Friday, June 01, 2007

Grand Central - The birth of the HellaPhone

It's an idea so simple, you can't believe that no one has already created it. One number to reach all your phones. That's the genius of GrandCentral.com.


Who among us doesn't have at least two telephone numbers? Home phones, cell phones, work phones...how many friends do you have that require not one phone call to try and reach them, but sometimes as many as 3? ("Hmm...he's not answering his cell...I'll try his home phone...") Grand Central is the cure for all of that. The idea is to pick a new telephone number through the site (a free service, as of this writing), and then tie your various phones to that number. Now, hand out this new number to all your friends. The next time they call your new number, not only will they reach your cell phone, but they'll reach every number you have tied to your Grand Central number.

But that's just the start. They have online voicemail. They have "Spam" filters, that protect you from phone solicitors. They have a tool that allows you to record your phone calls. You can switch phones in the middle of a call, whether they use the same phone number or not.

I've only started to look through everything this site claims they can do, but I'm more than curious enough to give it a shot. I can foresee issues (who wants to get a work call at 9:45 at night?) but it looks like the pros far outweigh the cons. I'll be sure to post again when I get used to the service!