jtrigsby.com » Google

Get a Phone in the Cloud

jtrigsby — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 15:26:57 +0000

We love being connected. People have always tried to find new and better ways to communicate. To do this, sometimes, we have to use multiple communication devices to do so. This is a big hassle and could most of the time be confusing. But what if you had something wherein you can organize and manage all your communication records, devices and contacts by using just one simple application? Wouldn’t it be easier? Well, Google has the right solution for you. It’s called Google Voice. Google Voice is an awesome, FREE service to help manage phone and contacts the same way gmail helps you manage your email.

Google Voice is a great new telecommunications service from Google. It is not a phone redirecting service. It’s not VoIP or Voicemail. It is a combination of all of the above and more. Google voice allows users to register a new phone number and direct it to call multiple phones. It could also collect messages and act as your personal switchboard operator and it also tracks, records and transcribes communication for easy recording and safekeeping on the cloud.

It is currently one of the best cloud apps in the market today. However, it is still just limited to the United States. You can get a telephone number for any US Area Code (sorry, only works in US) no matter how far or remote the area that you would like to be in. Google voice service also now allows you to choose words or witty phrases that your phone number spells out. So you can easily personalize and have fun choosing the number that you want such as (773)824- LOVE. The downside is that sometimes you cannot use an existing number of yours or have to pay a switching fee to allow it to switch to Google Voice which can be a sad fact for those who are married to a longtime cell number or the like

Another great thing about Google Voice is that you can forward incoming calls to ANY phone, to even more than one phone. This protects your privacy since you don’t have to give out your actual cell phone number and if you change phones, you don’t have to worry about missing calls. This application forwards your calls to as many or as few numbers as you like, and you can even redirect calls to different phones depending on who is calling. This makes it easier for you to organize your call list, avoid unwanted callers and get the calls that you actually want. Just like gmail, you can even set certain groups (or individuals) to be sent directly to Voicemail, to the Spam folder, or block the call altogether.

With Google voice, you are not stuck at home with a computer. It is portable and could even be used with ANY phone. It forwards the calls to wherever you are and you can check your messages from all the phones anywhere using the service. The Iphone has even launched an official application for Google Voice users.

If that’s not enough, Google Voice also allows you to thread incoming calls differently for different groups of callers. For example, unknown callers go straight to voicemail while family callers go to your cell phone and business callers only go to your cell during business hours. You can take that total holiday without fear of losing and missing any important calls. You can take your business anywhere with you and gives you freedom and allows you to organize contacts into groups for easy tracking and recording.

Google voice allows you to either have the calls sent directly to your phone with no filtering, or you can have Google ask them to say their name first so you can screen callers and choose the people you want to talk to or avoid. The service will call you, tell you the name of the person who is calling, and give you the option to take the call or send them to voicemail. This is a great way to protect your privacy. You can also customize the behavior of the service at anytime depending on a group (Friends, Family, Work, etc.) or an individual basis. This eliminates the guesswork and even gives you the ability to listen in on voicemails as they are being left.

This service also has a great voicemail system with transcription and email forwarding. Incoming voicemails are automatically transcribed and can be configured to be emailed to you. It could also be sent through SMS and is recorded and kept in the cloud forever. There is no fear now of losing a call record because you will all have them organized and permanently stored in the cloud.

Now for the best part, Google Voice gives you all of this for FREE. It’s all free. And we all love free! How could you even compare to that?

So, this leaves me to ask: Do you use Google Voice? What do you think? What’s the good, the bad, and/or the ugly from your experience with Google Voice? Is it worth it or is it just another waste of a perfectly good cloud?

Stop Taking Pictures of the Cloud and Get Your Pictures in the Cloud In the past, people would take their roll of film...
Move your Documents into the Cloud Imagine this. It’s THE presentation. It’s the one report that...
Our Favorite Cloud Apps Join hosts @VickieRigsby and @jtrigsby for this week’s episode of...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Our Favorite Cloud Apps

jtrigsby — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 14:06:43 +0000

Join hosts @VickieRigsby and @jtrigsby for this week’s episode of Life In the Internet as they talk about cloud apps.

