I requested a Google Voice account a few weeks ago and over the weekend I finally received my account information. I wasn't really sure what to expect because I only had a vague idea about what Google Voice really was.

The first time you log onto Google Voice you are presented with a wizard. The wizard guides you through the process of establishing a new phone number for your account. The dialog prompts you for an area code and some optional text in case you want to associate your number with some words (e.g. 123-Ima-Geek). Once you pick out your phone number from the pool of available numbers, you are ready to set up call forwarding. So why is this useful? Well, here are some possible uses:

1. You can consolidate your phones. If you have an office phone, home phone and cell phone you can now use Google Voice to route all these calls with a single number.
2. You can route phone calls to one or many phones  You can even setup rules on a per contact basis. For example if your boss calls you and you are playing golf during business hours then you may want to have that phone call ring your cell. For other calls you can send them directly to voicemail. Jeez, who would do a thing like that?
3. You can use spam filters on phone numbers. The next time you fill out a survey, use your Google number instead. When the telemarketers call you, you can mark the call as spam and prevent it from ringing your phone!
4. Google's voicemail web-interface allows you to check your messages from anywhere that has an internet connection. You can also get a text transcription of your voice messages. It even has the ability for you to listen into a message while someone is recording it. If you decide that you need to pick up the call you can press the star key to start talking.
5. SMS and Email Support. When someone leaves a voice mail you can read the message via SMS or email. You can also reply to text messages on your mobile phone.

With every good technology there are always some bad things that come along with it. Here are some reasons why you may not want to use Google Voice:

1. Since Google is hosting your account you always have to worry about how much privacy you really have. How do you know who is really working in the Google data center? You never know who is listening to your calls!
2. There are times when you just want to "disappear from the grid". Things like Email and cell phones mean that you are always connected and available. Google Voice is just another way to remove the boundaries between your business life and your personal time.

The one feature I would like to see is unified messaging. This means that my voicemail messages would show up in my Gmail inbox as email messages with wav file attachments. Hopefully someone from the Google Voice team will read my blog and add it into the next release. In any case, Google voice is free to try and you can get your own account by visiting www.google.com/voice