Can You Hear Me Now?

So I've been playing with Google Voice for a couple of days now. I must say that so far I've been very impressed. It is feature rich, easy to use, intuitive, and so on; everything you've come to expect from Google. Though, the service isn't entirely of Google's own design; it is based on the service of another company, GrandCentral, which Google acquired.

For those of you who are unfamiliar, Google Voice is a service that gives users a one-stop shop for telephone numbers. After you pick your number (which took me a solid two hours of choosing), you then associate one or more of your "real" phone numbers. I've set up my mobile, home, and direct line at work. Then when someone calls the GV number, it can ring all, some, or even none of the places. You get to pick what phones ring for which callers.

What's Your Number?

I am not telling, just in case someone actually ever does read this blog, I really don't need (more) voice spam. Originally I wanted an Ames number, so that locals could call me without worrying about long-distance charges. Unfortunately there were no Ames numbers available, lots in Iowa, just not in Ames for whatever reason. So I went the other route and decided to go wild and choose a cool number, just in case I ever wanted to impersonate a lawyer from DC.

Voice Mail

One of the cooler features of Google Voice is their voice mail system. It not only allows you to play your voice mail from online, but transcribes the speech to text for searching.

(click on the little play button to hear it)

Welcome to Google Voice! Google Voice gives you a single phone number that rings all your phones, saves your voicemail online, and transcribes your voicemail to text. Other cool features include the ability to listen in on messages while they are being left and the ability to make low cost international calls. To start enjoying Google Voice, just give out your Google Voice number. You can record custom greetings for your favorite callers or block annoying callers by marking them as SPAM. Just click on the settings link at the top of your inbox. We hope you enjoy Google Voice.

Other Features

There are a bunch of other cool things about Google Voice, I'm only a few days in to playing with all the features. But Google was nice enough to make a bunch of videos about the service:

• Introduction
• Place Calls
• Listen to Voicemail
• Call Screening
• Manage Groups
• GOOG 411 Integration
• Voicemail Transcripts

Enjoy!

Bout That Time, Eh, Chaps?

I am finally starting a personal blog. I can't say I really know why, but everyone else* I know is doing it, so I figure I might as well join in. I don't really read any of theirs on a regular basis, so I am really not expecting them to read mine either. Perhaps I'll become a blogging junkie. Perhaps not.

With a blog though, I am finally starting to feel really web enabled. Which is a good thing I suppose since I am supposedly a web developer. (Truth be told, I am mostly a manager, accountant and customer relations person.) So as of now I have...

• Facebook
• Twitter
• Picasa
• Blog

I really don't know what all I am going to write about. I have a few ideas tucked away. I am going to probably stay away from movie reviews since my better half has that covered, and does it far better than I could ever hope to do. The other thing I am not to write about is a bunch of personal "about me" junk. So if you don't already know who I am, I guess you're going to have to check me out elsewhere.

I am also not going to commit to writing on a fixed schedule. Quite frankly, my life isn't that interesting, so I don't feel the need to post for the sake of posting. So how will you know when I've updated this and posted something completely cool and awesome? You won't. *shrug* Nobody is going to read this anyway, right?

Go check out this cool animation instead: The End of The World

Enjoy!

* Everyone: Brett K., Carmen C., Kim H., Tony E., Brian D., Jeff H., Ryan G., and others I am sure I am forgetting.