Hasta La Creative!

Despite the fact that Newsweek boldly claimed that the recession was over, it’s really not: On July 31st, Verizon Wireless reported a 21% decline in profits, which, as we all know by now, means massive lay-offs. In this case, 8,000 more employees, the largest lay-off since the GM debacle.  And just to keep things on the up-and-up, Verizon has already cut 8,000 jobs in 2009. It’s my guess that Verizon employees are thinking that the recession lives on…

So, not only must we disseminate information gathered from online sources, it would seem that we must do the same for magazines, newspapers, and TV newscasts; nothing can be taken at face-value.

Which brings me to Forbes and their haphazardly scattered reporting on Google. In the past 10 days, Forbes has printed stories ranging from Google being on top of the SEO game, to comparing Google to newspapers, printing a story titled, “Why Google Won’t Last Forever.” Forbes either does not understand Google’s business plan, or they’re simply pounding out headlines to gain readers. In a single week, they reported the Google demise story and a separate story on how Google Wave and Android will revolutionize telecommunications, e-mail, chat, blogging, archiving and file uploading.

By now, most people have heard of Google Voice, although relatively few know what this new offering will provide. Luckily, I signed up to test Voice, and just received my “approved” email, so I’m not certain what it does either…but I’m eager to find out. Google Voice, formerly known as GrandCentral, was a company that Google acquired in 2007 for just over $50 Million. Despite the nearly two-year wait, the bugs have supposedly been put to rest and the service is ready for beta testing. Below is Google’s video explanation of Google Voice.

Google Voice has a singular main idea: “one phone number for all your phones, for life.” This single phone number will, in essence, combine all your phone numbers, including cellular, office, home, vacation home, etc. To use the service correctly, the phone number provided by Google Voice will be your main phone number. Depending on the party calling, Google Voice will route the call to the appropriate telephone, or even ring all of the phones simultaneously. Thus, calls coming from family members can be set up to ring your mobile and home phone; business calls, depending on how easily you want to be found, can ring both your office and your cellular (or your office, cell, home and vacation number). If your Google Voice number receives a text message, it automatically routes to your cell phone.

Google has also enhanced the original service by adding a transcription service which transfers all of your voice mails into text which users can then append, adding notes or tags for future searching. Voice will also include a friend setting, which routes calls from designated people straight to voicemail, home phone, cell phone, etc. Users can access Google Voice via computer or telephone, and the system tracks all received calls, missed calls, text messages, placed calls, and will even record phone calls. Although not “live” at this time, Google Voice and Gmail will be fully integrated in the future, providing a single source point for all personal and business communications. As an added benefit, if you happen to receive a text message while on your computer, you can simply use the Google Voice interface on your computer to respond.

Google Voice includes a teleconferencing feature for calls of up to 6 people, plus the ability to record the teleconference. International calls can be made at about the same rate that Skype currently offers.

As for costs, with the exception of International calling, the service is very affordable: It’s free.

With Android, Wave, and Voice all nearing release stage, it would seem that Google’s position is where it’s always been…in front of the competition.

Jeff Louis: Strategic Media Planner, Brand Project Manager, blogger and aspiring writer. To contact Jeff, leave a comment or find him on LinkedIn or Twitter.