The basic idea around GrandCentral is ?one phone number for all your phones, for life.? As we change jobs, homes and cell phones, there are a lot of phone numbers to keep track of, and keeping everyone up to date with your most recent phone numbers is a real cost. If you use GrandCentral you can give out a single phone number. What happens when that person calls that number depends on his/her relationship to you, and what you are doing at the time.
The company, which has raised less than $6 million in capital from Minor Ventures (the exact amount has never been disclosed), beta launched just last September. Earlier this year mainstream press and blogger attention heated up.
GrandCentral was recently pitching a second round of financing to Silicon Valley venture capitalists, but broke off discussions abruptly as the Google talks heated up.
I?m speculating on where Google will use GrandCentral, but the synergies with Gmail and GTalk are fairly obvious and could be the next step in Google?s competition with Skype and other instant messaging platforms.
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Michael Arrington was right when he heard GrandCentral was either in talks, or has already been acquired by Google. Today Google announced the acquisition on their official blog, though the terms have not yet been disclosed. If Arrington was correct, it’s safe to presume it was around the $50 million dollar mark.
What does this mean? Well, we can only speculate, but it could have a huge impact in several areas for Google. First, imagine having a single, always-on, always-ready, forever available, telephone number that is tied to every phone number you currently have. By signing up, you will have simplified your life and that of anybody else who tries to contact you.
Now imagine having that single phone number tied to your Google Talk instant messenger and Gmail. You can receive phone calls directly on your computer from anyone and listen to voicemail right in Gmail — the latter of which, interestingly enough, can already be used today.
The service is currently now in private beta — you will need an invitation to set up a new account now. You will also find that it only works for American phone numbers so far. There is no word on upcoming features or plans to expand to other countries at this time.
