Google Voice Invites Start Flowing

http://www.youtube.com/v/m4Q9MJdT5Ds&color1=0xb1b1b1&color2=0xcfcfcf&hl=en&feature=player_embedded&fs=1

Good news if you’ve signed up for a Google Voice invite. The company announced today that those invitations are now starting to trickle out to new users. Didn’t sign up for an invite yet? No worries, but you should run, not walk, to the sign-up page to request one.

Now that I have a second mobile line but no landline, I use Google Voice to manage my incoming calls. For folks who have my Google Voice number, I have it set to ring both my iPhone and Pre. In fact, I had my sister call me to test it just yesterday when she stopped by. She dialed and immediately both phones were ringing, which blew her mind.

Google Voice is also capable of handling incoming text messages and voicemails, both of which can be transcribed for you. I hit up my Google Voice account on the web using my iPhone yesterday and was able to read the most recent voicemail messages, which were transcribed with great accuracy. Here’s a screen-cap to the right showing the mobile web interface and a text message conversation I had on two different phones. There’s other flexibility as well: You can define which phones ring depending on who is calling or if it’s late afternoon on a weekend.

All in all, I’m thrilled with the free service. I still can’t wait until I can port my main mobile number to the service, though. I’ve had that number since 2000 and, more importantly, it’s the number that nearly all of my contacts have. Speaking of contacts, Google Voice uses your Gmail contact list for an address book. Glad I moved to that a ways back for my contact needs.

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