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Cellular Phone Forum / Providers / Sprint PCS / January 2008Anyone using Grand Central from Google?
If yes.... how liking it? see link http://www.grandcentral.com/home > If yes.... how liking it? > > see link > > http://www.grandcentral.com/home I signed up before Google bought them, and only to give my Mother in Rhode Island a local Providence number to call me on to avoid LD charges. It rings my Denver-based landline and Kansas City-based cell simultaneously. She uses it very seldom, but it works as advertised. >> http://www.grandcentral.com/home > [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > > She uses it very seldom, but it works as advertised. I tried to check it out but they only took my name and email address to notify me when they had local numbers in my area. (I gave them my Gmail address.) They don't seem to be accepting new signups right now, unfortunately.  SignatureSteve Sobol, Victorville, CA PGP:0xE3AE35ED www.SteveSobol.com Geek-for-hire. Details: http://www.linkedin.com/in/stevesobol >> If yes.... how liking it? >> [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > >She uses it very seldom, but it works as advertised. Ok trying to figure exactly how I could use it.... what benefits it would give me. I have a cell phone only... no landline at all > Ok trying to figure exactly how I could use it.... what > benefits it would give me. > > I have a cell phone only... no landline at all I'm not sure there's a compelling reason- essentially it's just a free forwarding service (with voicemail) that includes an incoming phone number from virtually anywhere in the US you can direct to any phone number you wish. The only practical use _I've_ really found for it is to give me a local number in a different market, sparing my family from paying LD to call me from their landlines. Some people, however, have used it with cellular "Circle/Faves" plans from Alltel and T-Mo to get unlimited incoming calling (although it's technically a violation of the companies' rules.) The scheme works like this: you can either set Grand Central to pass the original caller's CID to you, or your GC number (to identify the call is being forward via GC.) Since T-Mo and Alltel give you unlimited incoming/outgoing calls to/from your 5 or 10 "favorite" numbers, you give everyone your GC number, set GC to report your GC number in the CID, and make the GC number a "favorite." Every incoming call to your GC number is forwarded to your cellphone, and "looks like" it's your GC number that is calling you, which is a free call on your favorites plan. You give up caller ID with this scheme, (all calls say they're from the GC number- not the actual caller) but some find unlimited incoming calls to be worth the tradeoff. > I'm not sure there's a compelling reason- essentially it's just a free > forwarding service (with voicemail) that includes an incoming phone number > from virtually anywhere in the US you can direct to any phone number you > wish. There are some reasons for certain people. I'm planning on using it with the phone line for our small Jewish congregation here in Victorville. I have no way of getting notified when their Verizon landline rings or has a voice mail message sent to it (and we're not big enough to have people employed full time, and I'm the one tasked with checking voicemail). This is just one example; I'm sure there are other good ones. I'd like to have more than one number, though, like a Cleveland number in addition to my Victorville number so I can be local to people back home who want to call me. Maybe at some point they could offer that as an extra-cost option. Also, they mention free incoming minutes on phone calls to the GC numbers. But they mention nothing about outgoing. Does this mean they're planning on charging for the outgoing leg on each call?? SignatureSteve Sobol, Victorville, CA PGP:0xE3AE35ED www.SteveSobol.com Geek-for-hire. Details: http://www.linkedin.com/in/stevesobol > There are some reasons for certain people. I'm planning on using it with > the phone line for our small Jewish congregation here in Victorville. I have > no way of getting notified when their Verizon landline rings or has a voice > mail message sent to it (and we're not big enough to have people employed > full time, and I'm the one tasked with checking voicemail). This is just one > example; I'm sure there are other good ones. How do you plan to use it that way? Use the GC number as the "new" number for the congregation and set it to ring the landline (and your cell), or set the landline to forward to GC if unanswered and notify you via e-mail? > I'd like to have more than one number, though, like a Cleveland number in > addition to my Victorville number so I can be local to people back home who > want to call me. That's a problem. I tried setting up two GC accounts but they won't allow two GC numbers to forward to the same physical line. > Maybe at some point they could offer that as an extra-cost > option. That'd be nice. > Also, they mention free incoming minutes on phone calls to the GC numbers. > But they mention nothing about outgoing. Does this mean they're planning on > charging for the outgoing leg on each call?? Perhaps, but given that they claim all features will be free during the beta, and Google's propensity for "permanent" beta testing, I'm not sure we'll have to worry about it in our lifetimes! ;-) >The only practical use _I've_ really found for it is to give me a local >number in a different market, sparing my family from paying LD to call me >from their landlines. Well that's a pretty good strategy! > >The only practical use _I've_ really found for it is to give me a local > >number in a different market, sparing my family from paying LD to call me > >from their landlines. > > Well that's a pretty good strategy! Yeah, but probably just illustrates my lack of imagination! I'm sure others have found far more imaginative uses for GC. |
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