Google Voice

What is the system?
-Google Voice is a service that gives you one number for all your phones, voicemail that is easy as email, and many enhanced calling features like call blocking and screening, voicemail transcripts, call conferencing, international calls, and more.
-Can have calls to the google voice no. to any mobile or phone you want it directed to.
-Turns voice into text
-Improvement in Bandwidth allows to operate the voice.

If you want more information, they have their own blog site : )http://googlevoiceblog.blogspot.com/

It has many features:
A single Google number for all user's phones.
Free calls and SMS in the contiguous US and Canada.
Calling International phone numbers for as low as 0.01 USD per minute.
Call screening. Announce callers based on their number or by an automated identification request for blocked numbers.
Listen in on someone recording a voicemail before taking a call.
Block calls.
Send, receive, and store SMS online.
Answer an incoming call on any of your phones.
Phone routing. Choose which phones should ring based on who calls.
Forwarding phones. AND MANY MORE...

What benefits will it have for the users?
-Cheaper
-Google voice applications in smartphones can automatically forward outgoing calls via the user's Google Voice number instead of the device's phone number.
-It provides all users with the features mentioned above; One device, many features; thus less things to own.

Any negative consequences?
-->When a Google Voice user returns a call, the party being called sees the device's number as opposed to the Google Voice number which sometimes confuses the receiver.
-->To recognize calls from a Google Voice user, someone must store several different numbers in their phone.
-->The Google Voice applications for Android and BlackBerry smartphones can automatically forward outgoing calls via the user's Google Voice number instead of the device's phone number.
-->Phone lines in Hawaii and Alaska are only minimally supported, with no local area codes available and charges required for calls to those areas.
--> Google plans on implementing Google Voice in other countries, but a time frame has not been released. It continues to remain impossible for users in countries other than the United States to create a Google Voice account.
-->Google Voice still lacks the support given to other providers from services with mobile facilities, such as Facebook and Twitter.
-->If people make the switch to use VOIP services (google voice), normal phone companies may eventually come to end due to lack of payment from users. This is because more people will make a move towards the VOIP services and thus they will earn less money.
--> privacy issue.

There are many articles on Google Voice:
Sydney Morning Herald
New York Times- On how google voice could be a threat to AT&T. "revenues could take a serious hit"

Hardware invovled:
microphone
cell phone, home phone, and work phone

The Processes involved in Google Voice:
-collecting -information such as names of contacts and their number, collecting voice projections through the microphone,
-organising - organising numbers under contact names, organising sounds into words/identifying what sound is what letter and language (translation)
-displaying - on the screen who is calling, who you are calling and displaying the things that you say into letters and words on screen
-transmitting and receiving - sounds back and forth in calls, emails and voicemail. -storing and retrieving - messages/mail/voicemail in phone, phone numbers. Information stored online.