Just got my invite and messing about with it now. Pretty cool so far. I like the voicemail transcription, and the "listen in" feature is interesting.

Anyone else get one?

Top 5 Reasons to Use Google Voice

1. A Phone Number You'll Have Forever — But Other People Won't
Your Google Voice number is one you'll keep forever (at least until we communicate mentally), but it's one you can give out freely without being leery about the person you're giving it to. Suggestions for this include using it for Craigslist transactions (because you don't always know who you're dealing with) and people you meet but aren't sure they're not total freaks. If they turn out to be weird, you can easily block them.

2. It's All Online
You manage everything online with Google Voice, so you'll never go through some confusing automated menu. Manage all your settings, check out your visual voicemail and download messages as MP3s. Oh, and there are now voice mail transcripts, so you don't have to put a phone to your ear if you don't want to.

3. Ring More Than One Phone
If you have a bad habit of not hearing your cell phone, or you don't want to pick up your cell for whatever reason, you can also set the number to ring your house line, your friend's phone, or the phone at the hotel you're staying at.

4. Best Call Screening Ever
You can set up Voice to make callers say their first and last name before you answer; you can set it to all unknown callers or just blocked callers.

5. Custom Greetings
Your outgoing voice mail greeting is rarely one-size-fits-all. You can set up custom voice mail greetings for groups, like if you're applying for jobs and want a very formal greeting, but a casual one for everyone else.

I signed up to get an invite at some point, but don't know how much I would use it...

how do you get an invite?

at the google voice main site, you just give them your email address, and they'll eventually send you one...

Got one, but I'm waiting for number portability which is supposed to be on the fairly near horizon. Tried out the transcription only once and it wasn't great, but I love everything else.

i have one and i have it forwarded to my skype/home phone...of course i signed up for skype and paid for it one day before i got my GV invite or Id be using the hell out of this at my hospital wher i get no ATT service (instead $60 a year for a unlimited skype+number, still not awful)

i need number portability first... have my invite waiting....

you mean like porting your cell phone number to GV? im not sure i see that happening

It's in the product pipeline for later this year.

I'm not sure why I need this yet. I've got caller ID and voicemail on my cell phone.

its a pretty neat setup

I hope there is a war soon.

Not a nuclear war, nor a war involving conventional military forces employing tanks, bombs and helicopter gunships.

No, the war I wish to see happen soon is a war where innumerable waves of charging savages armed with spears attack our undefended towns and cities.

And as the aboriginal onslaught descends, fierce and ceaseless, one of two things will happen.

Firstly, the brave, the resourceful, the honourable; these individuals will form impromptu militias armed only with hastily constructed weapons fashioned from the shards of smashed tea cups, swearing vows of comradeship, like modern day Horatii, to defend hearth and home from the blood tipped spear of the wild and frenzied barbarian attacks.

Secondly, those who were in previously life too scared to answer the phone in case it was someone they didn't want to speak to, or too lazy to put a phone to their ear when someone was talking to them, these individuals will turn and flee and be publicly humiliated in front of their fellow citizens and be rightly stripped off all human dignity and worth in the eyes of fellow men and on account of their actions be consider by whomever the victors may be, savage or tea cup militia, as nothing more than dogs; mangy, worthless, miserable, contemptible dogs.

just got my invite. not really sure what im getting myself into

ok so I have a number. now what?

I just got an invite and realized I have no use for this service whatsoever.

my myTouch 3G from Google/TMobile arrived, and we're laughing at the iPhone right now.

holy shit, this thing RULES.

ok, before i request an invite, do i need this?

I don't have a work phone, or a home phone, just a personal cell phone. I mean, i think I could still use a couple of the features, but i won't set this thing up if it's going to cost me any money.

It doesn't cost anything does it? And i'm under no obligation to use it if i set up a number right??? The main reason I would want to do this now is getting in early while all the "cool" phone numbers are still available. i mean, it's your number for life right? might as well snag a wicked one.

I just saw how cheap international phone calls are so now I am totally on board.

shit! someone just told me google voice isn't available in canada yet!

although, this could be bullshit as the dude who told me also told me he once slapped a black bear on the head...

i'll admit, that YEARS ago, when we were teenagers, but that's just a tall tale no one would ever forget. he will be forever branded in my mind as a bullshitter

I want to try one of these out.

this is interesting....

[img][185:500]http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2511/3776569752_f5cbc7c435_o.png[/img]

lol, no multitasking.

i'm glad i was patient, and didn't jump on the iPhone or G1. the myTouch 3G is an awesome device.

you're on TMO right timmy?

yea, I just have a Pearl right now. I'm kicking myself for at least not getting a curve with the full keyboard. So far, I have run into a lot of words that use the same key when using predictive text (Buck/Nick, telling/yelling...)

Aren't most of the google apps free, where the itunes ones all cost money? 30 Palm apps is pretty funny.

I'm waiting for the office to open up the office email to devices other than Blackberries. Some guy is really pushing them to be able to use an iphone. if he gets that through...I can't wait for my upgrade. Do you have 3G yet in that part of Florida yet? Cincinnati isn't supposed to get it for a couple months.