gHome – Tell It Like It Is – by Paul Jenkins
gHome is a new service from TelTub where they take your Google Voice number from your computer and move it over to a phone. They offer unlimited US and Canada calling and low international rates. The best part is the price – it’s 5 bucks a month. Its pretty cool because it’s integrated with Google, and it could definitely change the way we use internet phones. Right now, it’s only available in the U.S.
Why It Rocks
The price is right. Its super cheap. You can’t go wrong with 5 bucks a month, and there is no contract.
gHome allows you to BYOD if you choose, so you can save on shipping and handling costs of the adapter. But they also offer a pre-configured adapter which you can buy from them for easier installation, and it’s not locked so you can even re-use it if you change providers. Recently they have now allowed you to port your number for $20.
You can use gHome on your smartphone and they even have a facebook interface where you can access your account and view your calls.
Because gHome is integrated with Google there are a lot of cool features available. For example you can access your account while on the phone or after and add pictures, links, documents and comments to the call. You also get permanent access to all your call records and attachments which you can organize to your liking.
Where It Strikes Out
Although, gHome has many cool features some phone features are not available, such as second line, fax and 911. However, they do say that 911 should soon be available.
gHome offers customer support through their forum, but they don’t have a direct line where you can reach someone (unlike other internet phone companies that offer live support).
With gHome you can’t log in from two places at the same time. This means that if you want to use Google Voice from your computer while you have your gHome phone set up at home, you can’t.
Finally, gHome only offers American numbers so if you want to get a virtual number for another country you’re out of luck.
The Last Word
gHome is definitely going to reshape the world of internet phones. They don’t really need to keep you invested because they’re integrated with Google and that brings a lot of power. You get a cool combination of Google Voice and regular phone features.
My Straight-Up Advice: If you’re looking for a bargain, only really need one line, and don’t need a lot of customer support this could work.
