May be they want GTalk to get grasp on your mobile phones as well...

They want to move all office activities into their realm and phone calls remain an important action for businesspeople.

Wow okay this is a really cool service! I just signed up and it's so much fun! It puts all your numbers into one and keeps all your messages in one place where you can download and play them online or listen to them over the phone. You can get email and/or txt notifications of new voicemail messages. You can upload your own ring!!! -that's my favorite =D and there's even a web call feature...calling with Gtalk?

Hé hé, GrandCentral is a company built by a French guy :) Vincent Paquet

It does look like an interesting and useful service, and there are local numbers in my town. Nice.

So, what happens if I were to create an account, say, for my parents in one state by selecting a number that local to them, and then associate my home phone phone number to that number? Theoretically, they could then call the number local to them, and my home phone would ring, effectively providing "free" long distance--similar to Vonage's local number feature.

Hmmmm.

Also, what will this ultimately cost the user? It's currently in beta and free, but how long can free last?

Given that Google may gave its hand in this, it seems logical that some sort of Google-driven ads will appear

Actually, it will always be free-- especially if Google is buying it

"Will GrandCentral always be free?

Yes, we're excited to say that we will always offer a free version of GrandCentral, even after beta. Our free version will include unlimited inbound minutes, unlimited voicemail (up to 30 days old), and access to all of our core features.

During beta, we're giving everyone unlimited access to our premium features. In exchange, all we ask is that you send us your feedback (good or bad) to betagrandcentral.com. We'll read every comment."

google is hype for now. it will die someday

lol @ john

Are you kidding me?
I love grand central, I use them everyday, extremely useful, they record all my phone calls.

They record all your phone calls ?

It's one of the many features that GrandCentral offers. I love the ListenIn Voicemail feature. It always catches people off guard when you jump in.

The latest from Techcrunch.

Should announce the acquisition today or tomorrow.

http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/07/02/google-should-announce-grandcentral-acquisition-today-or-tomorrow/

Its a done deal!!

http://www.grandcentral.com

Looks like they aren't signing up any new people either, thankfully, I had signed up just a few weeks ago.

Also announced here on the Official Google Blog:
http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2007/07/all-aboard.html

Standard FAQ's again

I hope Google open it up to other countries too.

They recently removed (yesterday) mp3 files for ring tones. They also have an automated message announce on the phone if a conversation is being recorded (previously there was nothing). I assume these were a result of the acquisition.

Yeah, Google will be covering their backs...

Should we start calling it "GoogleCentral" now or not the appropriate time?

Does anyone know yet if it will be available to people in the UK and other countries? I checked out the webpage and it looks like another good purchase by google. I want in!

Q: Why did Google acquire GrandCentral?
A: Google acquired GrandCentral because its communications services fit into Google's mission to organize the world's information and to provide services and features that enhance the collaborative exchange of information between our users.

I wonder if you can find a product that doesn't anything to do with "world's information".

You can send invitations out for this, just like you had to do with Gmail when it first came out. Gmail is still free and lots of add ons since it came out. I enjoy this GrandCentral, I just wish there was a Canadian number.