Google Voice invites are now available for all students – Android and Me
Perhaps not the most significant Google Blog post of the day, but if you’ve got an .edu email address and an Android phone then this is definitely something you are going to want to take a look at.
Google Voice is a fantastic service and if you have an Android phone you should definitely be using it. The one big problem is that it remains invite only, but starting today students are getting moved to the front of the invite line.
You can sign up right now by just entering your .edu email address right here. There will probably still be a bit of a wait after you sign up, so don’t worry if you don’t get anything immediately.
Here’s a quick list of notable features of Google Voice for mobile followed by Google’s own video on the Android app. Additional information on Google Voice itself can be found here.
- One number – You can select a number when you first sign up and this is your Google Voice number which you can receive and make calls or text messages from.
- Voicemail transcription – One of the best (and sometimes funniest) features is that it will do its best to transcribe and send any new voicemail messages to you via email.
- Free text messages – Much as it sounds, you can send and receive text messages for free using the Google Voice app. Check here for a description of how to set this up to be sure they are free.
- Cheap international calls – Make low-priced international calls directly from your phone.
- Integration – Google Voice integrates with your Google Contacts.
- Custom greetings – You can set up a special greeting for different callers.
Like most things Google this is a free service so if you have an .edu email address just trust me that you want to head over right now and sign up.
I've been using Google Voice since it was Grand Central. Overall it's a really good service and I would definitely recommend students take advantage of this.