What exactly IS “the cloud”?
What about the security of my files and documents?
What is the best cloud app?

All this and more on this week’s Life In the Internet Podcast!

Links

Will Tablets Outsell Netbooks?
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1001_3-20008027-92.html

Free Weekly Meal Planner from CulinaryClique.com
http://www.CulinaryClique.com/freegift

Online Privacy Versus Connected Transparency Join hosts @VickieRigsby and @jtrigsby for this week’s episode of...
No Privacy With Facebook and Principal Orsini vs Social Networks vs Cub Scouts Join hosts Vickie and JT as they welcome their daughter...
iPads, Google Docs, Twitter & TribeCamp Join hosts @VickieRigsby and @jtrigsby for this week’s episode of Life In the...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Move your Documents into the Cloud

jtrigsby — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 00:56:35 +0000

Imagine this. It’s THE presentation. It’s the one report that you have worked on for months, the one you lost precious sleep, spent countless hours on and perfected down to the last detail. This is it. It is your time and your chance to shine. You are confident that this presentation will get you that promotion that you have been setting your sights on. You are ready. Everything seems to be going fine up until you plug in your USB.

Click. File corrupted.

It has to be a glitch. You were sure you saved the file. You try again.

File Corrupted.

Oh my god. Now, you panic. Why of all days does this have to happen to you right now? Why? Now, all your hard work is gone. Your dreams and aspirations and that promotion flies out the window. It’s all this stupid USB’s fault. It happens to the best of us. Losing very important files or forgetting files that we need on the day that we need it and we can’t really blame the machine. Now, if only you had a back up somewhere, it would save your life. That’s what Google Docs and other cloud applications are for.

The Easy Move into the Cloud

Moving you’re all your documents, spreadsheets and presentation into the cloud is easy, safe and makes your life easier. Google now has a small virtual hard drive called GoogleDocs in the cloud so you can access all sorts of files anywhere. It accepts any kind of file up to 250MB and stores it in your virtual harddrive for access everywhere.

If you are not too techie, like most people, you really do not have to worry because Googledocs is so safe and easy to use. Plus, it has a lot of very useful features like Google translate which translates any document into your own language,Google Drawings (which is makes it easy to build organizational charts, flow charts, design diagrams), forms, dictionary, offline access and more. You could even just work on the cloud concurrently with a friend/colleague with its sharing feature. All you have to do is have a google account and upload your files into the cloud and that’s it.

Never lose files on the Cloud

If you are worried about security or losing your documents, you don’t have to because Google’s servers are also very safe and secure. Your uploaded files will remain in the cloud forever so you don’t really have to worry about losing your files anymore, unless of course you delete them yourself. Another great thing about moving your document into the cloud is that it gives you machine independence. Accessing your files is now fast and easy as long as you have internet connection and a web browser. You do not have to worry about bringing a USB that could potentially malfunction and get corrupted or even forgotten. All you have to do is connect to the internet, download or open the file that you need from any web browser on any machine or gadget. You could access it from your iPod, iPad, laptop, desktop or even on your mobile if it supports web browsing. You could breathe easy and not have to worry about losing, forgetting or missing any files because it’s all there.

Finally, if you don’t like GoogleDocs, there are other cloud options you could choose from. You could use MSN Live Workspaces, Zoho Writer and Microsoft Web Apps. You could choose or open more than one account so you can save your documents and have a ready copy anywhere and everywhere you need them. Having online copies of your documents eliminates the panic of computer malfunction and server crash. Moving your documents into the cloud is a practical, easy, secure way to keep backups of your documents that could make your life easier and worry free. You don’t have to panic anymore. You are always ready because you always carry it around with you through the cloud.

With Googledocs, you don’t have to worry about saving your documents after working because it automatically saves it. You also do not have to worry about packing USB, hard drives and other information storage paraphernalia when you have to take a trip so you can pack light. You already have all that you need plus the security that it is going to be there when you need it.

