A couple of months ago, my iPhone rang. I was in the Boulder Bunker, my basement home office, and as often happens, the call quality there was a problem. I scrambled up the stairs so I could still hear my new client, and then paced in the back yard as I talked with them so that the call quality would be good enough.

I’d rather be in the office, though, where I have everything at hand.

Today, that call would be different. I’m using Google Voice for my in-bound phone calls, and it really makes a difference. When you call my Google Voice number, my iPhone, my office phone, and even my home phone will ring, all at the same time. If I’m traveling, my temporary office phone will ring. I pick up the most convenient phone, and I can even change phones mid-call. That means that, for example, I can switch from my office phone to my iPhone during a call with you and then head out to a meeting without interrupting the call and without you even knowing I made the change.

There are a number of other things I can suddenly do, like easily screen my calls, send calls to voicemail (and when they leave a message, Google Voice will transcribe the message and send me an email), record the call, even listen in as someone leaves a message and pick up the call if I want to, just like you can do with a home answering machine… and more.

Google Voice has been around for a while (it was originally called Grand Central), but Google is opening it up so you can get an account if you want. (The Google Voice site is here: https://www.google.com/voice – as I’m typing this, they haven’t gotten it opened, but they have announced that they are going to do that.)

If you are comfortable with web pages and are willing to spend a bit of time to get it set up, it’s worth it. Check it out.

To YOUR success,
ssh, your Geek Whisperer