Yuhnke Commentary: Put your voicemail on steroids with Google Voice

PHOENIX - Think about the voicemail system on your cell phone. Now, think about the voicemail system you used on your cell phone five years ago... even 10 years ago.

Chances are, it hasn’t changed much. Cell phone technology has progressed SO much in 10 years, but the voicemail system we use almost every day hasn’t changed a bit. Sure, some phones offer the ability to play voicemails without calling in, but it’s still fundamentally the same system.

For Sprint users, there’s a new option: Google Voice . On Friday Google and Sprint began offering Google Voice as an integrated voicemail option for any subscriber. Google didn’t exactly invent this new system, in fact they bought it from another company. Nonetheless, it’s an entirely new and revolutionary way of managing your voicemails, text messages and mobile phones.

When you sign into Google.com/voice you can select the option to port an existing number to Google Voice. If you’re a Sprint customer, you won’t be charged the $20 fee and it won’t really be ported to Google. Instead, Sprint and Google will connect your existing number with the Google Voice system. A lot of people are fine with their existing voicemail system, so why would they want to change? Let me go through some of the features I think make it worth the switch.

Free
First and foremost, it’s entirely free. Google won’t charge you and Sprint won’t charge you. If you ever want to switch back to the old system, it just takes a few mouse clicks.

Voicemail on steroids!
When someone calls your phone and leaves a voicemail, Google will attempt to transcribe that voicemail into text. Then, it can send it to you as a text message or e-mail. Within minutes of someone leaving a message, you can READ what they just SAID. Forget calling into your voicemail system, everything you need is right there. Sure, sometimes Google’s super smart computers don’t get it right but typically the keywords and phrases are there so you can get the gist of what someone was trying to tell you.

If you have an Android phone or iPhone, you can install the Google voice app that allows you to view all of your voicemails and play them back without having to call into the voicemail system. It’s simple but it works. The Android app is much better; no surprise there. The rest of us can log into the Google Voice mobile webpage on our mobile browser but playing back your voicemail messages might not work.

Text message management
Text messaging has become such a big part of our lives. I often use texting in place of actually calling someone. For example, why call my wife when all I really want to do is ask her to pick up something from the store while she’s out. Google and Sprint are combining your phone with Google’s service so it can also manage your texts. This means, every text you send or receive can be saved in your history on Google Voice. It’s nice to have a stored history of all those important text conversations. Plus, you can log-in to the Google Voice webpage on your computer and send and recieve text messages to your friends, family and co-workers without ever touching your phone. The messages appear as if they’re coming from your phone even though you’re using your computer. This is a great option for anyone who using text messaging a lot but also spends a lot of time sitting in front of a computer.

Manage your contacts
Google Voice also goes one step further and lets you control your cell phone to the max! You can decide who hears what voicemail greeting. For example, you can set a special voicemail greeting that only people in your “friends” list get to hear. Or maybe you want a more personal message for your “family” group but everyone else hears the standard greeting. You can also set Google Voice to send calls directly to voicemail at certain times of the day. You can even block specific people or numbers entirely. There are a TON of options and any control freak will love the ability to decide who gets through and who doesn’t.

So much more
This is just a small sample of some of the cool features that Google Voice offers. If you don’t have Sprint, you can still try it out. The only difference is that it won’t be integrated into your existing phone number. You’ll have to pick a new number that will re-direct to your existing phone. It’s not that big of a deal, but you will have to tell people to call your new number. If you’re on Sprint, you’re in luck because Google and Sprint are working together to make Google Voice 100-percent integrated into your phone.

There are some people who are concerned about putting yet more personal information onto Google’s servers. That’s an issue and a very real concern. It's something to think about before you sign up. Nonetheless, I think this new service is worth trying out.  It may change the way you think about voicemail forever.

You can catch me every weekday co-anchoring ABC15 Daybreak and Now@9. You'll also find me talking tech on Twitter and Facebook .