Sid’s Blog

I got my Google Voice invite recently.  Even though I consider myself pretty tech savvy and up to date on cool betas and other Internet tools, I let this one bake for a bit before giving it a test. My first impression is that it’s a very useful tool and is yet another example of the Internet (and Google) making past and present tools and technologies commodities. In this regard, I have to express my frustration with AT&T and Apple and echo many folks before me.  I’ll get into that, but first here’s my early impression of the service and features.

For a brief introduction, Google Voice is a telephone number that is supposed to be your last and final telephone number. You set up Google Voice with your other phone numbers and then you can control how and when you accept calls from who. Sounds great, but let me provide an example which may make more sense. You set up your Google Voice number to send everyone in a “Work” or “Coworkers” group to your office phone number and your cell phone number during week days from 8am-7pm, but not your home number, but you have one particular work buddy that likes to call you on weekends so you make an exception for that individual, but only for your cell phone. You never give out your cell phone number (or any other number) and Google Voice “screens” your calls.

It also has some cool features like

• transferring calls between your phones (say you are on the phone at work, but have tickets to a Bob Dylan show and need to transfer that call to your cell phone so you can finish the call in the car (not that you should talk on the phone while driving)).
• transcribing voicemail messages and sending you a SMS
• announcing your calls when you answer the phone and allowing you to accept or not (again depending on groups, or individuals) and allowing you to send a caller to voicemail (and even listen in on their message and interrupting (remember the good old days with old school answering machines that did that and we used to talk to them (“If your home, pick up.”)))
• recording calls in progress
• sending/receiving SMS messages
• making international calls for decent rates
• when using a computer, you can make calls from Google Voice by entering a number or clicking on a contact and the phone of your choice rings, you pick it up, and then the number you are calling rings…the Caller-ID they see is your Google Voice number
• the interface is very much like gmail, and I expect when it’s opened up, it’s a simple process of selecting your number and it will be fully integrated in gmail (and since Talk is already integrated it’s only a matter of time)

So, why would I have beef with AT&T and Apple? I’m getting to it, but what’s happening is that Google Voice is basically commoditizing voice (like yahoo, hotmail, and gmail commoditized e-mail and unchained you from your ISP) or at least commoditizing how to reach you. If you don’t have to give out your cell phone number (or home phone, or office phone) ever again then there is nothing that tethers you to their services (yeah yeah, I know about number portability) and you can switch carriers or use alternative channels (like your home phone or even VoIP (which I’m sure is in the works for Google Voice (Talk?)).

From what I understand, “there’s an app for that.” It’s already written and I’ve even seen a demo of it on an internet video site. However, AT&T and Apple have blocked the app. It works something like the web page and it would drive your address book and initiate all your calls through the app.  You would click on a name or number and it would dial that and present your Google Voice Caller-ID to the recipient.  But it’s still using the cellular network so it’s not really about the voice minutes. Rather, I think Apple is concerned that someone else is driving the “dialing experience.”  I think that is the perceived threat to both Apple and AT&T.  It’s aggravating because for all the appearance of “openness” this app didn’t pass the muster of either AT&T or Apple or both.

There are some of the tech savvy who think this is a big enough rub that they are leaving the iPhone and going to Android or Palm Pre or even Crackberries as there are apps for all of those (I’m not certain on the Palm Pre, so leave a comment if you know of one). Personally, I still love my iPhone. I honestly think it’s an awesome phone, and with all those apps and other features, I still haven’t seen anything that’s close. The Palm Pre is up there, but it’s still lacking in some areas (namely apps which if it has a Google Voice App is kind of ironic). I will be one of those who complains (like this blog and it’s subsequent tweet) so hopefully AT&T and Apple will get the message (and I’m sure it’s already being aired in the Apple boardroom).

Don’t have Google Voice? Just request an invite. It will come in a week or so.

Sid Boswell Blog, Work Apple, AT&T, Google, Internet, iPhone, Reviews