SoHo Trends

I’ve been using GrandCentral actively for six months now and am generally satisfied with the service.  Google announced a re-branding of Grand Central to Google Voice and, along with the new name, they introduced several new features, such as voicemail transcriptions, SMS support and conference calling, to the already-impressive list of features.

What is GrandCentral?  GrandCentral is a web-based phone management system that launched in 2006 and was purchased by Google in 2007.  I signed up in September 2006, grabbed a number in the (703) area code (Northern Virginia) and used the service sparingly.  It wasn’t until I started my new business last September that I started to use the number more actively.  I work in several different locations throughout a typical work week.  Most days I work from home.  Other days I may work at a client site.  Regardless of my physical location, I can provide my clients and business contacts a single phone number and tell GrandCentral, uh, I mean Google Voice, where to forward my calls.  Another great feature of GrandCentral/Google Voice is the ability to screen calls.  I’m always amazed at the number of marketers that call my business number.  I can filter calls from certan numbers or even play back a “The number you dialed is not in service…”

Google Voice now adds several great, new features, including:

• Voicemail transcription
• SMS support
• Conference calling.

All domestic U.S. calls in Google Voice are free.  International calls can also be made throught the system.  Voice calls from the U.S. to China are $0.02/minute.  Calls to India are $0.07/minute.  Complete rate information is here.

I just upgraded to Google Voice earlier this afternoon.  I’ll be trying out the new features in the next couple of days and reporting back on my experiences soon.