suggestion about call forward
 

Is it possbile that Voxalot improve its call forward feature to support to ring multi-phone number(via VSP)at the same time?

This feature will be very useful for Voxalot members.

It seems that GrandCentral has such feature.
here:GrandCentral: Forwarding Phones - One number for all your phones, for life

Thanks, this feature has been on our to-do list.

Martin has already prototyped it.

Tony.

For the time being though,

If you set up GrandCentral with the numbers you want to ring, then have VoXalot forward to GrandCentral number via VSP, then all your chosen phones will ring when someone calls you via VoXalot

Of course the call to the GrandCentral number isn't free, unless you have a VSP that lets you call US for free....

I can't seem to find the fees and charges for GC...

Also, whilst I know it is only for the US at this time, but if you have a US DID, can you use the service?

It all sounds very interesting and lots of 'Have Fun' features.

Ok well:

They give you a US Number (that is free).
They ask you to verify using a US Number (Canadian number will do too). A DID number that has no issues with Passing ON DTMF will be fine. I thing the free DIDs from SipNumber/FreeDigits/TalkDigits should be fine.

Once into the account, you can add other ring to numbers (US/Canada only though). You can also add your Gizmo 1-747-xxx number as a ring to number (but cannot use this for verisfication purposes). Once youverify once, there is no other verification for each other number.

What happens:

Someone Calls GrandCentral----Your DID rings in your Device/Gizmo----When you pick up you have to press 1 to accept the call (there are a few other opions also)

In terms of fees, calls received in your DID number, calls received by someone using the Call Button are all free and unlimited for now.

When you are logged into it, you can also call back people that have called you, or call people on your phonebook by clicking, then your phone rings, then theirs etc... They give you $2.00 credit for the click to call feature, but they do mention that during the beta they will keep topping up that credit for free when it runs out....

To make long story short, it is completely free for the time being (PM me for an invite if you need one)

If I get a US DID and go through the process, then have calls from GC anwered on my Gizmo number via my Voxalot account, will I then be able to use any of the GC features? How will I know that the call has come from GC, is there an announcement at the start of the call when you answer it and then you press 1 or whatever to handle the call?

I am thinking that I can use an Aussie DID and have that forwarded to GC via Voxalot call forwarding on a test account.

Can GC answer a SIP URI forwarded call? And therefore not actually require a call to a US landline?

For SIP puposes, GC cannot receive calls VIA Sip, or said differently, it cannot answer a SIP Call (unfortunately, although people have been asking for this feature for a while).

It can call you via SIP if you have Gizmo.

You can choose the caller ID when you receive a call from GC, to show either the actual caller, or your GC number. When you pick up, you hear "Call From --Number of person calling--Press 1 to accept, 2 to send to voicemail, 3 to send to voicemail and listen in, or 4 to accept and record the call...."

So if you never answer the phone, GC's voicemail (which can be customized based on who is calling), rather than your phone's voicemail takes the call...

Best way to get used to it, is to try it....

But to summarize, for the time being is more directed towards serving PSTN than SIP, so to use through VoXalot forwarding you either need to pay a VSP for a US call, or find a provider that can be used via VoXalot, and let's you call US for free...

Hehe, I even tried registering my GC number for PhoneGnome, then I could call it for free via VoXalot, but it won't pass PhoneGnome's verification...

Google's GrandCentral now also in Germany
 

GrandCentral is great, but it sucks that it works only with US numbers. If you forward a number from an other country to your GrandCentral number you loose GrandCentrals great call screening capabilities. Voxalot would be a wonderful application if it could do the same as GrandCentral. You could have one or many phone numbers of your country of choice and Voxalot would be sorting out your calls, like "my mom can ring my mobile and telemarketeers can only go to voicemail."

Here you can read an evaluation:
Markus Göbel's Tech News Comments: Google's GrandCentral now also in Germany
(Monday, July 16, 2007)

I've found that sometimes it recognises the number from my Australian mobile, other times it comes up private. Calling from a MNF account which is currently being used completely standalone will never give a CLID to GC though. So, I think the CLID is a bit hit and miss at this time....