GrandCentral adds calling out options, but it’s not good enough.

In this blog post, Grandcentral talks about how they have added ways to call out and have your Grandcentral number show up as the originating CallerID. This is a feature I’m very excited about, but I don’t like their methods so far which include:

1) calling out by clicking a button, which requires being signed on to their site

2) calling out using your mobile smart phone, which requires a $40/month data plan on your mobile

or 3) while in a voicemail that someone has left, hitting 2 to call them back.

What I’d like to see is: a way to dial outbound while NOT being tied to either a PC or smartphone (I have neither). How about being able to dial in to your GC number and then dialing out again through some sort of tone-sensing system?

That would be a great feature.

NOTE: I tried to submit this comment on their blog, but it hasn’t shown up yet. Perhaps they didn’t like the comment?

PS: is there a way to “GrandCentralize” my voicemail? this was eluded to by Craig Walker of Grandcentral on TechCrunch back in April.

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Posted in: daily stuff, grandcentral, voip

Tags: blog, daily-stuff, grandcentral, voicemail, voip

This entry was posted on Tuesday, June 19th, 2007 at 9:36 am and is filed under daily stuff, grandcentral, voip. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

8 Responses to “GrandCentral adds calling out options, but it’s not good enough.”

Josh Bancroft June 19th, 2007 at 1:31 pm

I think your approach (call your own GC number, then call the person) is the best, but it’s still kludgy.

I’ve switch to GC exclusively for my voicemail. Here’s what I did:

Set my call forwarding to forward unanswered calls to my GC number.

Set my cell phone to dial my GC number for voicemail (hit and hold the 1 key), instead of my carrier’s voicemail number.

Viola! None of my voicemail ever even sees a Cingular system now - it’s all in GrandCentral.

Vincent June 19th, 2007 at 10:14 pm

Jason,
Thanks for your enthusiasm… and your patience! we’re getting there one new feature at a time
Vincent Paquet
GrandCentral

Liz June 20th, 2007 at 8:27 am

I agree with you about calling your GC number and then choosing to dial any number. I think GC will grow even faster if something like that is implemented since most people aren’t always at a computer or, like you, don’t have a smartphone.

I gotta ask, though…techcraver? No smartphone? Not craving any mobile goodness?

What cell do you currently use? I’m a Treo girl right now. And I’m just curious. Mobile tech is what I crave.

jason June 20th, 2007 at 10:57 am

Liz I’m in agreement completely with your first paragraph.

I had a smartphone (a Treo 700W), but I gave it up because I’m unwilling to pay $40 for a data plan. That’s more than I pay for my cable modem and I can do a whole lot more with my cable modem!

I’ve blogged about the data plan/mobile phone thing before. I like the idea of having mobile data and am willing to pay a little extra for it (like 10-15 bucks/month).

Currently I’m rocking a verizon razr that I hacked with the alternative firmware. There are some other phones I’d rather have (namely the iPhone and the Nokia N95) but until data plan prices come down…that’s where I’m at.

I know there are some things I miss out on, but I’m techcraver on a budget

Liz June 21st, 2007 at 8:33 am

Oh, Jason. You should look into Sprint. They have great prices for their data plans ranging from 15 bucks to 25 for the ultimate power vision (which just gives you more tv and music options) Their high-speed EVDO is awesome and then couple that with SERO plans? Then you’ve got yourself a good deal there. Sprint rocks. And no I don’t work there. And yes their CS IS HORRIBLE but the prices make up for it.

But if your heart is with Verizon then yeah, the data prices will kill ya.

I know what it’s like to be techy and on a budget. It blows. I could never give up my mobile goodness, though. It’s my lifeline!

Thanks for the reply.

You have a new fan, now!

jason June 21st, 2007 at 8:44 am

Thanks Liz.
I’ll look into Sprint, but unfortunately I’m tied to Verizon because of my stupid contract.

Thanks for checking back in - if you’re a super huge awesome fan, you can subscribe to my RSS feed in the upper left.

Talk to ya soon!
-Jason

danielo June 26th, 2007 at 9:00 am

If GC would just make the mobile site WAP-enabled, it would be very useful. I have basic WAP site access on my phone for only $7 a month, as opposed to the much more expensive full web access for $40/month.

Hornswaggled August 21st, 2007 at 3:35 pm

I second the comment about the Sprint Sero plan. I am currently using a Treo 700wx with unlimited texts, night and weekends and unlimited data for about 40 bucks per month with tax.

I would agree that Sprint has the worst customer service I have ever dealt with but the plan is too good to pass up. The second anyone else comes close I will make the switch as Sprint has pissed me off too many times to count but I dont have much of a choice right now.

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