Little known Phone tips, fun, and hacks Part 1

Grand Central

Dream up a phone with the following features:

• 1 number that never changes and that rings all your phones
• Screen callers
• Listen in on a call before picking up or listen while voice mail is being left and jump in.
• Record calls on the fly and access online
• Block unwanted callers
• Email or SMS voicemail notifications
• Have 1 number that rings different phone numbers based on whos calling
• Personalized greetings
• Personalized ringtones
• Ability to have someone call you through a webpage without showing your number
• Switch phones in the middle of a call
• More, more, more

Grand Central which was aquired by Google is your answer and its FREE!  Still in beta if you are able to get in is well worth it allowing you ro regain the simplicity of one phone number while retaining the features you enjoy.

Magic Jack

For those still paying for landline phones I ask why oh why oh why?  One of the best VOIP (Phone through your internet) solutions is Magic Jack.  Unlike its competitors Vonage, & Sunrocket it is only $20 a year… no that wasn’t a typo its $20 a YEAR!  It is a rather clever device that offers unlimited VoIP calling over the Internet in North American for $39.95 for the first year and $19.95 for subsequent years, and includes voice mail, 911 support, caller ID and free 411 service.  The magicJack is a USB dongle about the size of a box of matches. The phone jack on its side allows a connection to regular telephone handset. Windows XP and Vista are supported, and also a beta firmware for OS X.