lauren's library blog

Google rocks out whatever it takes on (at least it seems that way), so watch out, they’re coming to your phone.

I’ve had GrandCentral since August 2007, and I’ve had mixed feelings about it. Since I’m facing a few writing deadlines, I’m just giving you bullet points here:

The Awesome:

• One phone number: you can associate all your phones with it so that when someone calls the GrandCentral number it rings the phones you tell it to ring.
• Spam numbers: if you’re getting telemarketers or other spam calls, you can block the number.
• Customized voicemail messages: you can put your contacts into groups, and give each group their own voicemail message.
• Inbox: your voicemail inbox is a list, so you can listen to voicemail in any order you like.
• There are other cool features, too, but these were the ones that got me into the service.

The Ugly:

• Sometimes the call drops.
• SMS is messed up: if someone texts your GrandCentral number, you wouldn’t get it. This meant distributing two numbers to everyone who might text you.
• Bad iPhone interface: couldn’t check voicemails from the iPhone, which kinda defeated the whole thing.

Okay, so (what feels like) eons ago, Google bought GrandCentral. Then n.o.t.h.i.n.g h.a.p.p.e.n.e.d. for what felt like ages. Then, we found out that Google wasn’t going to let GrandCentral fall though the cracks like some of their other services… they were going to roll it into their suite of products!

And now I’ve gotten to play with it!

They’re rolling out their new Google Voice to GrandCentral users first, then they’ll open it up more widely. They say they should over “the next several weeks.” This product keeps the good from GrandCentral and fixes (my) major problems:

The Correction:

• No dropped calls so far.
• SMS messages come to your phone… only one number needed!
• There isn’t an iPhone specific interface, but the mobile version works, and you can listen to your voicemail on the site.

Want to take a look?

This is the inbox:

This is the address book:

Looks a lot like the Gmail address book, no?

This shows up next to messages:

Note that this is how you can block callers, download, embed, and email messages!

And here’s the mobile version:

To good to be true? I’m not even to my favorite part yet. See, I’m not really a phone person. Checking voicemail fills me with a sense of dread. For some reason I do much better in print than on the phone. Google Voice will transcribe your messages for you, and send you a text or an email when you have new messages. That, in itself, is enough to make me want to use soley this number for all purposes.

So, that’s my super-fast write up! You can see my number all over this post… Feel free to add it to your address book… I don’t even worry about it being on the web since I know I can block the spamish callers. Good all the way around!

The Library Take:

Here’s what I’m thinking for libraries: this service could be the number you use for calls. You can use it to make long distance (domestic) calls for free, you can have all calls come to your email inbox to create one place for all your non face-to-face reference requests, and you can use this to run your text message reference services.

If a patron text messages the Google Voice number, it will show up in the inbox. You can then text them back right from the browser. The patron feels like they’re texting a regular local number, but the librarian doesn’t need a cell phone to reply. This is what adding a text message looks like:

Since it’s early, and not available for playing on a wide level yet, let me know if you have questions. I’ll try to find the answers!

Related posts:

1. google owns me
2. The Google Books Settlement
3. Talking to Computers
4. the iPhone