Google launches upgrade GrandCentral mobile service as Google Voice - serious challenger for Skype?

Google today announced the Beta of it’s new service, Google Voice. Adapted from the GrandCentral phone management service Google bought in 2007, the service will automatically transcribe any voicemail you receive, send you an email with the transcript in it, and archive all voicemail for future reference. With this added to the services already in place from GrandCentral, will Google Voice begin to muscle in on Skype’s territory?

What else does Google Voice do? Well, a lot of things. A huge number, actually. The new services that will really be of interest to most people will be the voicemail-to-text, and the free calls. You can make free calls to mobiles from your Google account or from a net-connected mobile device. So far that service is only available for US numbers, but Google Voice now allows for far cheaper international calls.

For details on the full suite of services, check out the Google Voice page: https://www.google.com/voice/about

From Google:

“The new application improves the way you use your phone. You can get transcripts of your voicemail (see the video below) and archive and search all of the SMS text messages you send and receive. You can also use the service to make low-priced international calls and easily access Goog-411 directory assistance.”

What we think?

The offered set of services from Google Voice is genuinely impressive. The only problem is that since it’s still in Beta, new users can’t test it. That’s only available to current GrandCentral users. TechCrunch had 100 accounts to give away, and were swamped with thousands of requests within minutes.

So it this a serious contender for Skype? I’m going to say yes. While Skype doesn’t cost even a cent to use, Google Voice offers far more functionality than Skype does. Once you’ve acquired a Google Voice number, you can use that to access all your other numbers. You can carry your mobile presence with you across borders, IM, text and voice. The GrandCentral (and now Google Voice) philosophy is “one phone number for all your phones, for life.” The initial bother of changing to a new number really shouldn’t present all that much of a barrier to gaining new users - it is just as easy as switching to a new network, and the end gain is far greater.

Frankly, I can’t wait for this to get out of Beta.