Google Voice being tested in Europe
Search firm 'dogfooding' service ahead of launch
Google is reportedly testing its telephony service, Google Voice, on European shores, as it looks to launch the service outside of the US.
Speaking at European Pirate Summit, Jens Redmer - Google's European Director of Business Development - said the company is taking 'concrete action' over bringing the service to our shores.
The main issues aren't just those that affect the actual deployment of the service in the Euro-zone, as while part of the testing is engineers checking out the technological landscape there are other legislative hurdles to jump as well should Google press ahead with a European launch.
Put a ring on it
However, Redmer is using the service in Europe already, according to The Next Web, working with the voicemail transcription service as a personal favourite - but declined to give any details about a firm launch date.
Google Voice works by becoming a portal to as many devices as you want, whether home, mobile, work or just somewhere you're passing through. And with every call you receive, Google is sitting in the middle, offering conferencing, voicemail and recording services.
It's already pseudo-arrived in the UK thanks to being able to call to landlines and mobiles directly from Gmail, but a full-scale roll out could revolutionise the UK mobile market - especially for small businesses looking for easy and centralised telephony services.
From The Next Web
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Gareth has been part of the consumer technology world in a career spanning three decades. He started life as a staff writer on the fledgling TechRadar, and has grown with the site (primarily as phones, tablets and wearables editor) until becoming Global Editor in Chief in 2018. Gareth has written over 4,000 articles for TechRadar, has contributed expert insight to a number of other publications, chaired panels on zeitgeist technologies, presented at the Gadget Show Live as well as representing the brand on TV and radio for multiple channels including Sky, BBC, ITV and Al-Jazeera. Passionate about fitness, he can bore anyone rigid about stress management, sleep tracking, heart rate variance as well as bemoaning something about the latest iPhone, Galaxy or OLED TV.