Mobile sites show us where Google Voice might be going
In all of the hubbub surrounding Google’s recent revival and transformation of GrandCentral, one of the greatest aspects of the service was lost in the fray by most — mobile access to google.com/voice. Along with a new web-based UI and a handful of awesome new features such as free SMS and voicemail transcriptions, Google introduced new mobile sites that provide on-device access to all of Google Voice’s core functions. Users now have access to inboxes (voicemail transcriptions and SMS, each with threaded view), contacts, settings and plenty more from just about any mobile phone with a browser. What’s more, calls can be initiated with one click using the “Quick Call” feature and users can even send SMS messages quickly and easily right from the homepage. Above, a couple of grabs from the iPhone-optimized mobile site show the layout and how accessible all of the features are. Below, you can see that other devices have access to an equally-useful mobile site:
These shots were pulled from a BlackBerry Bold and you can see that while the home screen isn’t quite as flashy, it’s just as usable. The shot beneath the homepage shows a contact view where calls and/or SMS can be initiated in a matter of seconds. For those who haven’t yet tried Google Voice’s SMS functionality by the way, it’s great. SMS can be sent from within the UI and replies are delivered to both the Google Voice site and your mobile number. SMS in the UI display as a threaded conversation as you can see, and SMS to your phone come from a Google number. The message body is prefaced with the sender’s name (if present in your contacts) or mobile number and any replies you send are also recorded in the conversation within Google Voice.
So with all this great functionality available on your mobile, we have to wonder where Google plans to take things. The next logical step is apps, of course. As with other major services such as Maps and Gmail, we presume Google Voice will slowly trickle out to all the big platforms; iPhone, BlackBerry, S60, Android, etc. Imagine Google Voice functionality in an always-on app that integrates with your contact list; basically a very enhanced version of TalkPlus, but free. This is the likely direction of the service, but let’s take things a step further. What if Google offered a device, or line of devices, tied to an MVNO-like service? An Android-based handset with a low monthly service fee, free national calling, cheap international calling, free messaging, free transcribed voicemail, free email (Gmail), free mapping and directions/navigation (Maps), free 411 (Google 411), etc etc. Everything Google offers rolled up into one killer device. Simply purchase the handset, log in with your Google account and bang, you’re off to the races.
Perhaps Google has no plans to offer such a device and instead it will continue to push its services onto various platforms in an effort to make every phone, Android or not, a Gphone. What do you think — would a true Google phone be the ultimate coup or are we dreaming?
my account got upgraded last week and I’ve been toying around with it ever since. Theres a ton of potential but I want to see if its something thats really needed or more of a novelty.
My account was also upgraded last week. Once they allow number porting and faxing, then I think they’ll be well on there way to making it a great service! Good start so far though.
What is the mobile URL for the blackberry? When I visit from my bold i get the default page and not the mobile version
Nevermind. Once you actually log in it goes to the mobile site.
That is a great idea, I hope is out of beta soon.
Bah! “World Wide Web”…..who says that? Soooo 1990s…..
I was also excited to be upgraded last week… the only reason I hadn’t ever given out my GC number since I joined a couple years ago was because of the lack of SMS capability. Now that they have that working, I’ve discovered one more snag — how to handle free mobile-to-mobile. My wife and I share 700 minutes on our family plan with Verizon. The primary people we talk to are also “IN” so we get free mobile-to-mobile. It seems like if I make calls through the website, it would not qualify as M2M for either me or the person I’m calling. I’m thinking that if someone on Verizon called me and I answered on my mobile, it would probably qualify as free M2M for me (since the caller ID would show their Verizon number) but still wouldn’t qualify as free M2M for the person calling me since they had to call my google voice number.
I’ve read a few places where people are using the Friends and Family plan that Verizon just introduced as a solution to this problem, but I think I read that you can only use Friends and Family if you have 1400 shared minutes or higher (for family plans)… since we only pay for 700, I don’t think we qualify to use that.
Has anyone else run into this problem? Any clever ways around it?
I don’t know about the minutes limit. I have 900 minutes and I can use the Friends and Family (i.e. Fav-5). Check your account again or call Verizon to see what the issue is.
As it pertains to using the Fav-5 on Verizon (or any provider), from what I’m told, the new GV uses a specific “406-XXX-XXXX” number that is associated with a specific contact in your list. Therefore, you can add your GV number to your fav-5, but adding that “406-XXX-XXXX” will be hard since each user gets a specific “406-XXX-XXXX” number. I’ve yet to CONFIRM this, but I will try and see later on…
I just checked and I’m not eligible to use friends and family… I believe you have to have a monthly plan with either 700+ minutes for individual plans or 1400+ minutes for family share plans. I have a family share plan with 700 minutes and am not eligible.
Pfft. Who says ‘Bah’? That’s so 1920’s…
I like the way they make it possible to listen to the voicemails straight from the browser.
Kudos to you, Google.
well for incoming calls since the caller id shows up as the VZW person calling you then you are not wasting mintues… as for calling out, if you use the method of calling you GV number then pressing option 2 and dialing out like that then you can just add your GV number to the friends and family list and your set =)
dave, unfortunately, I do not qualify for friends and family. as for your first point, yes, others calling me would probably be free for me since their mobile number would show in caller ID, but it won’t be free for them. hopefully one day verizon will open up friends and family to all customers.
well i understand your account doesnt qualify for friends and family but for probobly another 10 bucks you go from 700 minutes to basically unlimited mintues since all communication could be done through your GV number, worth it in my opinion. I mean vzw cant just give people friend and family with the lowest call plan as they need to make a profit too!
I’ve had GC/GV since the day google bought it.
As GC i could access some features via a feature phone.
I could at least see listing of who called on my voyager and dare.
All i get from mobile site now with GV , on dare, is the basic template, absent of messages.
None of the links are “clinkable”.
I’m hoping the omnia i receive tomorrow allows full use.
trust me, vzw is making plenty of profit on me… i have the lowest amount of minutes, but my wife and are both on the blackberry data plan so that’s an extra $60/month right there. google voice would be really nice to use if i can figure out a way for it to indeed be “free”… paying $14 more per month (which is what it would cost me) for more minutes that i don’t need just so i could make calls through google voice does not qualify as “free”. Granted, it definitely WOULD be a good deal for someone who used a bunch of minutes calling non-verizon numbers since, as you mentioned, it would basically be unlimited free calling to anyone. For me, though, it doesn’t work out that way. Plus, that still doesn’t solve the problem of the calls not being free for my family members that would call me through the GV number unless they, too, increased their minutes and added my GV number to their friends and family list.
When I sign in it’s still the same GC mobile, is this only for the actual site because I been looking for a new messaging #
You would think now that they’ve put thier name on it, gmail subs would be the 1st ones to be invited to the party
^Screwed yet again, DonVinnie?
By the time this site was found by me Google had bought GC and no more signups, this would be an awesome addition to my gmail account
Just setted up my ATT (bb Bold) voicemail with GV… Awesome. http://www.blackberryforums.com/wap/GetThread.php?f=14&t=183445&bat=lp&nrp=1
@ everyone with the M2M problem: would it not work to have the few people you want to use M2M for just bypass the GV #. Presumably the phone retains its ability to function as it did before GV so you could just let GV manage all the other multitude of calls you get.
google voice web site doesnt work with my blackberry curve 8310. perion no links work!! useless im sms blind when im mobile. buch baloney how great it is
how i can download google voice on my windows mobile divice