+- MacResource (https://forums.macresource.com)
+-- Forum: My Category (https://forums.macresource.com/forumdisplay.php?fid=1)
+--- Forum: Tips and Deals (https://forums.macresource.com/forumdisplay.php?fid=3)
+--- Thread: So this is what Google decided to do with GrandCentral.com (/showthread.php?tid=74184)
Pages:
1
2
So this is what Google decided to do with GrandCentral.com - pinkoos - 03-12-2009
Introducing Google Voice!:
http://www.grandcentral.com/
"We are happy to announce the launch of Google Voice, the next version of GrandCentral. We've kept all the things people like about GrandCentral and added new features like transcripts, SMS, international calling, and conference calling. If you are a GrandCentral user, over the next few days you will be prompted to upgrade to Google Voice.
Currently only GrandCentral users have access to Google Voice, but we will be opening up the new service to new users soon."
Re: So this is what Google decided to do with GrandCentral.com - graylocks - 03-12-2009
would be nice if they sent users an email or something!
there was speculation here in the last few weeks that Google was deep legitimacy this beta. so much for that theory. GV is still a beta, though. i'm glad to see the name change. there are some instances where the caller hears "The Grand Central user you are trying to reach..." ; since most folks haven't heard of Grand Central it's a little disconcerting. even if they haven't heard of GV, at least they'll recognize 'Google' and be a bit reassured that all is legit.
Re: So this is what Google decided to do with GrandCentral.com - graylocks - 03-12-2009
here's an article that speaks on some of the changes:
GrandCentral to Turn into Google Voice
If you've had a GrandCentral account for a while and enjoyed giving out one phone number that would ring all your phones--even your cell phone--but feared the service would be left to die by its Google overlords: cast aside your fears. Sometime today, your GrandCentral account should morph into Google Voice. (No word on when it will become an open beta.)
Nothing should change service-wise. You'll still get one "lifetime" call-around number and online-accessible voice mail, and you can record calls to the Internet for playback later. What is different is the interface. It'll be more Google-y, looking something like Gmail. They're finally adding a mobile interface, too; the Flash-heavy GrandCentral was pretty useless on an iPhone...
Re: So this is what Google decided to do with GrandCentral.com - timg - 03-12-2009
Neither of my GrandCentral accounts is ready to be upgraded.
Has anyone upgraded yet? What, if anything, did Google take away?
Re: So this is what Google decided to do with GrandCentral.com - graylocks - 03-12-2009
i just checked a voicemail from my GC account. no update notice either. from reading the article it seems like Google is greatly enhancng the service not taking away features.
Re: So this is what Google decided to do with GrandCentral.com - timg - 03-12-2009
I didn't look too long, but one thing I saw that looked like a nice improvement was the ability to call your google number and press 2 to call any other number.
What else was there that was "greatly enhanced"?
Re: So this is what Google decided to do with GrandCentral.com - graylocks - 03-12-2009
timg wrote:
I didn't look too long, but one thing I saw that looked like a nice improvement was the ability to call your google number and press 2 to call any other number.
What else was there that was "greatly enhanced"?
well, there's this:
It'll be more Google-y, looking something like Gmail. They're finally adding a mobile interface, too; the Flash-heavy GrandCentral was pretty useless on an iPhone.
and this:
Other features promised include a friend setting to route calls you want and avoid those you don't, transcription of your voicemail messages, and even SMS text messaging to the Google Voice number which is forwarded to your mobile phone.
Re: So this is what Google decided to do with GrandCentral.com - pinkoos - 03-12-2009
Pogue on the new features:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/12/technology/personaltech/12pogue.html?8cir=&_r=1&emc=cirb1&pagewanted=print
"Google Voice starts with a clean, redesigned Web site that looks like an in-box, à la Gmail. It maintains all of those original GrandCentral features — but more important, introduces four game-changing new ones.
FREE VOICE MAIL TRANSCRIPTIONS From now on, you don’t have to listen to your messages in order; you don’t have to listen to them at all. In seconds, these recordings are converted into typed text. They show up as e-mail messages or text messages on your cellphone.
