Free phone service for internet marketing professionals using Google Voice
For those of you that attended the Columbus internet marketing workshop back in November you saw us do a demonstration on how you can use Google Voice (and another free service called Gizmo)to help you get free inbound and outbound telephone calls using your computer.
This combo allows small business owners like us to save a ton of money on long distance calls by simply using our computer as if it were a telephone. For Free.
Cool stuff, plus it has completely allowed me to get rid of 2 separate business phone lines. That saves us at least a few hundred dollars a year if not more.
Recent news suggests that Google has some pretty big plans in this area and is in the process of developing their own Google Voice telephony service into a Skype-rivalling VoIP operation in 2010.
If you recall from the workshop, setting up this free service was a little tricky but once you worked aound the Gizmo / Google quirks it worked like a champ. It now looks like with Google acquiring Gizmo they will clean this up in 2010 and roll it out for everyone’s use. Most likely for free.
According to Martin Bryant with the Next Web Blog:
“At present, Google Voice offers a single phone number to replace your existing landline, mobile phone and any other lines you have. With voicemail transcription, threaded SMS, easy conference calling and a web-based admin panel it’s hugely popular with its invite-only US users.
When Google acquired VOIP start-up Gizmo5 last month it looked likely that the company’s talent would be used to improve Google Voice.
Now, in an interview with EWeek, Google’s Vice President of Product Management Bradley Horowitz has made clear that the Gizmo5 acquisition will lead to a much-improved version of Google Voice in 2010.
“Voicemail transcription, inbox integration and threaded SMS are fantastic features, but we’re really just scratching the surface. Gizmo5 gives us talent and talent technology. They have specific tech and skills in further integrating telephony with devices and desktop and Web-based computing.
We want to make sure you’re communication is available to you irrespective of where you are at, what device you have in your pocket, etc.”
While Horowitz didn’t discuss specifics, it’s clear that there are big plans afoot for Google Voice, and they rely on Gizmo5’s VoIP experience. We could well be looking at a version of the service that runs entirely via VoIP, without the need for a landline. As with Skype, this service could dial into and out of traditional telephone lines but without the requirement to be fixed to a particular number.
Some may say that this takes something away from the essence of the service – replacing all your existing numbers with one Google Voice number is part of its appeal, but with call forwarding set up properly on your existing lines it could be almost as good.
Of course, this is all just speculation at the moment. It’s clear, though, that we’ll hear a lot about Google Voice next year. Skype’s product development has stagnated in recent times. 2010 could be the year it finally sees some solid competition.”
