Call a Blogger with GrandCentral

Monday, February 25th, 2008;
-- Janet Meiners |

Have you ever wanted to actually speak to a blogger who’s blog you admire? You may be in luck, because Google’s blogging platform Blogger is being integrated with their VOIP phone service, GrandCentral.

Google bought the company last July and it’s been in private beta since. However, if you want to try the service now, you can get an account without an invitation. All you need is a Blogger account.

The idea behind GrandCentral is that you get one phone number for all of your phones. You can manage it yourself online and set rules for your phones (like set it to ring on your desk phone during business hours and then switch to your cell phone afterwards). Other features include letting you check voicemail online, block numbers, and record calls (this is what I need to use my account for).

There’s much more to the service, but the news today is that if you have a Blogger account, you can add a GrandCentral button to your sidebar. Then people can call you without knowing your phone number. You can screen the calls. My guess is that most bloggers would rather write than talk on the phone. I’m more likely to answer the phone if I’m billing someone for consulting (see Ether).

Currently you can add a button to any web page - like your eBay or Amazon listing, but I haven’t seen anyone use the service in this way yet. Now if I can just remember my login information, I should give GrandCentral another look.

14 Responses to “Call a Blogger with GrandCentral”

  1. Angie Says:

    I love the new technology, but honestly I sometimes just sit back, sigh, and yearn for the days of giant, plastic, rotary dial phones with short curly cords.

  2. Steven Bradley Says:

    I’m not sure I’d want people calling me all the time. Email is enough for the initial contact or better yet comment on my blog.

    The anonymity makes sense and I’m sure this will be a good solution for some, but not sure it would be for me.

  3. Relainer Says:

    Smart move on googles part. They’ll be even more powerful although having all those calls would get annoying

  4. Blogger getting me vocal with GrandCenteral « The Analytics Guru Says:

    [...] is putting on it’s Blogger Platform according to a post I read at MarketingPilgrim titled Call a Blogger with GrandCentral - perhaps the only caveat is that most bloggers don’t want to talk to their readers over the [...]

  5. Smart Mobs » Blog Archive » Calling up Bloggers up with GrandCentral - but how many bloggers will pickup the phone? Says:

    [...] it’s Blogger platform using GrandCentral, as reported in  Marketing Pilgrim in a post titled Call a Blogger with GrandCentral. “…Google bought the company last July and it’s been in private beta since. However, [...]

  6. Nicole Says:

    Sounds like a good service. It might just catch on with the blogging community.

  7. mspoke Says:

    I wish GrandCentral would be launched in the UK, it looks like a fantastic service.

  8. Steve Rosenbaum Says:

    I think this service definitely has potential for bloggers. I’m very interested to see how this materializes.

  9. Craig Says:

    Anyone on this thread planning on giving the blogger with GrandCentral a shot?

  10. Mobile guy Says:

    Welcome, sleepless nights :)

  11. Vera Says:

    I plan on giving them a try. I’m very excited about the new feature. Sadly, I found out too late, so now, I have to wait to be invited before I join the Grand Central community. But I’m eager to join. I’d love 2 speak to my readers.

  12. Grand Central Google: Recieve Phone Calls and Post Voicemails Right on Your Blog | eBiz Profit Solutions Says:

    [...] Call a Blogger with GrandCentral [via Zemanta] [...]

  13. GrandCentral | ThomasNicholson.com Says:

    [...] Call a Blogger with GrandCentral [via Zemanta] [...]

  14. How To Record A Cellphone Conversation » Derek Semmler dot com Says:

    [...] has now announced that you can get a GrandCentral account as long as you have a Blogger account - thank you Janet, as seeing your post reminded me to write [...]

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