Right you are – that these services have been around for years.
Indeed, most of us already know DISA, AA, and all the rest.

Wrong you are – that the “only” way Google can sell is for “free”.
Look at the iPhone. Nothing new there. We’ve all seen apps before.

But now, it’s the perfect storm. For Apple and for Google.
The technology is right and now, even the people are right.

Never mind FreedomVOICE thought of it first.
FreedomVOICE is not Google.

Never mind I get my VoIP for $1.00 a month and $.01 a minute.
I am not Google.

That’s not the point.

The point is I expect to make money from Googles iniative.
IMHO, it’s not about selling VoIP apps anymore.
It’s about selling the mix that’s right at the right time.

Anyway, Nick, I never meant to put you on the defensive.
Especially in your own house. And very especially since
we’re not really talking apples to apples, anyway, are we?

One number voicemail services have been around for ages. We here at FreedomVOICE have been doing this as a business/professional application in the US & Canada with toll free numbers and local DIDs since 1996.

And these services include everything Google Voice and you are now touting like they’re new — online voicemail management, click-to-call, “cardless calling card” for making outbound calls through your number, live call transfer, voicemail transcription, and features Google Voice doesn’t have like an auto attendant and automatic call distribution (ACD). This service is not new. This service is not revolutionary. In fact, as I’ve stated, the product is somewhat behind the rest of the industry when it comes to some of these key features.

The only things that will serve as a differentiator will be brand and price, and price only if it’s “free,” in the strict sense. The minute they start charging per minute and/or monthly fees to recoup their DID, advertising, and per minute costs, the product will lose its mysterious “free” luster and be lost amidst a sea of inexpensive one number voicemail providers that are frankly more stable and more experienced in telecommunications.

Now, there is nothing saying Google will give the DIDs awat for free, but it can be seen they won’t lose anything if they charge, say, $10.00 a year for the number. Now you are a captive audience, because “one number anywhere” is a very compelling product.

But what if you are retrieving a voice mail from Google and want to call someone back in Timbuctu right NOW? Well, you click “call them back”, make the call instantly, and only pay $0.12 for the convenience. Now you are introduced to Googles voice network. Google made $.02 on the call.

Imagine you are now out and about and need to call Timbuctu again. You simply call your Google number, click “call them back” again and you have now paid another $.12 – coincidentally $.12 less than if you had used the phone back home, and again, Google made $.02 on the call.

This time imagine you are at home and want to call “Mom” and you remember how you saved $.12 on that call to Timbuctu. Now you pick up your phone at home, call your Google number, dial in “Mom” and are using Google’s network to make routine calls. You save $.12 and Google makes $.02.

Now you make all your calls through your Google number.

And let’s not forget the initial application, “one number anywhere”, is really keeping people off your back and best of all – it’s “free”!

That’s just one way they will make money doing this. There will a lot more.

IMHO there are some smart people working at Google.

Other questions I have: what codecs will GV support? Are they going to join the race to the bottom and use crap like GSM and G.729A? Say what you will about Skype and SILK but at least it sounds a lot better than G.711/GSM/G.729/etc.

I, too, am very interested in what Google is doing. However, after having worked with FreeSWITCH for a few years I’ve grown to have pretty high standards for what my voice services should be able to accomplish. :)

-MC

First, let it be known that I’m a fan of most everything Google does and has done recently — from Wave to Chrome to Chrome OS. I mean, Chrome is my default browser. How many people can say that?

Google’s apps and anything VoIP are easily my two favorite flavors of technology. I had my fingers crossed every time Google was cutting apps from development, hoping that Voice wouldn’t be one of them. Perhaps that’s why I’m more disappointed than anything about what I’m seeing. Google makes killer apps, hands down, and Google Voice is playing catch-up to the rest of the VoIP unified communications industry.

I didn’t expect Google Voice to be “on par” at best or “behind the curve” at worst when it finally landed — free or not. There remains a lot to be seen, but if Google Voice remains a free, “it is what it is” VoIP application, they’re squandering a lot of potential to really challenge Skype and other VoIP providers. It will nibble at market share, like Chrome, Android, etc., instead of leading the pack.

Maybe I’m being unfair in my expectations, but I think not in my assessment.