The Intertubes have been all atwitter recently about the launch of GrandCentral. The idea is that you get a unique telephone number and have it ring any number of phones at the same time. Revolutionary? Not so at first glance.
But when you begin to play with it, other features begin to stand out. Miss a call? It emails you a copy of your voicemail (something anyone with VoIP or a newer business-class phone/connection at work has experienced). Want to screen a call? Hit 3 and listen as someone leaves a message; if you want to talk just hit star and barge into the line.
And so far it is free.
It stores a copy of voicemails on the GrandCentral servers in a nice flash interface that can also map callers (as seen above). Also unique hold music (I made a little auto-attendant that introduces myself, asks them to hold for a second, starts the jazz in the background, and if I don't pick up, goes into a continuing voicemail box).
GrandCentral wants to force users to setup different priority groups for certain users. You can send all 'Work' calls to voicemail for an afternoon, or all 'Secret Lover' groupies to your cell phone only.
Perhaps the most powerful feature is the one number but multiple endpoints. As a tech geek, I might pick up a new phone every once in a while or change a phone line. If this product stays strong and doesn't bug the shit out of my family and friends I'll tell them all the new number and not worry about it for a decade or so. (Do web apps stay around that long?)
It stores a copy of voicemails on the GrandCentral servers in a nice flash interface that can also map callers (as seen above). Also unique hold music (I made a little auto-attendant that introduces myself, asks them to hold for a second, starts the jazz in the background, and if I don't pick up, goes into a continuing voicemail box).
GrandCentral wants to force users to setup different priority groups for certain users. You can send all 'Work' calls to voicemail for an afternoon, or all 'Secret Lover' groupies to your cell phone only.
Perhaps the most powerful feature is the one number but multiple endpoints. As a tech geek, I might pick up a new phone every once in a while or change a phone line. If this product stays strong and doesn't bug the shit out of my family and friends I'll tell them all the new number and not worry about it for a decade or so. (Do web apps stay around that long?)
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