First Impressions: GrandCentral from Google
A few weeks ago, Google purchased a “little” startup called GrandCentral. I got my beta invite a few days ago and signed up. First Impressions says, “Oh, Yeah.”
At it’s core GrandCentral acts as a centralized phone number and voicemail system. One phone number rings you at home, work and on your cell, simultaneously. When you pick up, at whatever phone you happen to be near, the caller’s name is announced and you can choose to answer or send the call to voicemail (plus a few other options). If that were all, then the service would be worthy of attention, but here are a few more:
- Add up to 6 numbers to your profile
- An online address book (there is an import/export function, but no automated synchronization tool that I can see)
- Group callers in your address book according to 4 different categories: Family, Friends, Work and Other. Each group can be handled differently, routed to different phone combinations (example:Friends never ring at the office, but always ring cell and home)
- Each group gets it’s own voice mail greeting (Professional “Work” and “Other” greeting, fun or playful for “Friends” and “Family.”
- Individual callers can be blocked, routed or handled specially
- Automatic filtering and blocking of phone-spam and telemarketers
- Easy recording of phone calls
- Visual voicemail!
And, did I mention that it’s FREE?
There are many more features than I’ve listed, and I haven’t tried them all out yet, but this is a First Impressions review.
Here’s the downside, so far:
- GrandCentral is a beta product, so not all features are fully loaded and available yet
- Many of the nicer features will ultimately be part of a paid, premium plan. However, GrandCentral does not make it clear exactly which features will remain free, which will be paid, and how much the premium plans will cost. So, be careful what you get addicted to! (To be fair, they do make it clear that unlimited inbound calls, unlimited voicemail and access to core features will always be free. What “constitutes core features” is vague)
And here’s a big potential issue: My calling plan (AT&T Unity) gives me unlimited “free” calling between AT&T numbers everywhere, even on my cell-to-landline calls, and more importantly my cell-from-landline calls. Similarly, most mobile phone carriers offer free mobile-to-mobile minutes on their own networks. So there is a big risk that routing calls through GrandCentral will essentially bypass this feature. The research I’ve done so far indicates that there is hope on this front. I’m running some specific tests today and I’ll report back on my findings.
In a nutshell, GrandCentral looks great, and works as advertised. The service is highly customizable, and there are many more features than what I’ve listed here. Google’s acquisition of the company means the service should be around for a while.
GrandCentral is only available by invitation during the beta period. But each user gets a half dozen invites or so for now, and I’ve got a couple left. So if you’d like to try it out, drop an email to jumbis at jumbis dot com.
Technorati Tags: Reviews, GrandCentral, Technology
