One For All: GrandCentral

Our digital lives are getting really busy and complicated. We all have multiple email accounts, IM accounts, and probably a few voice lines also: VOIP, landlines, and cellphones. All of those help us stay connected in the world, but what if there was a way that could simplify life a little better? There’s always is a way to simplify! One way is called GrandCentral.

There are some services out there that have tried it, but no one can compare with GrandCentral. Craig Walker and Vincent Paquet, former executives from DialPad, started GrandCentral with simplicity in mind. With some money and a name, the two executives kicked off the company on Jan 4, 2006. Their plan was to build a service that gave you a phone number for life. However, who knew it was going to be bought by Google, causing many numbers to change. Perhaps now they can say one number for life. Who’ll buy the service from Google? I’m thinking no one, but you can never be to certain.

You go to their website, sign-up, and get a free account. After signing up, you get a free phone number. You then add your home, office, and wireless numbers to this account. When someone calls you on the number you get from GrandCentral, the incoming call is routed to any one of your phones. When you pick up, you are given a few options to choose from: Send to voicemail, listen in on voicemail, or answer. Voicemails can be saved for as long as you want. You get an email alert, and can check your messages from any of the listed numbers, without much trouble.

You can upload your address book, and set rules that can help manage your incoming call flow. For example, if you are working in your office, all incoming calls from your mother can be forwarded to a voicemail box. Similarly you can assign “people” who can reach you anytime, regardless of your location. You can also assign music for each of your calls. If you have a group of friends that love “Yellow” by Coldplay, you are able to assign that song to them, so whenever they call, they get a nice tune to listen to.

GrandCentral has taken the concept of spam list from email and has applied it to voice mail. For instance, if an annoying telemarketer is calling you, you can click on their phone number and put them in a spam list. I love it because now when they call, they are given a “no longer in service” message so they may never call back again. I really enjoy the “listen in” feature that allows you to listen to voicemails in real time, and actually interrupt the voicemail and start the conversation. If you are a podcaster, you will love the option of recording calls. If you are going to do an interview, option “4″ allows you to start recording anytime while on the phone. Make sure you let the other person know though…

Centainly, GrandCentral isn’t going to replace service like Vonage or Skype, but it will work on a specific purpose–Simplifying your life by using one number for all your numbers. Weary of giving someone your number? Just get a GrandCentral number that gives you full control. So there you have it–simple, easy, and safe. I’d recommend it to anyone.