Don’t Let Google Voice Represent Your Business

When it comes to business, everyone understands the value of Google. Through its powerful search engine, companies of all sizes can effortlessly gain new customers. Google is an innovator for tools that support and build enterprises — and with Google Voice they introduced phone number portability to an increasingly mobile world. However, their voicemail and phone management service leaves a little to be desired.

Below are some reasons why you shouldn’t use Google Voice to represent your business.

Irrelevant Features

In 2009, when Google Voice was first introduced, it offered features that significantly benefited small businesses. Not only did these features make it easier to get work done, they were also cost-effective. Since then, newer technologies began to dwarf the once-innovative Google Voice. Standard services offered by Skype, smartphone operating systems like iOS and Android, and of course, Smith.ai, provide the same features plus many others.  The integration of Google Voice’s once-revolutionary offerings into other applications has made the service almost obsolete.

Some of these features include:

• Free US calling
• Cheap international calling
• Incoming call routing
• Conference calling
• Shared voicemail
  

Combine the loss of exclusivity with the declining use of voice calls due to text messaging and it is no surprise that businesses wonder whether Google Voice is even necessary. For a longer discussion on the relevance of Google Voice, read this ZDNet article.  

Voicemail that Misses the Mark

While many of the features offered by Google Voice are no longer relevant, their voicemail transcription service is still loved by many. Voicemail transcription makes it easy to read messages instead of listening to them, saving many business valuable time.

While Google Voice offers voicemail transcription for free, even that might not make it worth it. Their machine-transcribed service often misinterprets words, and misses the context, with hilarious results. (Comedian Paul F. Tompkins even had a series of shows where he would entertain the audience by reading awful Google Voice transcriptions on stage as his introductory act.) Messages get lost in translation, and as a Seattle executive shared in this Wall Street Journal article, a simple Google Voice message from your tailor might get transcribed into a drug deal. Even harmless messages, such as the robot-transcribed voicemail below, should make you reconsider trusting your voicemails to Google.

“Good Morning. This is an idea. I'm really sorry. But I would love the left side of me. 5. Let me say my kind of that and i call you up as soon as possible at because I need another person told me, for. If you wanted to be in the hall of the week. But I call you a game, enthused. Or, you'll. We today. I'm really mad. These week okay if you could call me anything, My cellphone is 6 saving the link below. 1679. Thank you so much and I'm through you so early. But I really need to away for the thank you bye.”

This message is not even the slightest bit useful. Had this voicemail been transcribed by a Smith.ai virtual receptionist, it would have made more sense.

All the Features you Want, Plus a Real Receptionist

When you need a phone management system for your business, Google Voice should not be your first choice. Although it is a cost-effective solution, many of its features can be found elsewhere for a moderate fee or at no cost. Even its most popular feature, voicemail transcription, does not compare to what the human receptionists at Smith.ai can do.

Just like Google Voice, Smith.ai offers:

• Intelligent spam prevention
• Call forwarding integration
• Voicemail sharing
  

We also offer:

• Professionally recorded voicemail greetings
• Human –transcribed voicemail transcriptions
  

Do you think voice messaging no longer matters? Even with the popularity of the text messaging, people still want to hear a human voice on the other end of the line. Technology and innovation are great, but real human interaction is what build brands, and brands build businesses.

If your business could use a real person answering the phone, as well as intelligent human voicemail transcription, Smith.ai is the smart choice.