03 July 2007

Google acquires GrandCentral

The announcement of Google's latest acquisition, GrandCentral Communications, sees the search engine leader venture into a combination of both online and offline voice communication services. GrandCentral's success to date has come from their innovative voice communications service, which allows users to combine all their existing phone numbers and voicemail boxes to one central account.

The service is designed to enhance and simplify users' existing phone services. With an increasing number of people possessing multiple phone numbers - including their home, office, personal or work mobile number - it's easy to see why the service has proved so popular.

Simplicity is a key selling point of this service, with users allocated one phone number that can be set to ring all, several or none of their phones, depending on the caller. The basic idea is that the phone number is allocated to the user, rather than a specific handset.

Users of the new Google service will also benefit from increased flexibility for voicemail, with one central mailbox set up. From here, users can retrieve their voicemails online or from any phone, forward voicemails to others, screen calls by listening in on voicemails as they are recorded and even block unwanted callers.

For those with busy schedules, the convenience of being able to take calls anytime, anyplace (even switching calls between different phones) would be a major advantage. Google clearly views GrandCentral as another means of enabling communication, both online and offline. In a recent blog posting, Wesley Chan, Product Manager at Google, writes:

"We think GrandCentral's technology fits well into Google's efforts to provide services that enhance the collaborative exchange of information between our users."

Existing customers of GrandCentral Communications have been assured of uninterrupted service and a smooth integration with Google. During the transition period, Google are advising that a limited number of invitations will be available for a GrandCentral beta account. Those with a US phone number can register for an invitation at the grandcentral.com website.

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