Gmail Voice Calling
If you’re like me at some point this week you signed onto Gmail and were met with prompt asking you to download Google Voice Chat.
For a few months now I’ve been a user of Google Voice. Google Voice (and other services like PhoneBooth.com) allow you to register for free and get an additional telephone #. PhoneBooth’s explanatory video (a product SociaLink sells by the way!) does a great job explaining why the service is useful – especially as a small business owner.
As an expat from Minnesota, living in Chicago, I don’t want to change my # to include a 312 area code. I like my Twins, my pizza not deep dish and my area code 612. HOWEVER, as a business owner I wouldn’t want to put off a potential customer by giving the idea that I’m not a Chicago resident – maybe I can’t be reached urgently if needed, etc.? So Google Voice allows me to register a 312 # and forward all call to my existing cell phone. At networking events, etc. I give out the 312 # and (explosion noise) no love lost.
With Google Voice, however, this service was only good for receiving calls. But… (another explosion noise), now Gmail Voice Chat solves this problem! The service syncs to gmail and allows free calls anywhere in the USA. – free! Even Skype charges $0.02/minute (last I checked).
In summary, for someone with limited reception or limited cell phone minutes, this service is a gem! It will be interesting to see how affected services – Phonebooth, Skype, and even cell phone carriers like ATT, Sprint, Verizon – react. Google is the newest biggest player in the game.
-Danny
About time! Someone with some information on this. You’d think considering how popular Comic Book Adaptations are nowadays, some information would actually be pretty easy to find. Apparently not. Anyway, thanks for this! I appreciate it!