I think that many of us have grown to think of using Google Voice as something of a cool concept, but perhaps fail to realize its full potential. Despite concerns over privacy, I see the idea of porting one’s phone number over to Google as being quite attractive. Whether you’re simply working for a large company’s IT department or running your repair business, using Google Voice to manage incoming calls would prove invaluable.
Specific levels of functionality worth looking into include the following.
Call screening. This is a huge selling point, as it allows the Google Voice user to listen in as incoming calls are being recorded. During the recording process, the receiver of the call can “pick up” in real time if they choose to. It’s the benefits of an old school answering machine with the remote control of traditional voicemail.
Transcribed voicemail. This feature can be huge, especially when trying to track down a problem being described over the phone. Don’t have something to write on handy? No problem! Let Google handle it and then email yourself the text to be handled later on. This feature alone makes the idea of moving things over to Google Voice very attractive.
Call forwarding on steroids. Another helpful item in the Google Voice roundup of goodies is the benefit I get from being able to send my incoming calls either to another phone, or directly to my Google Voice voicemail. Call forwarding isn’t anything all that new, but this revision of it does offer extended features that offer me a lot more control than with most options.
Free calling to landlines. This is a big thing in my opinion. While some may not think that VoIP solutions sound all that great, I’d point out that calling someone over Google is going to, at worst, be on par with most mobile providers. The difference here, however, is you can do so right from the headset you’re already wearing.
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