Google Voice Could Be a Game Changer

By Andrew Berg
WirelessWeek - March 13, 2009

There are rumblings that Google Voice could change the telecom industry in fundamental ways. A new Google-based voice service combined with the sheer size of the company’s existing user base is raising some eyebrows around the industry.

“I think the implications are pretty far reaching … Anyone who is using Gmail can initiate a free voice call from their computer using whatever phone you want,” says Hal Steger, vice president of marketing for Funambol.

The technology being used has been employed by JahJah for years. The user enters the number for the phone they’d like to use and the number for the phone they’d like to call and the service simultaneously rings both numbers, placing a free voice call.

Yesterday, Google said the service is open to Grand Central users and should be available to the general public within the near future. The company did not give a definitive timeline for general release.

Google bought Grand Central, an Internet-based voice service, back in July of 2007. Since then, it’s been using Grand Central as a starting point for the evolution of Google Voice.

The new service provides users with one life-long “uni-number” that links to all the user’s other phone numbers (such as landline, cell, work, hotel). One call to that single Google Voice number can ring a handful of lines.  more …