| Issue #1 - March 30, 2007 |
Never Miss A Call Again
Before the digital age of cellular phones and beepers,
the average person had two phone numbers: work and home. Today, you
can add personal cell phone, home office and work cell phone lines to
that list of numbers, among others, perhaps even a line for the second
home here in the Hamptons. So how many phone calls does someone have
to make if he or she wants to track you down for a brief chat? On top
of that, how many phone calls do you have to make to find the voicemail
or answering machine message left by the person who has been trying
to call you? The answer to both of these questions can be a simple “one
phone call,” thanks to the latest innovation of phone use known
as GrandCentral.
Combining some of the online elements of the Vonage phone system with
some of the regulation plans of cellular phone providers, GrandCentral
adds its own features and creates a system for which the company motto,
“One number for life,” truly applies. Dialing one number
reaches you at each of your phones: the Blackberry on your belt, the
home line in your kitchen, the office line at your desk, the cell phone
in your pocket etc, as all of them ring simultaneously (just avoid hanging
around them all at once). You have customizable options with this feature,
as you can arrange it so that your home number does not ring during
business hours. In addition, once you pick up a line, you can pause
and pick up on another simply by pressing the * (star) key. Think of
how this may help you save valuable peak minutes on your cell phone.
Should you actually find time away from your work phones, home phones
and more, but still need to be contacted, GrandCentral lets you redirect
all calls to any temporary phone number. Should you actually find time
away from all phones and desire no contact whatsoever, you can have
GrandCental answer particular calls with the familiar “We’re
sorry, but the phone number you have dialed is not in service.”
Or you can record different voicemail greetings specifically tailored
to each person to let him or her know why you do not feel like taking
their call right now. In addition, you never need worry about telemarketers
as GrandCentrals own version of the Do Not Call Registry blocks your
phones from receiving such calls.
With one phone number comes, basically, one voicemail as well. Your
Grandcentral mailbox gets your every message from every answering machine
and every digital voicemail box you have. You also have the options
of listening to voicemails while they are being left and recording phone
conversations as they happen (which is legal here in New York but may
not be in other states).
Depending on how you customize your account, you can receive notification
of a new voicemail via a text message or e-mail. While you’re
online checking that email, you also have the option to download messages
using as audio files to your computer. Enjoy that sweet message someone
just left you? You can download it as your ringtone or even as filler
for the ringing sounds the person calling you hears while they wait
for you to pick up, or you can just use any MP3 file of your choice.
Utilizing its online features to the fullest, GrandCentral also coordinates
your address books and contacts, and can import them from anything from
your Gmail account to your Microsoft Entourage. You can also create
a “call me” button on your personal Website or your eBay,
MySpace pages, etc.
Signing up, or logging on for that matter, with GrandCentral, can eliminate
the need of handing out business cards after scribbling extra phone
numbers on the back. It can also help you make the best use of your
time on or off of the phone. Although the nascent stage in which this
new and exciting means of communication now exists will likely have
its kinks and blemishes, its efficiency as well as lower prices (free
for two lines or less, less than $50 for more) are well worth some early
exploration.
– Kirk Cassels
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