Google Voice

I received my long awaited invite for Google Voice today. I've been reading about how Google is rolling it out and sending out waves of invites. I signed up over a year ago....I was beginning to think they had forgotten me. :)

I've been setting it up all evening and wanted to offer a high level overview of the points that I really like.

1) One number, many phone lines. Once you set up your number, that's the one you start giving out. You can hook that number up to as many other lines as you want. For me I've hooked my Google Voice number to first my cell phone, then my work phone. When someone calls your new number, GV (Google Voice) will forward to first my cell, then my work number.

2) The power of groups. You can create groups in GV and assign contacts to them. For example, I've created a Family group and assigned my immediate family to that group. If I want, I can record a custom greeting that will play when anyone from those numbers calls my GV number.

I can see lots of room for improvements here as this gets better. I'd love to see customizable rules for groups, so I could say, for example, I don't want any work calls from 10PM to 8AM, put those directly into voicemail. That option isn't available yet, but I hope it's soon. You can choose a Do Not Disturb option which routes all calls through to VM...and it looks like you can do this through the web interface or dialing in from your phone.

3) Voicemail transcription. When your callers leave a VM, GV will transcribe it into text and email it to you, along with the audio file of the VM. You can have an email sent and/or an SMS text message sent to your phone. For me the SMS notifications are buggy...I get several notifications on my iPhone. I just turned that part off and will just stick with the emails.

You VM's are presented in an interface that looks very much like Gmail. You can archive them and store them, and best of all, search them. Search for text of the VM and BAM! you can have access to that VM you got last week from your mother reminding you about Aunt Millie's birthday next week! Way Cool!

4) Block Unwanted Calls. I still get those stupid sales calls trying to sell me Rx drugs, penis enlargement creme, and hormone replacement therapy, none of which I am interested in. Despite me telling them over and over to take me off their list, and being on the National Do Not Call Registry, I still get these annoying calls. The NEXT time I get one of these, I'm letting it go to VM, then listing the call as SPAM in GV. This will block calls from this number from here on out. I like this feature a lot!

5) Record your calls. Is your significant other calling you to give you a shopping list of things to pick up on the way home? Just press 4 while on the call and GV will record the call and send it to your GV inbox. Since their are legal implications here GV will announce to your caller that you've started and ended the recording.

There are plenty of other cool features. Once you get signed up click on the Help link in the upper right side of the home page and it explains all of the cool new features!

I hope you sign up and enjoy this way cool new service! Drop me your tips/tricks at myers.terry@gmail.com or on Twitter @terrymyers.

So my Twitter buddy Deanna (@deannasworld) and I (@terrymyers) decided to promote the idea of #7ThingsThursday. Write seven things on your blog each Thursday. This is a great tool to help you on #FollowFriday to follow more cool people!

Here are my new 7 Things!

1) I'm a techno geek that works in the book printing industry. I make books, lots of them, but love all things electronic. I still enjoy curling up with a good book...haven't made the mental swtich to Kindle yet.

2) I have three kids, boy/girl twins (7) and another daughter (4)

3) I've been in printing my whole life. I'm a second generation printer. My blood runs magenta, not red.

4) I'm an optimist, I'm always trying to find the good in people and situations. I used to think this was a fault and now know this is a strength.

5) I have a morbid sense of humor. Follow my posts and you'll understand. The weirdest things make me laugh.

6) I'm addicted to Twitter. It's become part of my life and I really enjoy meeting new people from around the world!

7) I think Deanna (@deannasworld) is AWESOME!

There are my seven things....what are YOURS?

7 Things about me

My good friend @tommytrc asked me to participate in the 7 things project. Here are 7 things about me! Enjoy!

1) I used to be on the radio. Back in my high school and college days, I worked part time at a local radio station in Vero Beach, Florida. It was a great job…and it fueled my love of music and my ability to very quickly recognize songs and remember title and artists. I love music Trivial Pursuit questions! I would get some very interesting phone calls from listeners…especially on the overnight shifts. Music has since played a big part in my life…and people still make fun of my voicemail messages….they say I use my radio announcer voice!

2) Saturday morning is pancake time! I make pancakes every Saturday morning for my kids. They count down the days during the work week until pancakes! I make the batter from scratch and use half white flour and half whole wheat…and make plain, chocolate chip, blueberry and banana nut. Chocolate chip pancakes are the house favorite. Once I made a jalapeño pancake and ate it in front of my kids…they still talk about that!

3) I’m addicted to caffeine! Coffee, soda, espresso, you name it….if it has caffeine in it…chances are I’ll like it! My favorite caffeinated beverage is from Starbucks…a triple Venti Raspberry Mocha…..pure heaven in a cup! Mt Dew is my favorite soda, but I try to limit my soda intake.

4) I hate raw onions and raw tomatoes. Cooked varieties are mostly ok. It drives my wife nuts! I like tomatoes most every other way, juice, soup, any kind of red sauce, just can’t stomach the texture of raw tomatoes…the inside of a tomato looks like snot to me. Onions are just too strong of a taste for my liking. When I was a kid I remember pulling freshly grown scallions from my grandfather’s garden, dipping them in salt and eating them. Can’t do that anymore. I like cooked onions, just not the taste of them raw.

5) I am an ancient Egypt buff! I had the opportunity to visit the major historical sites in Egypt in April of 2000. My interest started when I was eight years old and the first King Tut tour was coming through New York City in 1979. We lived outside Philly at the time and my parents let me miss a day of school and took me to go see it. 21 years later I saw many of those objects again this time at the Cairo museum. I’m fascinated with the enormity of the monuments that were built using technology available at the time.

6) I’m a space and technology geek. You will see that many of my Twitter posts are about technology items that interest me….and that I think will be of interest to others. When I lived in central Florida I would always stop what I was doing and go outside to watch the shuttle launch. Night launches were the most spectacular! I was able to see two launches from the Kennedy Space Center and both were remarkable.

7) My wife and I homeschool our kids. It’s something that my wife had thought about doing for a long time before even having children. We really feel that we can accelerate their passion for learning by giving them direction and learning that is just not available in a traditional school. At some point we will migrate them over to a traditional school….probably mid grade school, but we’ll decide as we move further.

There you have it! Thanks for reading!

@terrymyers