For fans of GrandCentral, the launch of Google Voice last week was a long time in the making. We at ooma were excited to see what GrandCentral had evolved into and we were not disappointed. GrandCentral brought a new world of intelligence and connectivity to the phones you use and Google Voice takes it to the next level. Their feature list is impressive.

Although we differ in our approach, ooma has always shared the same vision of bringing better services, enhanced productivity and a more fluid experience to voice communication. Hopefully this is evident in our product and the features we offer as part of ooma Premier.

So what does Google Voice have to do with ooma anyway? For starters, it is important to understand Google Voice doesn’t provide phone service – it works over the phone service you already have. Whether it is your home phone, cell phone, work phone or all three, Google Voice still needs to reach you at a phone. That’s where we come in. What better phone service to use at home than a free one?

Now given that Google Voice already does so much, how does one make it better? For one, we make it a whole lot more convenient to use. With ooma Premier’s Google Voice Extensions, we can automatically show your Google Voice caller-ID when you make a call, no need to use the web site or call into Google Voice just to do that. You can also check your Google Voice messages with a touch of a button, just like using an answering machine. And with ooma, you don’t need to pick up your phone to hear who is calling. We’ll play the announcement and message over the speaker for you – pick up the phone only if you really want to answer. Finally, if you don’t want to go through the hassle of switching to yet another new phone number, use your existing ooma number (or port your number to ooma) and we’ll forward it to Google Voice. Your friends and family will be none the wiser! You’ll still be able to answer calls at home thanks to the Instant Second Line.

So there’s a sneak peek at what’s coming to ooma Premier. Have an idea that you’d like to share about how ooma and Google Voice can work better together? Chime in below!