lukegilman.com : High on the Hog Blog

Purveyor of Idle Observation

Google Voice launched under cover of beta to a torrent of praise and ebay-auction-fueled tech lust on a scale not witnessed since the great gmail-invite bubble of aught-six.

Is it not fitting a day after the 133 anniversary of the first phone call?

Features:

Google number – One number for all your calls and SMS
* Call screening – Announce and screen callers
* Listen in – Listen before taking a call
* Block calls – Keep unwanted callers at bay
* SMS – Send, receive, and store SMS
* Place calls – Call US numbers for free
* Taking calls – Answer on any of your phones
* Phone routing – Phones ring based on who calls
* Forwarding phones – Add phones and decide which ring

Google voicemail – Voicemail as easy as email, with transcripts
* Voicemail transcripts – Read what your voicemail says
* Listen to voicemail – Check online or from your phone
* Notifications – Receive voicemails via email or SMS
* Personalize greeting – Vary greetings by caller
* Share voicemail – Forward or download voicemails

Voice features – More cool things you can do with Google Voice
* Conference calling – Join people into a single call
* Call record – Record calls and store them online
* Call switch – Switch phones during a call
* Mobile site – View your inbox from your mobile
* GOOG-411 – Check directory assistance
* Manage groups – Set preferences by group

TechCrunch: GrandCentral To (Finally) Launch As Google Voice. It’s Very, Very Good.