Google Voice, albeit still in Beta, is a very popular Google application for creating a
single phone number to manage all your phones, with texting, and times to ring and not ring them. It’s very
powerful.
One of the nicest additions is the ability to read and reply to SMS on your
computer. I, personally, find this one of Google Voice’s best features. Even if you don’t have a Cell
Phone – you can sign up for Google Voice and now you have free texting. What could be better?
Well,
I can think of one thing –
Connecting it with Outlook href="http://tech.gtaero.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/UntitledTextMessage.png">
style="border-right-width: 0px; display: block; float: none; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width:
0px; margin-left: auto; border-left-width: 0px; margin-right: auto" title="Text Messaging in Outlook 2010"
src="http://tech.gtaero.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/UntitledTextMessage_thumb.png" border="0" alt="Text
Messaging in Outlook 2010" width="640" height="332" />
Outlook has, in the
last few versions, supported adding a SMS Bridge using whatever protocol it is they use in addition to a
MAPI store. It wouldn’t be very hard for Google Voice to tap into this, and provide free text messages for
all Outlook Users – It would even gain a competitive edge over other service providers, in that your text
messages from outlook would come from your actual phone number, and replies to them would be sent to your
computer and your phones.
href="http://tech.gtaero.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/OutlookMobileServiceAccount.png">
style="border-right-width: 0px; display: block; float: none; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width:
0px; margin-left: auto; border-left-width: 0px; margin-right: auto" title="Outlook Mobile Service Account"
src="http://tech.gtaero.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/OutlookMobileServiceAccount_thumb.png" border="0"
alt="Outlook Mobile Service Account" width="640" height="464" />
Now, I
was going to be mean and keep this idea all to myself – but not only do I
NOT have hosting with SSL (I can’t afford it~) but I don’t know anything about the various protocols I would
need to know in order to make this work.
So Google, don’t you think it’s time to take
the Business World by storm with your revolutionary phone service?
(PS: I would also
like MMS. Even the iPhone got it before you did, and that’s sad.)