Google Voice.

The time has come


Google seems to always surprise so it should not really be a surprise anyone that Google is entering the phone business. The real question is why? This doesn’t seem to be even marginally connected with Googles core business model. Why is Google going into the Phone business?

The overall reason that Google seems to go into new businesses that don’t seem to make it more money has to do with customer satisfaction. Google wants people to stay on its site knowing full well that the programs that do make it money will be used. But beyond its macro strategy there is some direct money making tools that Google Voice will activate.

Management in one word is what Google voice is all about. No one needs to juggle many phone numbers anymore. One number on every business card and website. The user decides which of his phones will ring when Google voice is accessed. The user decides that a number from a business associate will ring on his business phone and the call from his mother will ring on his home phone. He can decide that cold calls hear a prerecorded message so spam calls will never bother him again. He can direct people he does not want to talk to a voice mail that he can choose not to ever return. All these conversations will be recorded on a g-mail like page that any messages ( or even spoken conversations) can be accessed at a later point . These pages Google will leverage with its core product Google adsense that brings Google in billions. Google will be preparing millions of new pages where ads can appear based on page content.

Google is very likely going to integrate all this very seamlessly into its g-mail system and mobile capabilities.

This is a brilliant stroke by Google once again.