Shanghai Tech WriterTechnical Writing, Technology, Web2.0, Google, Shanghai, China

I finally received an invite to Google Voice today after submitting an invitation request several months ago! Currently, Google Voice is available by invite only. If you’d like an invite, click here to submit an invitation request.

In case you’ve never heard of Google Voice before, basically, it is a service that connects all your phones, including home, work, and mobile, together so that you have one number that reaches you anywhere, everywhere.

Watch the YouTube video below introducing how Google Voice works. (Note: If you live in China, try using YouTube proxy or VPN access like Witopia. Direct link is http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m4Q9MJdT5Ds)

After clicking on the invite link, I arrived to a page that says:

Well, that sucks! Google Voice service is only available in the U.S. But the good thing is that I have both a U.S. VOIP phone number and VPN access. I used my Witopia personal VPN connection to fool the website in thinking that I am physically located in the U.S. As far as anyone is concerned, I am a U.S. citizen with a U.S. address and a telephone number who happens to be working in Shanghai at this time.

So I was able to sign up for Google Voice and register for a number that will be mine permanently for the rest of my life or until Google goes bust. I think a nuclear war is likely to blast all humanity out of existence before that happens, so I think I can safely count on this Google number to stick with me for a very long time. The neat thing about choosing my number is that I can select an area or zip code of my choice and search for numbers/strings that I’d like to have.

I entered a Northern California area code and typed my name ‘susan’ in the search box. Two choices of (XXX) XXS-USAN came up, so I picked the location that was closest to family members! This is just plain awesome! Imagine having a number with your name in it! It’s like dialing 1-800-DENTIST to find a dentist. Now family/members can dial XXSUSAN to reach me! (Sorry for the ambiguity. I’d rather not receive calls from telemarketers although Google Voice does have features that prevent unwanted callers from reaching you.)

I’ll have to do more exploration of Google Voice later this week, but for those who’d like to learn more about some cool features with Google Voice, go right on over to the About page and view some cool demo videos. I’m not sure which Google team (marketing or technical writing) created these videos, but I think they are GREAT examples of documentation that reaches users that are visual learners.