Last week, I mentioned several free Web sites that make my life as a real estate broker easier and more productive. This week, we'll examine two of those in more detail:
Google Voice is a free VOIP and voice mail service that assigns you a local telephone number, gives you free full-featured voice mail, and allows you to forward selected calls to selected land lines on a simultaneous or sequential basis. This allows me to have one phone number and yet have the phone ring in up to six different places simultaneously, so I never miss a call unless I choose to do so. I can even screen calls and listen in on the message, choosing to break in if I want to do so.
In addition, voice mails are recorded and sent to me as e-mail attachments, along with a remarkably accurate transcription of the message contents. Occasionally, Voice has difficulty with names, but it has a very accurate ear for phone numbers. It also allows me to return calls or make calls, including long-distance calls, for free.
The connection is not quite as good as a land line, but it's as good as any VOIP line I have ever heard.
The only problem with Google Voice is that they are now in the process of a national rollout and are currently accepting only a limited number of new service applications. The sooner you request a number, the sooner you will get one. Search for "Google Voice" for more info.
Google Mail, also known as gmail, delivers, stores and handles all my e-mail, even though I have my own domain name. In addition, Google includes the world's best spam filter for free. All my e-mail for the last several years is stored on Google's servers somewhere in the world, and they claim to have completely redundant backup, meaning that if one server fails, another kicks in so fast that I won't know there was a problem.
The great part of all this is that wherever I am in the world, and whatever computer I happen to be using, all I have to do is connect to Google and I find all my e-mail, all my contacts, and all my voice mail messages. I suppose it's possible that I might visit somewhere in the world where there is no access to the Internet, but I haven't found one yet. Even low-end cruise ships now boast Internet cafes that allow me to connect for a few seconds and get all my e-mail. Then I can answer it all offline, and connect again only long enough to send the data out, usually just a few seconds. In addition, it seems like every burger joint in America is now offering a free Wi-Fi hot spot.
That makes staying connected truly easy.
E-mail handling for private domains is called Google Apps Standard Edition, and it allows you up to 50 e-mail accounts at no charge.
John Adams is an author, broadcaster and investor. He answers real estate questions at noon every Saturday on radio station WGKA (920 AM).
For more real estate information or to make a comment, visit www.money99.com.
About the Author
Featured