So my question is, what’s keeping you from using one of these online document tools? What worries you about moving your documents into the cloud? Why don’t you move your documents into the cloud and always be ready for any document emergency that you may have?

iPads, Google Docs, Twitter & TribeCamp Join hosts @VickieRigsby and @jtrigsby for this week’s episode of Life In the...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Riding the Google Wave… Kinda

Thom Rigsby — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 13:35:49 +0000

Well, it didn’t make it into my inbox on the first day… but my invitation to try out Google Wave finally did arrive last Thursday. I have to tell ya, it was pretty disappointing to sit anxiously by the inbox all day and all night and all the next day hoping to be one of the lucky first 100,000. Apparently it was not to be, fortunately however I managed myself into the good graces of one who did get in that first day and received one of his six “recommendations.”

When my Google Wave invitation finally did arrive, I spent the first thirty minutes or so learning my way around the interface, watching the videos, and generally aclimating myself to the new app. Then one of the most common refrains heard of early previewers came from my lips, “OK, now what?” The single biggest challenge I’ve had with Wave so far is the lack of other people I know to collaborate with. My list is pretty short so far, but I’m still looking. (NOTE: All of my mastermind group is on Wave now! Maybe we can try it out this week instead of Skype?)

Ok, So What Do You Think About Google Wave?

I see a lot of potential in Google Wave that may not be obvious at first glance. Like Twitter, the real value of Wave won’t be felt for a while. We need some bots to be written, plugins to be developed, maybe even some awesome third-party clients, that will transform all that trapped potential into the next killer app. Don’t get me wrong, in spite of my learning curve I’m loving Wave and I’ll keep using it, figuring out how it is going to change my way of communicating. Maybe develop some bots, who knows. But this app/platform is a long way from mainstream acceptance.

If you’re hoping the release of Google Wave would give you a brand new communication solution right out of the box, well, not yet. If you’re hoping it will be a platform for development gigs, Wave consulting, and a whole slew of cool things to work on, well, maybe you have your wish. Google Wave is definitely something to keep you eye on, work with and learn. I’m going to do my best to invest in the community of users & developers and participate in the development of the next killer app instead of waiting on it to arrive. Wanna join me?

@jtrigsby

Learning Hub Wow, I’m super excited that you’ve made it to the...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Big G Makes a Mistake?

Thom — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 19:32:00 +0000

For those of you who may have a life not connected to the keyboard, you may have missed it…but it did happen, Google made a mistake! For almost an hour they marked almost every website on the internet as a malware site…even this one!

Now I call it a mistake because it was inadvertent(it had something to do with importing an update to their list of malware sites…go figure), they recognized there was a problem immediately and fixed it as quickly as possible. Then, they explained what happened…transparency!

In trying to find a parallel the only thing that comes to mind is the phone book or maybe classified ads. Both are prone to errors and they take time to fix but we don’t find one error then throw the rest away! Oh sure we may look a little more questioningly at the other listings & ads after finding one in error but one error does not ruin the whole thing.

To the extent this is a one time occurrence, I’m willing to give big G the benefit of the doubt. On the other hand, if something like this becomes a regular thing, then sure, (uggg) I may have to take another look at Y!

Anyway, that’s my two cents worth. Any thoughts?

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Looking For a Wedding Photographer in Huntsville Alabama?

Thom — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 06:18:00 +0000

Need a Wedding Photographer in Huntsville, Alabama?

Neither do I, but I’m sure lots of other people do. As you may have gathered, this is a post not so much about weddings and wedding photographers, but mainly about boosting the linked page in results. Oh, right, the links.

I’m going to point you to Finding a Wedding Photographer in Huntsville Alabama, mainly because I really dig the picture! It’s pretty funny.

For my regular readers and subscribers, I know you didn’t sign up because you were interested in weddings or photographers (although you might be interested in Huntsville, Alabama!) Thank you so much for your support and understanding with this post. I promise I’ll be back to more meaningful stuff in the morning!

