Grand Central changes the rules of the telephone game
UPDATE June 24: Google to acquire Grand Central.
TechCrunch Guide to Grand Central
This is the second recipient of the LimitNone Seal of Approval (the first was Jott).
Grand Central is a radical change that can save a great deal of time and hassle.
Everyone has multiple phone numbers these days — home, work, cellular, hotel room, vacation home, etc. You have to check multiple voice mails; you miss calls when people try to reach you on your cell when you’re at home (or vice versa). You know the drill.
And of course if you get a new number, or switch numbers (or jobs), you have to notify everyone about your new number.
So Grand Central solves all these problems once and for all.
Its motto, “One number for life,” pretty much says it all. At GrandCentral.com, you choose a new phone number You give it to everyone you know. They can delete all your old numbers from their contact list - you’re only going to have this one number - forever!
When someone calls this new magical number, ALL your phones ring simultaneously. So no matter where you are, any phone associated with your Grand Central number will ring.
But this is just the start. I think Grand Centrals web software is one of the best implementations I have ever had the pleasure of using. It is simple, intuitive and very powerful.
It gives you a single voice mail box that you can listen to in any of three ways: dial in from any phone (a text message arrives on your cellphone to let you know when you have voice mail, and if you call in from your cellphone, you don’t even have to enter your password first); you can also play your messages on the Web, at GrandCentral.com, and download them as audio files to preserve for posterity. You can even ask to be notified by e-mail; a link in the e-mail message takes you online to play the voice mail.
There are many other functions to make you life easier and more efficient, including caller naming, listening in while a message is being left, call recording, ringer music (what the caller hears while waiting for you to pick up), customized greetings for each caller in your contact list, and the ability to switch phones in the middle of a conversation.
Truly awesome stuff!
