Google Voice Readied For Public Debut
"We are happy to share that Google Voice is beginning to open up beyond former GrandCentral users," wrote Google Voice product managers Craig Walker and Vincent Paquet in a Thursday post to the Google Blog. "If you requested an invitation on the Google Voice site or previously on GrandCentral, keep your eye out for an invite e-mail."
GrandCentral, the startup alluded to by Walker and Paquet in the post, was acquired by Google in 2007. Google Voice is based on GrandCentral's universal phone-number technology, and how it works is that when someone calls a user's Google Voice number, that user's home, mobile, work and other phones ring simultaneously. The service can be customized so that some callers get routed to voicemail, for example, or different ringtones denote different callers on certain phones. It's a free service.
Google first introduced Google Voice back in March, with Walker describing at the time how it "improves the way you use your phone." Google Voice users can receive transcripts of their voicemail and archive and search SMS text messages, as well as make international calls at low prices and access Goog-411 directory assistance. Calls in the United States are free, but the transcription feature and others require small fees.
The blog post shows users how Google Voice invitees sign up for the phone number. One report, originally from TechCrunch and mentioned in numerous other tech blogs, said Google will let people keep their existing cell phone numbers for use with Google Voice.
Google hasn't said anything about whether it will add its search advertising platform to Google Voice in the future.
The service's calling ability, however, positions it as a direct competitor to eBay's wildly popular Skype -- meaning, in all likelihood, the consumer voice-over-IP battle is about to heat up.