CommVerged

The Wall Street Journal had an interesting article on the death of email today.  In Why Email No Longer Rules , Jessica E. Vascellaro explores why people are choosing instant messaging and social networking applications over email.  While explaining the benefits of these  communication tools, the article questions if we will be better or worse off with these new enhanced capabilities. 

We are now almost constantly connected to an endless, gushing stream of information about an ever expanding network of contacts.  Will we be able to process and control the increasing volume of information?  Will the effort to manage our communication tools make us slaves to the tools?  If so, the off button may be a feature we all need to use more often.

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A few weeks ago I wrote a blog on why I was using Google Voice only as a spam filter.  I explained that I was impressed with the way the application let me control how select groups of people contacted me and how easy it was to block spam and unwanted callers.  I also expressed a desire to use Google Voice as my only number, so I could have this type of control with everyone that calls me.  But I felt I needed an application for my cell phone that could present my Google Voice number as the caller ID on outbound calls. This would prevent people from returning calls directly to my cell phone and bypassing my Google Voice call routing rules.  Recent developments lead me to believe that the mobile phone application that will allow me to fully embrace Google Voice exists, but it may require I change phones and or carriers.

Since I wrote my first blog on Google Voice, I have switched from a Motorola Q to the Palm Pre. I was excited to learn about a homebrew app for the Pre called dkGoogleVoice.  But while dkGoogleVoice makes it easier to make calls using Google Voice, it does not always replace the cell phone outbound caller ID with your Google Voice number.   The lifehacker Blog titled “Unofficial Google Voice App Lands on Palm Pre“ explains the application in greater detail.  Of course I could switch phones. There are Google Voice apps for the iPhone, Blackberry and Android devices.  Unfortunately, Apple recently blocked all Google Voice apps for the iPhone.  There are rumors that Google is developing a web app for the iPhone that will provide access to Google Voice.  But it is unclear if this app will provide the seamless intergation I want.  As for Blackberry, it is my understanding that the app’s integration with the phone dialer is not tight enough to seamlessly make the Google Voice number appear as the outbound caller ID on all calls.  It seems the Android app is the only option that would allow me to effectively use my use Google Voice as my only number.

So, I’m forced to make a tough choice; my Pre or Google Voice.  As much as I would like to use Google Voice as my one and only number, I think I’ll stay with my Pre for now.  I like it too much to ditch it for an Android phone solely to take full advantage of Google Voice.  But I will be disappointed if there is not an acceptable Google Voice app for the Pre  in the near future. Michael Arrington’s blog  ”How I Learned To Quit The iPhone And Love Google Voice” documents his move from the iPhone to an Android device to get access to a good Google Voice app.  It is a great example of how the availability of a powerful converged communication application can drive consumer behavior.

It will be interesting to see how all of this plays out.  I wonder if Palm will make a fully integrated Google Voice app available for the Pre, or will they follow Apple’s lead?   Will Apple reverse their decision?  Will Sprint view Google Voice as a threat or a way to woo customers away from AT&T? What if Apple or any of the cell phone carriers launch their own “single number” application with advanced call routing features to counter Google Voice?  If Google Voice maintains its appeal and continues to add significant numbers of users;  consumers, carriers and handset manufacturers will all face some tough choices.

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I purchased a new Palm Pre this week, and I have been very impressed with the device.  It is the slickest smart phone I have ever owned, and I’ve had a few.  I’ve never owned an iPhone, so I’m not going to offer any comparison or enter the debate over which is better.  Besides, there has been more than enough written about how the Pre compares to the iPhone. Using my initial impressions of the Pre, I would like to focus on how advances in smart phone technology are enhancing converged communications applications.

The initial setup of the Pre was amazingly simple and easy.  I was particularly impressed with how easy it was to add email accounts.  For Yahoo, Live and Gmail, all that is required is your email address and password to add the account.  And clicking into the preferences page to adjust the settings for these email accounts was very intuitive.  Contacts associated with an email account are pulled into your Pre contact file, and the associated calendar will automatically appear in the calendar list.

I’ve also found that the Pre user interface is very intuitive and easy to use.  Launching and exiting applications is very straight forward.  And switching between applications can be done with a couple of finger flicks or clicks.  While using email and calendar applications, switching between accounts is also easy.  You can choose to view multiple accounts individually or merged into one unified view.

The ability to merge communications and information from multiple sources on a mobile device is one of the reasons smart phones are so popular.  Accessing both personal and business email, calendars and contact lists on a smart phone is one great example of how converged communications devices and applications make it easier to manage multiple channels of communication.  Add in the ability to access your music, videos, the web, and social media applications and you have a very powerful tool.  But providing very intuitive and extremely easy to use interfaces is where the Pre shines.

Many of the capabilities of the Pre and the iPhone have been around for a while.  But on earlier generations of smart phones, it was sometimes difficult to set up and use the advanced applications.   Much as been said about the how the vast number of iPhone applications increases the value of the device.  Most predict that there will also be a plethora of new Pre applications in the near future.  But the key value driver for any converged communication service, device or application is how much control and convenience it provides the user.

The increasing number of communication channels and converged applications that are available can overwhelm a person and make their life more complicated.  Providing the user with easy ways to control these applications and convenient access from a mobile device not only makes a good smart phone a valuable tool, it increases the value of the applications. The Palm Pre excels at providing this type of control and convenience.

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