So you want a personalized phone number… and you want it to be FREE! Well, lucky for you Google is giving these numbers out right now! Let me tell you a little bit about how their service works. First, you need to visit www.google.com/voice. Once you get there, you can create a Google Voice account. Now here is the really cool part: you can search for available phone numbers by zip code, area code, and even words. So how did I do it? I entered in my area code (571) and then I entered in my name (Casey). One of the numbers that came up in the search results was 571-40-Casey, which I selected. Next, it asked me to enter any numbers that I wanted to link to my new Google Voice number. How cool is that? Now all my friends, family, and co-workers can call one number and it can ring all of my phones at once! Also, you can listen to voicemails as people are leaving them, and even take the call in the middle of the voicemail. Confused? Let me explain. Your mom calls. You love your mom, but she talks a lot. The game is starting in two minutes. So, with Google Voice, you let the call go to voicemail. Your mom starts to leave you a voicemail. But what she doesn’t know is that you are listening in on the voicemail that she is leaving for you. And if you decide to talk to her while she is leaving you a voicemail, you can hit the * button on your phone and begin speaking with her immediately. Pretty cool, huh? There are tons of great features available with Google Voice. One of the best features is a widget that you can put on your website which allows someone to call you directly from your site. When they click on the button, Google calls them and then connects them to your number – and it even keeps your phone number private! So get a Google Voice account today and start having fun! If you want to test it out – just click on the “Call me” widget below – enter your name and your phone number and it will connect you to my phone!

Written by Casey Stiehm with Tek Pros