Google to steer telephone traffic

Google is preparing to steer more telephone traffic with the introduction of Google Voice. Google Voice is based on the technology of Grand Central Communications, a company that Google acquired in July 2007.

Google is upgrading the service for GrandCentral's current users to include automated transcriptions of voicemails and discounts on international calls.

For now, Google Voice only will be available to the people who already have been relying on GrandCentral to manage incoming calls on their office, home and mobile phone lines. Google says several hundred thousand people have GrandCentral accounts.

The free service has been closed to new users while Google retooled the technology to handle a wider audience. Within the next few weeks, Google Voice will begin welcoming people who had signed up to be on the service's waiting list.

Here's how it works: Google Voice assigns a unique phone number to each user. Calls to the Google Voice number can then be directed to any other phone line. The service also provides a hub for all messages. The online command center also enables a user to customize greetings for friends and family or ward off unwelcome callers.

The move comes as Google increasingly branches out from its stronghold in Internet search, as it seeks to carve out a role in everything from cell phones to personal productivity software.

This isn't Google's first attempt to become a bigger player in the telecommunications market. The company has also built a software platform for mobile devices, called Android, that's designed to ensure that people on the go can easily access Google's services when they are away from home or the office.

Google makes money from selling enterprise versions of its applications to corporations. But the current priority is to make Google Voice a success as a free consumer product.

• Tweet
• Share
• Share
• Share
• Share