Google Voice

Just over a year after its beta launch, Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) has opened its Google Voice service to all comers. During the invitation-only period, more than one million users signed up, according to the company.

It has spent that time taking feedback from those users and gearing up server capacity to take on significant growth, said Craig Walker and Vincent Paquet, Google Voice product managers, in a post on the Google Voice Blog.

One important question, though, is how many more people actually want to use the all-in-one-number service.

"It's not like the beta was keeping anyone out," Carl Howe, director with the Yankee Group, told TechNewsWorld. As with past launches such as Gmail, Google Voice invitations were easy to get hold of.

"Up to this point, anyone who really wanted to use it could," he observed.
Resisting Change

Those on the very bleeding edge of communication services did indeed show some uptake on Google Voice, which allows users to distribute one phone number and route calls to that number anywhere they wish, including land lines and mobile devices.

"The real sizzle with Google Voice is the ability to have just one phone number," Josh Martin, senior analyst with Strategy Analytics, told TechNewsWorld. In addition, services such as personalized voice mail messages for different callers caught the eye of those with multiple phone numbers and groups trying to reach them.

The problem is that businesspeople and consumers switching to Google Voice had to accept and distribute a brand-new phone number to use the service.

"It's the same challenge people had years ago when changing wireless carriers," explained Martin. That is, while having access to new features might be tempting, the process of informing everyone in your life that you have an entirely new main number is daunting and can easily outweigh the benefits -- or at least delay someone's decision to switch.