The difference is, the company is giving many Google Voice services away for free, rather than charging for them. Why?

Google Voice is one of the coolest, most useful new services to come out in a long time. It's especially great for digital nomad types and business people who are already heavy users of the telephone. Note that the service, and it's currently offered by invitation only. Go to get in line for an invite.

The main use of Google Voice is that all your phones -- work and personal, landline and mobile -- are connected. These connections are managed under your regular Google (Gmail) username and password. Google gives you a new telephone number, and all phones are reachable via that number.

You can . For example, if your spouse calls, it can ring all phones. If your boss calls, just your work landline rings. And, of course, if the IRS calls, it can ring none of your phones! Google Voice has a "Spam" function that automatically blocks sales calls. A " feature lies for you, playing the "number has been disconnected or is no longer in service" message for any phone number you specify.