This is huge. It means that you can search, sort, save, forward, copy and paste voice mail messages.
No human effort is involved; it’s all done with software. As a result, the transcriptions are rarely perfect. For one thing, Google’s software doesn’t seem to have discovered punctuation yet. (“ohh hi it’s michelle i just wanted to let you know that i really had fun last night and it’s really great to see you okay talk to you later bye bye.”)
There are errors, of course; it’s hard enough for people to understand cellphone conversations, let alone computers. Cleverly enough, the Web site displays transcribed words more faintly (light gray) when it is less confident about the transcription. Fortunately, it generally nails numbers — phone numbers, arrival times, addresses. And the rest is accurate enough to convey the gist.
Companies like PhoneTag, Callwave and Spinvox already transcribe voice mail, complete with punctuation. They’re great, but they cost money. Google Voice is free.
FREE CONFERENCE CALLING Never again will you pay for a conference call, or require a special dial-in number, or mess around with access codes. All you do is tell your friends to call your GrandCentral at the specified time — and boom, you can conference them in as they call you. No charge.
DIRT-CHEAP INTERNATIONAL CALLS If you dial your own Google Voice number from one of your phones, you’re offered an option to call overseas at rates even lower than Skype’s (and much lower than your cellphone company’s): 2 cents a minute to France or China, 3 cents to Chile or the Czech Republic. Sweet.
TEXT MESSAGE ORGANIZATION Google Voice’s last feature is its most profound. The old GrandCentral wasn’t great with text messages sent to your uni-number. In fact, it ignored them. They just disappeared.
Google Voice, however, does the right thing: it sends text messages to whichever cellphones you want — even multiple phones simultaneously.
Even more important, it collects them in your Web in-box just like e-mail. You can file them, search them and, for the first time in cellphone history, keep them. They don’t vanish forever once your cellphone gets full.
You can also reply to them with a click, either with a call or another text; your back-and-forths appear online as a conversation.
Google Voice eliminates some of the annoyances of its predecessor. You can, if you wish, turn off that “press 1, press 2” option, so when the phone rings, you can just pick it up and start talking. Google has also done some Googlish integration; for example, your Gmail and Google Voice address books are the same.
Nitpicks? Sure. The service has vastly beefed up its selection of available uni-numbers, but there are still some area codes you can’t get (212 is especially rare). As a side effect of Google Voice’s ring-all-phones-at-once technology, you sometimes find fragments of Google Voice error recordings on the answering machines of the phones you didn’t answer. (Solution: make your voice mail greeting at least 15 seconds long.) There’s a learning curve to all of this, too.
Still, you can’t imagine how much the game changes when you have a single phone number, voice mail transcriptions and nondeleting text messages on every phone. Suddenly, your communications are not only unified, but they’re unified everywhere at once — the cellphone, the Web and the e-mail program. And all of it free — even ad-free.
There may be some fallout as a result; I’d hate to be a company that sells voice mail transcription or conferencing calling services right about now. But that’s life, right? Every now and then, a little revolution is good for us."
Re: So this is what Google decided to do with GrandCentral.com - graylocks - 03-12-2009
pinkoos wrote:
Google Voice eliminates some of the annoyances of its predecessor. You can, if you wish, turn off that “press 1, press 2” option, so when the phone rings, you can just pick it up and start talking. Google has also done some Googlish integration; for example, your Gmail and Google Voice address books are the same.
thank you, Google High Gods!
Re: So this is what Google decided to do with GrandCentral.com - josntme - 03-12-2009
timg wrote:
Neither of my GrandCentral accounts is ready to be upgraded.
Has anyone upgraded yet? What, if anything, did Google take away?
I did the upgrade. Lost all my contacts and had to upload them again. I liked the way the address book was before, but can live it. It's the gmail look now.
Also, you need to re-do your greetings and name. I do like the fact you can have specific greetings for a each group, or for an individual if you so desire.
So far I like it but haven't fully done all the settings.