Using Google Voice to enhance productivity

I have used google voice http://voice.google.com for quite some time now.  The best feature is the voice-to-text voice mail service.  When a caller leaves a message it is automatically transcribed and sent to me as an email or text message. It is pretty good but not perfect.  When it fouls up the results can be quite funny. http://gvtranscripts.tumblr.com/

One of the other good features is the ability to send and read text messages from my pc using a web interface.Another feature I frequently use is the ability to select a phone number from my directory and dial using my home phone.  After pressing the “dial” button Google Voice calls my phone and connects the call.

Google has an app that runs on my Android phone.  It enables me to view texts and make phone calls.  I have the option of always using Google voice or it can ask when I dial whether to use Voice.  This can be handy when dialing local numbers since Google   voice requires 10 digits to dial a number.  I essentially have two phone numbers on my cell phone – my google voice number and the native phone number of the cell phone.

You can port your existing number over to Google voice.I use Google Voice every day and like many Google products it is completely free

For more information, see voice.google.com