Those people will get the option of adopting a Google phone number, and thus get the full menu of Voice features, later, if they choose to, Walker said.

Some voicemail features include text transcripts of messages, the ability check messages online or from a phone, receipt of messages via e-mail or SMS and the ability to assign different greetings to different callers.

Calls made to the Google-provided phone number can be routed to all or some of a user's other lines, as well as managed in various nifty ways.

However, Voice users are finding that many contacts insist on calling them on their discreet numbers -- cell phones, office lines, home numbers -- thus bypassing the Google service and its handy-dandy call management features.

Then there are Voice users who only or mostly use their cell phone for all or nearly all their calls, and thus don't have the problem of juggling multiple phone lines anyway, Walker said.