Google Voice first impressionsPosted by Matt Thommes on March 26, 2009 | Post type: Gain Google has finally resurrected the aging GrandCentral, added some new features, and slapped a new name on it. Google Voice debuts to existing GrandCentral users, and will soon be available to anyone. The main improvement with the upgrade to Google Voice (to be called GV from here on out) is the SMS features, which were simply non-existent in GrandCentral. Carriers charge considerably for SMS, so it makes sense that a corporate monolith like Google absorb the costs. Other new features include voicemail transcription and conference calling. Overall, the web interface for GV is a major improvement over GrandCentral. The application feels more natural, up-to-date, and familiar to those already using other Google products like Gmail.
First impressionsArchived messages goneUpon first glance, you may notice your old GrandCentral voicemail messages are completely missing from GV. Turns out they haven't been deleted - but if you'd like to access them, don't un-bookmark GrandCentral just yet, because you'll still have to log in there to access old voicemail recordings. I'm not sure why these couldn't be transferred over in some fashion, but if I had to guess, I'd blame it on the Flash controls that GrandCentral had, which were required to play voicemails. Perhaps the audio files themselves are difficult to transfer over. Quick access to features - the "wow" aspectAlso gone is the quick access to features, which GrandCentral proudly displayed as a standard navigation tab:
This was nice because whenever I needed to find a certain feature or description, it was only one click away. With GV, it's a lot more difficult to see what the service actually offers. The appearance is that of an inbox, which is practical, but I miss the "wow" aspect. SMS capabilitiesGV has positioned SMS on the same level of prominence as phone calls:
... although it should be noted that calling features heavily outweigh text features. Text messages are archived on the web in your GV account, and you can send and receive as if it's coming from your GV number, but beware of these caveats:
You can't send or receive to short codesThis is, by far, the largest inconsistency with GV SMS. Short codes are very prominent these days, especially involving web services. Heck, Google themselves use short codes for a variety of SMS services. Too bad you can't interact with these services (or any other short codes) using GV. Attempting to send an SMS to a short code will always result in a "message was not successfully delivered" reply:
Above is my attempt to confirm my GV number with Twitter, but this will not work. Text messages sent to your GV number from a short code service will also not work. The message will simply never arrive. SMS must be sent to a phone, and not solely the webYou must have at least one phone set up to receive incoming SMS, otherwise the messages simply do not arrive. My experiment was to test having no physical phones to relay messages to, and simply sending SMS to my GV number, with the hopes that the message would still appear in my web archive. In other words, I'd have an SMS number, without the wireless contract or physical device. In my tests, when I remove my physical phones from my profile, incoming SMS don't appear anywhere. It's not until I re-enabled my physical phone that SMS start to arrive on the web, and to my phone. Incoming SMS can't be forwarded to you as emailTaking the previous point a step further, I'd like incoming SMS sent to me as an email notification, rather than having to forward to my physical phone as a text message. The reason is I'd like to save money on my SMS plan, without having to sacrafice the ability to send/receive SMS as much as I want. There's no current way to have SMS forwarded to you as email, rather than relayed to your physical device as a text message. To recap: there must be a physical device on the other end to capture SMS messages, otherwise SMS sent to your GV number won't appear anywhere. There are no granular group controls for incoming SMSIncoming phone calls to your GV number can be grouped according to your circle of contacts. For example, you can create a group for family, friends, co-workers, etc. Depending on who calls you, you can opt to treat their call in different ways. For example, you could immediately send it to voicemail. Block it. Play a different "call ringing" tone. With SMS, you either receive it, or you don't. It's that simple. There are no granular controls based on who's texting. I would hope, someday, GV treats SMS like phone calls - by allowing customized redirections and features based on who is texting you. Mobile interface to Google VoiceThere also doesn't seem to be a mobile interface to GV. That is, if you're not near a desktop browser for which to access GV, how do you place a call, or send a text, from your GV number? GrandCentral used to have a minimal mobile interface to initiate calls from your GrandCentral number. This would be a smart feature to add in the future for GV. I can envision an iPhone app being useful as well. UPDATE: A helpful comment has pointed me to the GV mobile interface, as well as an explanation on how to turn off SMS from being sent to any device. About the author(s) Matt Thommes is an independent publishing enthusiast, mobile blogger, content creator, informative writer, web developer from a suburb of Chicago. Never one to conform, Matt intends to promote the effect the web has on our lives, in an effort to intensify, instruct, and clarify all that is happening around us. Comments
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There is a mobile site. http://www.google.com/voice/m and most mobile browsers will be automatically redirected to the mobile version of the site. Once you log in on your mobile browser, it will take you to the mobile site.
Also, you can receive SMS just to the web and not your phone. You can uncheck the "Receive SMS on this phone" checkbox on the Phone edit page. You will still get SMS sent to your GV account, but won't be forwarded on to your phone.
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