Google Voice gives you a single phone number that rings all your phones, saves your voicemail online, and transcribes your voicemail to text.  

Other cool features include the ability to listen in on messages while they are being left and the ability to make low cost international calls.   

Your Google Voice number is tied to you rather than a device or a location – so it stays with you as you move, change jobs or switch phone companies. Your forwarding phones may change but your Google number remains the same, so you don’t need to send out updates all the time about numbers to reach you at.  

The best part? You can record custom greetings for your favorite callers or block annoying callers by marking them as SPAM. 

Google Voice is Free - GET AN INVITE NOW! 

To learn more, watch this great overview on how it works or access the Google Voice Blog 

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Denice MacDonald

Google has rolled out a new product feature, short message service (SMS), which will let you send text messages from your Gmail chat window. The feature was developed for frustrated users to chat with colleagues once they go offline. 

How does it work? 

To turn it on, you will need to go to the Labs tab within Gmail’s settings or to this dedicated product page for instructions and demo. Once you turn on the option, start typing a phone number into Chat’s search box and you’ll see the option to send an SMS.

If you already have your friend’s phone number stored in your Google account’s contacts, try searching for them by name. When your friend’s name appears in the drop-down list of contacts, you’ll see an option to send them an SMS. You can also hover over or click on anyone in your Chat buddy list to send them an SMS. 

Google using dedicated 406 area codes 

The first time you send a text message, it will appear on the person’s phone as coming from a number in the 406 area code. Google has made several thousands of these numbers available for Gmail users, and once a number is associated with your account, all of the text messages you send through Gmail will come from that number. 

The 406 number works both ways, so your friend can reply to you via text message. Also, your friend can save that number in their phone as belonging to you, and they can even use it to initiate new chats with you. 

More About Google

Google SMS Demo

Google Watch  

Google Applications and Products

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Denice MacDonald