More Features, Less Filling: Google Voice “Light” Debuts
Today Google, as explained in this blog post, takes a page out of the wireless carrier playbook by using a combination of call forwarding to voice mail in conjunction with SMS to offer a “light” version of Google voice. The result, as dramatized in this video, is something akin to visual voicemail on the iPhone combined with the voicemail-to-text feature of the full-featured Google Voice service.
Make no mistake, this is not a flavor of “number portability”, which would permit Google Voice invitees to avail themselves of all the goodness of Google Voice without using “yet another phone number”. This is a more “old school” deployment of the sort of call forwarding that made carrier-provided voice mail possible through the use of “call forwarding” when there is no answer. Wireless carriers provide a “star” code that can be used to forward calls to a Google Voice number where the service can be programmed to play a greeting (or one of a selection of greetings), record a message, automatically transcribe the message and make it available through a Web client, email or as an SMS message.
Voicemail message management is one of the keys to Google Voice’s popularity. Making it more broadly available should be a public relations coup for Google and go some distance to whet the appetite of the general public. It may also obviate the need for full number portability as a matter of course. After all, one of the dirty little secrets of the wireless industry is that number portability from carrier to carrier was initially based on loading call forwarding instructions into the carrier’s management systems.
Wouldn’t gmail-to-SMS (or MMS) as a basic feature provide this benefit, and act as a portal (pardon my stone age use of the word) to Google’s enhanced bundle of communications services?
Dean: I think that’s exactly what Google has in mind. But “voice” is the missing components to a Gmail-to-SMS approach (even if it adds MMS). Since both GMail and Google Voice are browser-based Web services, Google will make the GMail-to-SMS feature part of a “mobile portal” when people run a full suite of Google Apps on their Android-based phones. But for now, Google Voice “Light” is a pale precursor to full-blown (or preview of) full-blown Google Voice, seeking to reach a more mass audience. At this point, it’s more of a Gateway than a Portal.
Google Voice is free, sure, and like I said, it’s been a personal help when I had an issue that rendered my phone unusable. However, there’s a difference between accepting an app that does a pretty good job and pushing a company to make a better product that will ultimately benefit you more. Consumers do that all the time with feedback, and most software-makers listen. It’s to everyone’s advantage.
That’s why I suggested that Google should introduce tiered services, so that those who want to stick with the free service can do so, and those who want to upgrade to higher quality can also go that route. More choices are better in my book.