Here comes Google Voice
We've just started to release a preview of Google Voice, an application that helps you better manage your voice communications. Google Voice will be available initially to existing users of GrandCentral, a service we acquired in July of 2007.
Context & Ripple Effects
Google bought GrandCentral in 2007, but the service was still described as a private beta in 2008. The preview moves that acquired service into a Google-branded product, with GrandCentral users serving as its initial audience.
The underlying appeal was already visible in user experience: one GrandCentral user described replacing Vonage with a local number that followed them across locations. Google Voice puts that number-management model under Google's product umbrella.
First-order effects
- Existing GrandCentral users gain the first access to Google Voice, while Google shifts the service from a long-running private beta to a branded preview.
- Google becomes the direct operator of a consumer voice-management product rather than merely the owner of the acquired GrandCentral service.
Second-order effects
- Vonage and other standalone voice providers face a Google alternative for users seeking a single number that can follow them, a benefit already cited by a GrandCentral user.
Third-order effects
- If the model gains traction, phone identity and call routing move toward a software-managed layer that is distinct from any one underlying voice provider.
The trend: Voice services are beginning to compete on control of a user's persistent number and routing rules, not only on the underlying connection.