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Google enters the Telecommunications business by acquiring GrandCentral.com . This is not another April Fools prank. What is GrandCentral.com:

Read more about Google enters the Telecomunication business

GrandCentral Communications is a next-generation personal communications company. We provide consumers with One Number. . . for Life^TM by integrating all existing phones, numbers, and voicemail boxes into one. We give subscribers unprecedented control over how incoming calls are managed through a simple web-based interface. The company is privately-held and based in Fremont, CA.

At first glance, GrandCentral’s features appear to be very similar to those of a virtual PBX. One such provider of Virtual PBX Services is GotVmail.

Take all of your phone services and voicemail boxes (cell, office, work, etc) and manage them with ONE phone number and a web based interface. I could not find any pricing at GrandCentral.com

GrandCentral works like this:

1. Someone calls your ONE number assigned to you be GrandCentral
2. The call is directed to you via the path you’ve configured in the Web Based Interface.
3. Your presented with a short intro from GrandCentral followed by these 4 options:
   1. Take the call
   2. Send the call to voicemail
   3. Send the call to voicemail while listening
   4. Accept and record the call.

GrandCentral Video Demonstration at YouTube

In summary, it appears to be a very useful service. Especially in todays world of multiple phone numbers and voicemail boxes. What I found very interesting here, is the opportunity for Google to insert AdWords Audio Ads into any of the four steps above. Maybe there are future plans for Google to somehow marry GrandCentral with its 411 directory service to produce something similar or better than this type of advertising which is already being done by Jingle Networks for 411 directory calls.