Google Voice - Moving in the Right Direction

As one of the original architects of Voice-over-IP (VoIP) applications here in the USA, I just have to express my accolades for Google Voice (GV). I am also expressing this as a long-time user from before it became GV and was known as Grand Central (Google bought them in 2008).  One phone number for Life which links to all you other phones: mobile, landline, office, home.   The VoIP is typically a short-haul too which helps reduce congestion and improves sound quality.  But many other benefits of joining the Internet and telecommunication together in a rich medley of features is present. You can do call filtering, establish call groups, custom greetings for groups, block spam callers, send/receive no cost text messages as data messages, transcribed voice mail that can be forwarded to email, links to your Google Contacts and iPhone directories, and more.

• Using Google Voice.  Perhaps the best way to illustrate the advantages is to describe my own usage. I have GV set up on my home office PC as well as my iPhone linked to my Google Contacts in Gmail. I also have various call groups setup for family, business, friends, etc with custom greetings. I also have a special group for Telemarketers that is immediately blocked and sent to the phone company's standard 404 "phone number not found" greeting. I also use the True Caller app on my iPhone which further blocks telemarketers and helps populate my directory with address, photos, and birthday info from Facebook. My iPhone and Google Contacts are synched in real time by Microsoft Exchange - so any changes I make are populated across both. Finally a directory that makes sense, flows to my devices, linked to my voice, email, and texting services, and is secure and preserved in the cloud.
• Carriers and Google Voice.  As you might predict, the phone companies are upset by Google's foray into Voice Services. They feel unable to compete with Google's "no charge" services. This was illustrated by AT&T's hand in getting Apple to remove the Google Voice apps from iPhones. Fortunately that tactic didn't last long. They have also pursued litigation with the FCC but again Google has been able to fend them off with the data services spin. Being a previous employee of AT&T bell laboratories for 10 years I can understand their concerns about the threat. But a better way to compete would be through innovation rather than attempting to stifle it.