Google has announced Fiber Phone, and no, it won’t improve your fiber intake, but it will give your landline setup the modern shake that it so desperately needs. The new service will be getting its start in areas with Google Fiber internet service and spreading outward in the US at a later, unspecified date.
If you’ve been subscribing to your cable package just for a landline telephone, Fiber Phone could be what you’ve been waiting for. The service will allow you to have a standalone landline, with either the same number you’ve been using or a brand new one, for $10 per month.
A Fiber Phone plan allows for unlimited local and nationwide calls, and you’ll pay, on average, just a few cents per minute to call overseas to places like the UK, India and France, to name a few examples. Fiber Phone operates on the same international rate as Google Voice. All in all, it’s pretty cheap.
Voicemail transcriptions top off the list of cool, new features that Google is injecting into the archaic landline. The service can turn voicemails into text automatically and then sent it to you via text or e-mail.
Additionally, being a Google Fiber Phone user allows you to take calls on virtually any device. When you’re at home, the landline will ring. But if you’re in a cafe or at the store, your tablet or phone will get the call instead.
It seems as if Google will be offering its own Fiber Phone to replace your current landline device. But, it also plans to offer a Fiber Phone box, which will be compatible with the phone you already own. Now, you just have to wait until Fiber arrives in your city until you can take advantage of Fiber Phone.
