Only One Phone Number

Take a look at your business card. How many contact numbers does it indicate? Many cards list a direct number, a cell, a fax and maybe even a toll-free number. If you have a home office things get even more complicated. So if someone wants to reach you, what number do they dial? They have to guess at where you might be.

For a business enterprise, there are software packages you can buy to solve this problem. Some are labeled things like “Find me” or “Follow me.” They allow you to notify the phone system of where you will be and any calls directed to you (on any of your numbers) will ring where you tell it. For example, if I know I will be in the car for two hours, I have all my office calls directed to my cell.

Now there is a new service that allows you to do that without any new equipment or software. Grand Central.com is a web based service that allows you to use one number that will reach you no matter where you are. The number is tied to a person, not a location. Because of that, you can keep your number when you move, get a new job, or change cell phone providers.

The web interface is pretty simple. Just log onto www.grandcentral.com and chose an area code, then a phone number. You are then prompted to list all the numbers you want to ring when the Grand Central number is dialed. You can have your cell, your house and your office all ring at once. When one phone is answered, the others stop ringing. You can even tell it you want one phone to ring only during certain hours.

Another neat feature is that you can switch an incoming call from one phone to another by simply pressing the star key. For example, if you are on your cell phone in the car, then arrive home where your reception is spotty, you can switch to your home phone by pressing one button.

There are lots of other neat features that you can read about on the web site. One of the best parts, however, is that it is free. It is in Beta testing right now, through the winter, and it is free to anyone, during the Beta. Even after they go live, there will be a decent portion of the services that are free and you can pay for enhanced services.

All of this works through an IP call server created by the founders. For now, they are aiming it at the consumer market, not businesses. The OC3 pipe they are using has plenty of bandwidth and will likely be upgraded to an OC48 when they add enterprise customers. That will come later, hopefully.

I signed up for an account and it works perfectly; and you can’t beat free.