TED Comes to Huntsville TEDx is a new program that enables local communities such...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Making WebMoney with AdSense & AdWords

Thom — Fri, 14 Dec 2007 02:18:00 +0000

While reading through the various links that came through my GoogleReader page today, I came across this one… and I quote:

“Let’s see if I have this right. Google places links to other people’s web sites on my site and they pay me for each hit. WHY? What’s in it for Google? How does Google know if the hits are coming from me…just to increase my check from them?”

It was then and there that I decided to write this article, so Ralph, here you go buddy!

If you look down the right margin on this page, then again at the bottom (and probably several more locations as well) you’ll see links grouped together with a small tag line at the bottom that says, “Ads by Google”. I have reserved these spaces and use a Google AdSense component to display these links to other people’s web sites. In return for letting them use my screen “real estate” Google pays me a few cents per link clicked. That’s pretty much how AdSense works…in a nutshell. But now the better question of Why? What’s in it for Google?

I have forgotten who said it but I think the quote goes, “If in doubt, follow the money.” Well that certainly applies in this case. Google is in business to make money, right!?! In addition to AdSense, Google has a program called AdWords. People with websites that want people to visit their site (eg, Joe’s Pumpkin Patch) create an account with Google AdWords and bid on certain key words (eg, “pumpkins”). When a website (like mine) mentions that keyword (pumpkins) frequently enough, and has space reserved for AdSense ads, then my site would display an ad for Joe’s Pumpkin Patch. Now, when Joe setup his account with AdWords, he agreed to pay $.05 to Google every time somebody clicked on a link to his Pumpkin Patch website. Google in turn pays a portion of that revenue out to the websites that display the ads. And there you have the magic of Google Advertising!

And finally, Google knows the hits are coming from my site because the link doesn’t go directly to Joe’s Pumpkin Patch, it goes to Google, THEN to Joe’s website.

Now don’t think Google is the only player in this game, or even the first. Yahoo! (and others) were doing it long before the Google search engine even went live. Google has however become the top dog for many, many reasons.

So this non-authoritative, non-comprehensive, (yet lengthy!) post leaves us with a couple of take aways.

First, create a Google AdSense account and get some ads on your website/blog!!! It is FREE and only stands to make you some money. Worst case, it won’t cost you anything and you won’t make anything.

If you have a website to promote, use Google AdWords. There are literally volumes out there on picking the right keywords, how much to pay, etc. Here are a couple of good places to start:

AdWordsHowTos

Besting AdWords
(This site makes EXTENSIVE use of AdSense advertising!)

Earning Thousands With AdWords

And finally, this is just the beginning! There are hundreds of ways to make money off your site/blog. None of them may make you rich by themselves, but as I’ve always said… nickles make dollars! Happy hunting and good luck!!!

-Thom

Making the Most From a Short Blog Post As bloggers, we often feel as though we have to...
Making the Most From a Short Blog Post… Redux Thanks to my good friend Buck from BuckDaddyBlog.com, I’m going...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

The Latest Killer App!

Thom — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 17:55:00 +0000

Since the beginning of the computer age users have been asking the same question, “Yeah, it’s cool… but what will you do with it?”

The first killer app was a spreadsheet called VisiCalc. It harnessed the power of the PC and made it a useful tool for the everyday business user. With a tool like VisiCalc there was actually a reason to buy a PC.

The Internet has been the same way. Oh, by no means has there been any shortage of killer apps for the Internet. (How about e-mail and web browsing just to name two!) Then, building on web browsing as a platform, we experienced e-Commerce, that multi-billion dollar industry we’re all still trying to tap for our few cents.

Well now there is a new killer app. Many have tried to do hosted applications before but none have been as successful as Google with their new Google Apps! With Google Apps you can now host your own domain, have email, calendar, and shared documents, even your own blog! And the best part is the price… it’s free!

I’m such a big believer in the Google Apps platform that I run my whole Internet existence with it. My domains are now hosted by Google, my email, calendar and documents are all hosted on Google Apps. And as you can see, I’m a big believer in AdSense from Google. More to follow.

-Thom

Riding the Google Wave… Kinda Well, it didn’t make it into my inbox on the...
My iPhone Three Months Later It doesn’t really seem like its been three months that...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.