Using Google Voice w/ Gmail for the Mobile Business Person
So I finally received an invite to Google Voice, Google's super cool virtual phone app. Google voice let's you choose a phone number, then you attach your existing phone numbers, like your mobile, office and home, to the account. When someone calls your Google number, all your phones ring.
Normally this would not be a good thing, we need a bit of separation in our lives. In fact some see the proliferation of mobile communication devices as the death toll for a less stressed, less over-worked, society. Google Voice includes some protections though, allowing its users to safeguard their time while still staying in touch.
When you answer a Google Voice call, you first hear a message asking what you would like to do... something like, "Call from George Orwell, press 1 to answer, 2 to send to voice mail, 3 to send to voice mail and screen..." Google Voice grabs the caller's name from your Google contacts. If that person is not in your contacts, Google Voice asks them for their name before your phone ever rings.
Why this works great for me. I'm a super big fan of The 4 Hour Work Week. I know it sounds rude, but I don't like taking calls from folks who waste my time. I like to take in information when I'm ready, not at the whim of someone else. It sounds rude because it is, but it's a necessary evil for me... I get distracted to easy. Being able to screen callers, and even screen their voice mails allows me to be rude gracefully.
The next great time saver from Google Voice is visual voice mail. The Apple iPhone and Samsung Instinct have it, but most phones are lacking. I hate listening to voice mails. It's a time waster. Google Voice transposes voice mails into a text for me and makes it available via sms, email and online. So not only do I get to listen in to voice mails, live as they are left, but I instantly get a sms transcript and email.
[EDIT: you can also visit your Google Talk account on your phone via http://www.google.com/voice/m.]
I'm also a clean Inbox jumkie. I hate spam, and repeat message notifications cluttering up my Inbox workspace. So, here's how I take care of email voice mail transcripts in my Gmail box.
- Go into Settings > Labs and enable "Multiple Inboxes".
- Still in Settings, vist the Multiple inboxes tab and add "label:gvoice" to the first inbox and position it above the main inbox.
- Now, create a new label/filter for
Matches: from:(voice-noreply@google.com)
Do this: Skip Inbox, Apply label "GVoice"
Now when you get a new Google Voice voice mail email transcript, it goes streight into archived mail, but appears above your main inbox.
So, all those features combined with Active Syncing your Windows Mobile or Palm WebOS phone and you have a pretty robust mobile email and voice solution.
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