only real difference is attitude, and attitudes change.
As someone who makes use of Google's services, I think this is great, but I can't help but wonder whether this is ultimately stifling advancement in the field. Google doesn't NEED to innovate in voice, it just WANTS to. In some ways, that results in a better product: they take risks a small software house dares not. But they're not as committed to innovating, and they drive a lot of people out of the market. Gmail is a great service, and Google continues to do new and interesting things. But I haven't seen a single new webmail service since Gmail went live, and that's a little worrisome.
As a software developer, I used to worry that Microsoft might find my particular niche potentially profitable. Now I worry that Google might think it's cool.
Yes, Google has addressed this. They now send someone to your house to inject you with valium just before the phone rings, so you don't freak out.
"Patriotism is your conviction that this country is superior to all other countries because you were born in it." -- GBS
That reminds me of a quote from Sid Meier's Aplha Centauri by entrepreneur Nwabudike Morgan: "We are not a monopoly. Our product is simply so good that no one chooses to compete with us."
I'm not terribly concerned about Google, to be honest. I know they have a lot of my personal data. But they provide high quality products/services and don't treat me like shit. They're reliable and friendly and trustworthy. Microsoft, on the other hand, has always been shifty in one way or another, and their products have always seemed only partially baked and ready.
Benevolent dictators are okay when they're actually benevolent. So far, Google hasn't done anything to wrong me.
Who wants video phones? There are really only two times that I use (or want to use) video calling:
1. Very occasionally, for remote meetings with colleagues that I know well and like, mainly because it is amusing and allows us to connect after not working side-by-side for a long time.
2. When dealing with tiny kids at a long distance.
Other than that, it's awful. I hate it for ordinary business calls because I can't read email, munch on raisins, pick my nose, stare out the window, or whatever else I'd normally do. And I've never felt like I want to see my friends when calling them.
Assuming I'm not too terribly odd in this regard, the market for video is probably limited.
"Patriotism is your conviction that this country is superior to all other countries because you were born in it." -- GBS
I setup my GC account a year or more ago. It's pretty slick for the most part. I have GC forward my incoming calls to my free Gizmo (http://gizmo5.com/pc/) SIP soft phone or SIP desk phone depending on whether I'm on the road or at my home office. For my friends I also have it ring my cellphone/homephone.
I was also able to have GC import my Outlook address book (before they removed the feature) so all my contacts are already loaded.
The nice part is that ALL calls are in-bound to me (so far) so I essentially pay nothing (if sent to a phone other than my cellphone). If I need to make a call I can make it through my GC Address Book. There are even some free apps floating around that let you quickly dial your contacts or a phone number without having to log into the GC website.
I'm happy that Google is *finally* doing something with the technology. I'm willing to give Google Voice a shot once my account gets the upgrade.
I'm a Vonage user. Yes, they do partially do this, but in a MUCH more limited way.
1) There is no option that I know of to screen the calls via voicemail.
2) They don't have any useful way of blocking callers (you can block anonymous, but thats it)
3) The system isn't configurable to forward/simulring individual numbers differently. I find this to be a problem. I have my home (vonage) number simulring my cell phone. Problem is, when I'm trying to call my wife at home, the phone at home ring once, then the simulring to my cell phone kicks in, but since I'm initiating a call, it goes straight to voicemail, which counts as answering the call, so the home phone stops ringing and I get my own voicemail.
4) Theres no way to transfer a call from one phone to another.
5) I think Vonage charges a fee per voicemail to do the transcription.
That's just for starters.
This seems like a really great service. But remember that Google is public about the fact that they crawl through your data so that they can profit from it. Email is bad enough, but why anyone would send their whole life streaming through Google is beyond me. It continues to surprise me how comfortable and trusting people are getting with the cloud.
Ignorance is bliss.. Sorry to wreck it for you.
Laws are rules for the court, but merely a bottom bar to hit for life. Think beyond laws in your actions always.
I have a home land line, a work land line (mandatory), a work cell, and a home cell. My wife has a cell and my daughter has a cell.
I can, depending on the caller ID (and I'm talking about reliable ones from people I know -- like my boss) have GC ring all of my phones, just my phones, just me work phones, just my home phones, my daughter's phone, or just about any combination I want.
Or no phone at all.
I suggest it for anyone who deals with clients and wants their number to remain the same after they leave a job. Get a GC number and put it on your business cards. Link up your cell and your desk phone. Leave the job, keep the cards, your clients may not even know the difference.
It has always been a good service.
Here will be an old abusing of God's patience and the king's English.
That's true of every service, from every company, whether its in Beta or not.
True of every SERVICE. Untrue of every PRODUCT. If I could buy or download a copy and host it on my server, then it goes away when I'm done with it, not when someone else is.