Google Voice

Google Voice gears up to become the next big thing for the search giant.
The already impressive features of this new service just may be the communication
solution for many businesses and also personal use.

The main feature is of course the ability to have one and one number only
for all your phones.
That's correct - Google Voice allows for one number to be used for your Cell phone, home and office, etc.
You may even designate which phone rings at what time depending on who's calling.

For Example:

You have to leave your place of business every Tuesday and Thursday morning to pick up a new shipment of supplies.However,you want to stay on top of things during that time.
So you can designate your most important clients to reach you at your cellphone, and the less crucial contacts to be routed to your office assistant instead.
They won’t even know the difference. Of course you can achieve a similar effect with call forwarding from other phone companies.


If you are in the medical field, let's say a surgeon or dentist practicing in a clinic setting or hospital, this feature could really work well for you.
Your fellow doctors would not have to sift through their phone to find your cell number in order to bypass the front office and get therefore exchange info more efficiently.
You could still be reached by colleagues or friends while you’re on the way to a conference or a similar situation all without the need to provide multiple phone numbers.


Other features include, but are not limited to:

* 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 - 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


Other upcoming features:

* Conference - 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 ( Free )
* Manage groups - Set preferences by group


You can view short and informative clips for each feature at the website for Google Voice here:

As of the time of this article there are quite a few companies working on incorporating Google Voice into their own service such as OnState Communications.

OnState Communications enables Google Voice to become a full-fledge PBX for your business at a fraction of the cost of other providers.

This once again pits Google against other heavyweights in their quest of total net domination,such as Microsoft,Skype and Comcast just to name a few.