A little love for Google Voice

Yesterday, armed with facts, fiction and fury – I blasted Google Voice.  I made it feel unwanted, unloved and most of all – misrepresented.  I have to apologize!  Two major GV advocates have come to your rescue!  They have cleared my mind and set the record straight.  It is with that I come back to you, with open arms… spreading truth and a little bit more love.  Allow me to explain!

First and foremost, Josh and Anthony said “Google voice isn’t about free calls”.  Well, I have to disagree, primarily based on the fact that they have three bullet items on their website.  One of them says “Cheap calls – Free calls & text messages to the U.S. & Canada. Super low rates everywhere else.”  This means, apparently, they are about cheap calls.  Nothing more – nothing less.  You still have to use your minutes, but they can save you money.  I can not argue that.  They have met what the advertise – though it does not meet my greedy preconceived notion of what I want.  Silly Google!

The next feature on their website I touched on:  “One Number – Use a single number that rings you anywhere”.  This is true!  You can do this.  You do have to jump through several hoops to dial out with your “one number”, but YES – it can be done.  So – it doesn’t work EXACTLY how I want my phone to work?   I think it could be improved – but it works.

The final feature of Google Voice – the reason I know about Google Voice.  The SINGLE MOST IMPORTANT REASON I keep using Google Voice:  “Online voicemail – Get transcribed messages delivered to your inbox.” No question asked, this is one of the coolest things I have ever used on the Google platform (though, I am going to take a picture of the big chicken and see if it works in google goggles and that might get me all worked up as well!).

Here is the deal – you enter a secret code on your cell and your voicemail will be re-routed to GV.  It’s simple, painless and FREE!  Now you get your voicemail via GV.  You can get it on your cell, you can get it on your phone, you can get it on the WEB, you can have it forwarded to your cell in txt as it is transcribed!  You can laugh at the funky mis-trancribed voicemail.  The options and features are robust and FUN!  I really think you should check that out!

There are also features to record calls, censor calls… many other features.

Could I get a plate of crow?  Google Voice is a robust BETA tool that I enjoy using.  I am not sure why I was mad at it yesterday, but I feel like I was a little harsh.  I hope it will continue to love me the way I love it, maybe even more.  (Actually – I’d just be happy as long as it works… I didn’t abandon anything!  MMS and better droid integration – that would be super cool!