Google Voice may be its most disruptive move yet for cellcos
Published: 13 March, 2009
READ MORE: Google
We've seen how strongly operators like Orange reacted to Nokia's plans to bundle Skype with some smartphones, so we can only imagine their panic (and Skype owner eBay's) at yesterday's launch of Google's internet voice services, Google Voice. This may be PC-oriented at first, but there are clear plans to integrate it with Android and push the search giant into the mobile voice market.
The new offering is based on the GrandCentral software that Google acquired in 2007. It will add voice calling to the presence, location, instant messaging and chat options integrated into Gmail and other Google apps, which in turn are tightly integrated with Android platforms like T-Mobile G1.
Google Voice is an add-on application, though not full VoIP at this stage - instead it is a web enabled telephony feature rather like Jajah, which works at the upper levels of the control plane rather than the media plane, like Skype. It provides users with a single phone number that they can use to consolidate all their other numbers including mobile. Calls are forwarded based on rules the user establishes, and there are free internet-based calls. This entails some changes in user behavior compared to conventional phone services or even many VoIP offerings, but it provides integration with other communications and free calls within the US (there will be charges, not detailed as yet, for international usage).
This sees Google sitting right at the heart of the call flow, a move that would relegate operators to the dreaded bitpipe role. Google Voice resides on the network and runs presence and availability functions, allowing users to initiate calls, and set up conference calls, by clicking on names in their contact lists. The service will be launched first in the US and then extended to other countries as the year progresses. Google Voice will also support visual voicemail from all a user's phones, automated voicemail transcription and the ability to send and receive text messages. Visual voicemail will be a direct attack on the iPhone, which pioneered this feature in the mobile world.
More GOOGLE News
More HANDSET News
More LTE News
COMMENTS
Carrier Broadband Performance: Africa & Middle East
Carriers are using mobile broadband as their weapon of choice in the fight against the commoditization of voice and falling ARPU. This...
Voice over LTE: Market Analysis and Forecasts
VoLTE offer unique advantages in lowering a carrier's voice infrastructure economics and promises to improve voice quality, device...
Satellite Phones: Will Dual Mode Help the Phoenix Rise from the Ashes?
Satellite phones have followed an arduous path since their much-hyped launch more than a decade ago. The hype was followed by an e...
