Notices

The Google Voice Blog introduces the updated version of GrandCentral that runs on Google's infrastructure including:

voicemail transcription
SMS support
conference calling
GOOG-411 integration
low cost international calling

Transcriptions
Now, in addition to being able to listen to your voicemail messages, you can choose to have your new voicemails automatically transcribed. You'll see these transcriptions in your inbox and will be able to search for voicemails. Transcriptions are also included in email and SMS notifications. They are fully automated, so they aren't perfect, but we'll be working to improve this in the future.

SMS support
When somebody sends an SMS to your Google Voice number, that SMS will be relayed to each of your forwarding cell phones and stored in your inbox. You can reply from your computer or from any of your mobile phones and the conversation will be saved in your inbox. You'll be able to read through the conversation thread and search for past messages.

Conference calling
If you want to talk to more than one person at once, just tell everyone to call you on your Google number. When you get a call waiting notification, you will have the option to press 5 to add them to your existing call.

Enjoy!

Looks like my inbox has not been upgraded yet...

UPDATE: Got the upgrade.

1. Since I wanted to keep my GrandCentral address book, I had to export it from GrandCentral and import it in Google Voice.

2. No more call presention (No more 'press 1 to accept the call')!!! Calls connect directly when I answer my phone. Exception: Google Voice didn't respond when I answered using RTCOM/sipphone.com/Gizmo

Mine hasn't been updated yet either. As I posted in DialCentral 0.9.0 thread ( http://www.internettablettalk.com/fo...099#post271099 ) I hope to port DialCentral to this as soon as possible. Probably not this weekend due to Pi Day celebration preparations though.

No upgrade notification in my inbox yet either. One of the main things I will like about this new version is having the option of turning the screening totally off so i dont have to hit 1 to answer a call.

If you're outside of the USA you can't upgrade. Ugh.

I humbly request that the people who upgrade, please report any caveats. I just logged into GrandCentral on my PC and it says "your GrandCentral account can now be upgraded to Google Voice". Can.

Probably later that will change to must. For now I'm thinking if it ain't broke don't fix it.

I've used GrandCentral with Gizmo5 to turn my 770 into a phone, for 20 months now. As far as I know, I'm not really using any of the features of GrandCentral...in other words I believe Gizmo alone would do the same thing for me (address book, messages, etc). It's just that GrandCentral makes it all free, so I love it of course. I haven't paid anything at all, all these 20 months. Please advise. Thanks!

dmphzhopjrbffx, Can I ask, do you ever have trouble with this set up? I try using the GC+Giz setup now and then, but I'm constantly getting either very poor connections, or no connection at all. That is, giz will ring on my tablet, and when I answer, it won't connect to the desired number. Sometimes the people on the other end will have their phone ring, but I won't be there. Instead they get some message from GrandCentral about leaving ME a voicemail.

Anyway, I was just amazed that you seem to have had such good luck with GC. I've been hoping that the change to Google Voice would make it possible for me to have the same experience you have had.

dmphzhopjrbffx: I'm getting massive battery drain with Gizmo on my N800. I take it you're not seeing that.

Some first notes. Contacts from GC are not automatically imported as Google Contacts. You do keep access to GC though, maybe a read only mode though

I'm interested in using this for SMS... but I wasn't able to use the free Google SMS before (only works to select few US carriers), so it probably still won't work for me...