Google Voice and What It Does

I have been hearing a lot about Google voice. So I was intrigued to find out what it is and what it does. What exactly is Google Voice? Is it a phone redirecting service? VoIP? Voicemail? All of the above? None of the above? So I did a little research and I am going to give you some insight to Google Voice.

Google Voice originated as GrandCentral, an independent company that hit the scene in 2005. GrandCentral allowed users to register a new phone number and direct it to ring multiple phones; it could also collect messages and act as your personal switchboard operator. This sounds boring on the surface, but it provided a number of cool features, such as the ability to listen in on voicemail messages as they were being left or to tell a specific number that your phone number is no longer connected (great for stalkers and crazed PR people, who are kind of like stalkers). Google acquired GrandCentral in 2007, and promptly sat on the project for nearly two years before it relaunched the service as Google Voice in March of 2009.

Currently the only way to get Google Voice is to get invited or either be a grandfathered GrandCentral user.

Features of Google Voice:

One number for all your calls and SMS