{"id":9869,"date":"2009-09-27T19:12:09","date_gmt":"2009-09-28T02:12:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/?p=9869"},"modified":"2009-09-27T19:30:09","modified_gmt":"2009-09-28T02:30:09","slug":"google-voice-ready-for-primetime","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/9869\/google-voice-ready-for-primetime\/","title":{"rendered":"Google Voice: Ready for Primetime?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Greg’s written: “The trouble with free software, is that you don\u2019t really explore what you\u2019re getting with it.”<\/a> When I read that, I thought, “True, but…” The “but” being Google, a company whose free products I’ve (mostly) explored to death, even when they’re not very good. I’m looking at you, Google Docs.<\/p>\n

When Google announced that it was entering the telephony business with Google Voice, I was excited, and applied for an “invitation” that came in July in the midst of preparing to take the North Carolina Bar. I couldn’t seriously play with it until August. But now I’ve spent two months with it, and here’s my take: I’m not sure Google Voice is ready for primetime.<\/p>\n

Here’s how it works: At sign up, a user selects a phone number. That number can become the new primary number, which the user gives out to family, friends, clients, and so on. Google Voice allows the user to set which phones will ring when people call the Google Voice number. (Outside callers have no idea they’re calling a Google Voice number. To them it’s just another phone number.)<\/p>\n

The setup was a cinch. Within a few minutes I was up and running with a new phone number that now rings my cell phone, but could also ring an office phone and home phone all at the same time.<\/p>\n

Eric Bramlett has posted about Google Voice’s killer feature: Voicemail Transcription<\/a>. Since I spend a good deal of time in court, where answering a phone will get you tossed out by an annoyed sheriff’s deputy, being able to glance down at my iPhone to read a voicemail that’s been transcribed for me is fantastic. Even if the transcription is not perfect, getting the gist of the voicemail without having to leave the courtroom saves a ton of time.<\/p>\n

I’ve found transcriptions to be marginal at best, but still good enough to give me a sense of the message. Maybe it’s the southern accent that Google has not yet nailed, but Google still has a ways to go.<\/p>\n

There are other nifty features: the ability to route calls to specific phones, Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Greg’s written: “The trouble with free software, is that you don\u2019t really explore what you\u2019re getting with it.” When I read that, I thought, “True, but…” The “but” being Google, a company whose free products I’ve (mostly) explored to death, even when they’re not very good. I’m looking at you, Google Docs. When Google announced […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":62,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_crdt_document":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-9869","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"hentry","6":"category-technology","8":"no-featured-image"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":10355,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/10355\/motorola-droid-first-impressions\/","url_meta":{"origin":9869,"position":0},"title":"Motorola Droid: First Impressions","author":"Damon Chetson","date":"November 19, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"As I mentioned here earlier this week, I've been thinking about switching to a different network.\u00a0 Love the iPhone, but am completely unimpressed with AT&T's network.\u00a0 So I went into a Verizon store to look at the Droid over the weekend, and then bought one after work at BestBuy on\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Technology"","block_context":{"text":"Technology","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/technology\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":10252,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/10252\/google-voice-redux\/","url_meta":{"origin":9869,"position":1},"title":"Google Voice Redux","author":"Damon Chetson","date":"November 9, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Back in September I gave a lukewarm review of Google Voice.\u00a0 Since September, it's been working much better.\u00a0 Much less lag, much better transcription quality.\u00a0 I use it now on my business cards, website, and so forth, and it's a great tool to help screen calls that come in. Google\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Real Estate"","block_context":{"text":"Real Estate","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/real-estate\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":9573,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/9573\/how-good-is-google-voice-transcription\/","url_meta":{"origin":9869,"position":2},"title":"How Good is Google Voice Transcription?","author":"Eric Bramlett","date":"August 20, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Apparently, if you're all business and speak clearly, it's really good: But, if you're one of \"my boys\" and talk really fast...not so good Regardless, Google Voice is mad cool.\u00a0 Here are some instructions on trying it out as Voicemail.","rel":"","context":"In "Real Estate"","block_context":{"text":"Real Estate","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/real-estate\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"rose-transcription","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/08\/rose-transcription.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/08\/rose-transcription.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/08\/rose-transcription.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":8984,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/8984\/google-wave-goodbye-real-estate-brokerage-as-we-know-it\/","url_meta":{"origin":9869,"position":3},"title":"Google Wave Goodbye Real Estate Brokerage As We Know It?","author":"Ryan Hartman","date":"June 25, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"I found some time to check out the Google Wave Developer preview on youtube a few days ago. And darn if I haven't thought to myself: \"This'll be way easier and more fun to do once Wave comes\" at least 10 times since. So here are some possible applications that\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Supplanting the NAR"","block_context":{"text":"Supplanting the NAR","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/supplanting-the-nar\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":11400,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/11400\/various-thoughts-on-small-business-tools\/","url_meta":{"origin":9869,"position":4},"title":"Various thoughts on small business tools","author":"Damon Chetson","date":"February 25, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"1. Google Voice I know there's been some sporadic discussion here about Google Voice: whether it's useful\/wise to use as a business phone number, and about the quality of its transcriptions. I've been very pleased with it in terms of the call routing functionality, and the integration with my Droid\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Technology"","block_context":{"text":"Technology","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/technology\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":11250,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/11250\/buzzing-about-google-buzz\/","url_meta":{"origin":9869,"position":5},"title":"Buzzing about Google Buzz","author":"Damon Chetson","date":"February 10, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"The kind of awe and admiration Greg has for Apple, I have for Google. Whereas Apple's product launches are greeted with unending speculation, leaks, rumor-mongering and fanfare, Google quietly rolls out new features. Some are great - Google Voice has turned out to be surprisingly useful in my business. Others\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Technology"","block_context":{"text":"Technology","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/technology\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9869","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/62"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9869"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9869\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9871,"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9869\/revisions\/9871"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9869"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9869"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9869"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}