Google Voice for the iPhone

With all the hoopla about the iPhone version of Google Voice I thought it would have been interesting to see what could be possible. For that I managed to track down a good friend of mine with a jailbroken iPhone who installed an application for Google Voice called GV Mobile from Cydia and was willing to show me around.

Interestingly that application installs it's own dialer application. It does not disable the existing iPhone dialer yet it does not seem to integrate with it either. Which in my opinion makes sense in that the application appears to be insuring that it does not tinker with the deep inner workings of the Apple software.

When the dialer is selected it launches like any application with a brief display of the logo...

GV Mobile Splashscreen

Once into the application it resembles the iPhone dialer complete with it's own functions shown in the bottom on the dock; SMS, Call History, Voice mail and application Settings.

GV Mobile Application looks similar to what iPhone users currently experienceAt this point it is important to note that this application is using Google Voice functionality even though the services look the same as the carriers in this case AT&T. The contacts are the same as on the native iPhone so that does not really change anything.

The messaging is still called SMS. And looks and acts the same as the current iPhone messaging application.

GV Mobile's SMS Messaging

You can even still select the individual message and interact with it normally.

Note that since there is no MMS support yet from AT&T, it is not really clear if this functionality will work with MMS messages when they appear. That is something to bear in mind.

GV Mobile still allows you to interact with your message

The call history is similar to the iPhone's current Visual Voice mail; it has a history of calls and voice mail functions.

GV Mobile Displays a Call History

I suspect that in being similar to the iPhone, GV Mobile insures that iPhone users will not suffer through a different UI.

GV Mobile also has similar Visual Voice mail capabilities and UIThe settings are where things are different in that they are specifically designed to be simplified controls for the Google Voice service itself. 

GV Mobile Supports Numerous Google Voice Options

You can add the basic logon information, options for the service, and tell the Google Voice service which phone numbers it should forward to and add other ones. Phone changes appear to cascade if you should make changes to the numbers on the Google Voice web application.

GV Mobile also allows Google Voice to call other phonesAside from great features such as free SMS and calling within the continental United States, the transcription service is very nice. It is not always accurate mind you but it is very helpful. Voice mail transcriptions are available in the SMS messaging portion of GV Mobile.

GV Mobile's Voicemail Transcription ServiceTelephone numbers are turned into dialing links so that you can call them back. As can be seen in this heavily edited example, the transcription can be accurate but heavy accents, background noise, or even complications in pronunciation can cause unpredictable translations. However, it is nice in that you can get notified of voice mail that you may have received and quickly look at it if you are unable to listen in.

Since GV Mobile does not displace the native iPhone dialer, making a call with it is reasonably seamless. The only interesting thing about it is that GV Mobile actually calls your cell phone per the settings and you have to answer it if you want to take the call. This is necessary from what I could tell so that the native iPhone dialer can still work in case something should not work with GV Mobile. The settings can be adjusted so that Google Voice does not forward the call to your iPhone if it really becomes annoying.

I have an Android phone which supports Google Voice and does a wonderful job. However it is nice to see what the fuss was all about on the iPhone side. It still appears to be obtainable if you are willing to jailbreak your iPhone which is probably not the majority of iPhone users.

Personally I hope that the entire Google Voice application can find it's way at some point to the iPhone and other mobile phones as well. 

Google Voice - Great service not from a telco

After getting my invitation for Google Voice I was eager to try it. I reviewed the overview materials at the Google Voice homepage and following the simple directions, I was up and running within a few minutes.

Overall I like this service. It allows you to have a number that can be your central point for all of your phones such as mobile, land-line, Skype, etc. Some of the main features I like are the transcription service for voice mails, the ability to manage how you are contacted via a variety of telephones, the ability to peek into messages as they are being recorded, how I can make my Google Voice number appear on all my outgoing calls, and since I still own a land-line the ability to call anyone in the continental US for free!

Since I have both an HTC MyTouch which Google provided free to attendees to their Google IO conference this year along with my iPhone I decided to see how the service worked with the two phones on two different carriers. The one thing that I really liked was the integration of the Google Voice on Android. It worked well with the dialer and after a simple Android Marketplace application installation and it was up and running. Every call and message I made was managed via Google Voice yet seemed to act as natural as these functions had done before. On the iPhone, the process was not as slick but not overly cumbersome. Basically I had to call Google Voice, enter PIN, place call, and enter in my desired telephone number. I imagine that the process would have been simpler if Apple had not rejected Google Voice for the iPhone. While I still love the iPhone overall, Google Voice integration on Android is a pretty darned compelling function.

Overall Google Voice represents in my opinion a fundamental change for consumers and telcos. The Google Voice experience is so very well done that it can essentially raise the customer experience bar for telephone service. Being free as opposed to the various charges for similar services from carriers also makes Google Voice attractive. As Google gets more traction with Google Voice, I can easily see the entire user experience being managed by the internet company. It's this shift in control that threatens telcos. As advances in technology and user experience progress, they are quickly losing their stranglehold on their customer base to the new middle men such as Apple and Google. This essentially relegates carriers to simple "dumb pipes" similar to plumbing and electricity. Everyone has these in their home but they are not paying $600 a month plus various charges for the service. Also Google Voice has the potential of bringing changes to the mobile marketplace as well. Currently mobile devices need SIM chips to work on various carriers throughout the world. Conceivably, it would be possible with Google Voice to create an overall service that works without a SIM or at least not as a SIM as we think of it today. This would allow customers to move easily across providers and still have the same telephone number and core services regardless of whom they decide to use. Heck it may even allow you to move across different providers across the globe at some point. With the mobile space being a key revenue source for telcos Google Voice and it's future could also be a significant threat to this area as well.

This is not to say that the telcos could come out with a competitor to Google Voice. However it is clear based on the changes in the smartphone market heralded by the Apple iPhone and the recent roll-out of Google Voice that if telcos want to be competitive and retain their customers, they need to really start adapting and producing products/services that appeal to their customers. 

Thoughts on Google Voice

There has been an interesting discussion of late on FriendFeed about certain statements made about Google Voice. Overall I tend to agree that Google Voice is a fairly important change that raises the bar for carriers in terms of customer expectation of services. 

So now you can see the discussion and participate in case you missed it earlier...