I signed up for this last month and I have already been giving out to all business contacts like creditors and utilities. I have a house phone but I never use it anymore, just my cell.

I don't really get all that many telemarketing calls either. But I do like being able to give out one number in case I ever have to lose my cell number.

another use: if you have a non-local cell phone number, but live in an apartment with a call box, chances are they wont program your non-local cell into the call box. however, if you sign up for a local grand central number, that can be programmed into the call box and it will just direct to your cell. (this is how i use my GC #)

i am starting a home business but dont want to give out the home number - now i have a voicemail box free that i can check online :-) i love it

google rules..

That's fantastic. I've had an "out of area" cell for years, but now I can give an in area number to people without having to actually switch. Let's hope this works well!

Do they have a service where they can assign me a number that's easy to remember? I want (321) 444-4444 or something like that. Now that I could use. I can never remember my own! [That's very inconvenient when countless attractive women are asking for my digits. We all believe me on that, right?]

Has anyone heard if GC plans to expand into Canada? There's so many things I could do with this service, if they would just let me.

@BayStateDarren: When I signed up nearly a year ago, they offered the choice of area code and a limited choice of numbers. I ended up choosing a 321 number with plenty of double repetitions. As is the case with all services, these numbers run out as time progresses. Wouldn't hurt to look, a 321 area code is Brevard County, Florida, not many people there.

Nice, I got a very easy to remember number. I don't have time today to check out all the features, but I'm sure I'll find uses for it all!

Using the article link, I wasn't able to sign up, but was able to put a reserve in and told to wait for a communication from Grand Central/Google.

Let's just see if the service is still free--I have my doubts, but am willing to be proven wrong.

I have one its very nice. Its worth it just for the call blocking feature. Ive wanted that for so long. Now when you sign up for services etc. you can give them this number and be able to block them in the future or direct it to a different mailbox. BRILLIANT!!

I didn't realize Grand Central was on hold. I've had a GC number for about a year and use it a lot. I want to know is what happened to numbr.com and when that's coming back. It offered the same service except that the new number expired after a set period (day, week, month). That was GREAT for craigslist and blind dates etc.

One thing to know about the GC number....The person calling you will have to let the phone ring a few times more than normal before you answer. I've had friends sitting next to me call it...and when listening to their phone...it rings two to three times before you GC phone number rings through to my cell or home number.

I ♥ my Grand Central. I've had mine since December, and I love all the features. I especially like the one where you can forward certain numbers to play "The number you are calling has been disconnected."

@MattO: User agreement says it is not for commercial use

Ah yes.... sign me up! I'd love for Google to be able to add my phone calls to their datamining of my life, in addition to my web searches, email (Gmail), purchases (Google Checkout), medical data (recent pilot with the Cleveland Clinic), social network (Dodgeball), videos (Youtube).

Anyone know why it isn't available in a few states, like New Hampshire?

Sweet I got a number with the same last 4 digits as my number.

There is a reason you are called ShortBus, ShortBus.

They have 646 numbers again people. Grab these now as GC doesn't have them all ll the time. Otherwise you'll have to be totally declasse and get a 347 or (GASP) 201 number.

@diamondmaster1:

I had to wait about a week before Grand Central sent e-mail and invited me to join. So far no charge or any indication there would be any charges.

@diamondmaster1: I've had it for 6+ months, works great, no mention of charges.

@HappyPig: Probably has to do with number availability, or telecom laws in the state.

i've been on the 'waiting list' for ages... finally got a GC via the link. Gee - this is awesome and very very useful.

Cool! :) But will it show up on the phone bill that I'm using GrandCentral? Sometimes people from my school will call me sooo early in the morning, and I'd rather that they didn't have my real number anymore lol. But I don't know that my parents would believe that this service really is free. More info please!

I don't have a home line (our wiring is shot in the apartment I live in) and I have wanted to have a phone number locally to give to businesses, etc., where they can't directly call me and interrupt my life. I set up an account, but I don't want any of these calls forwarded to either of my existing phone lines (cell/work). Is there a way to have this work so that I can only get bothered should I choose to check my messages online? I don't see this feature.

I gave up my GC number awhile back after getting tired of explaining to my friends that I had a "call me" number that was different than my "text me" number. I moved to YouMail.com, which let's me do nearly all the same things (caller reject, custom messages), though it doesn't connect multiple phones (something I don't really want to do anyway).

Subscribe to the cheapest phone line from your phone company (~$5 + tax). That line will come with unlimited incoming calls. Use GC's calling feature to make unlimited local and long distance calls by having it make an incoming call to your phone then connecting.
Savings $40 a month
Sticking it to AT&T priceless

as usual, hawaii get the finger

I signed up awhile ago, and its great. Only problem is that they do not service Alaska, and have no plans to. Still, this is great for relatives that live down south

@danielo: why would you have a call me number and a text me number? Your post makes no sense because how does youmail do all the same things without multiple phones?? isn't that the point of grand central? So yours is just a new number then?

I figure i'm not going to go around to my friends and say hey my number changed but now if I feel im giving my number out to some weirdo etc I can give them grand central number instead. OR if I wanted to give my grand central number to new friends without interrupting old friends trying to call the old number.

@adminslave: You can set it up to forward to a specific mailbox.

@marchhare22: You can't text to a GC number, that's why. I don't even bother giving my GC number to people who text me often.

But the real problem is, I CANNOT get people to use the GC number. They all have their various cellphones and landlines programmed, they know they can reach me by my old numbers, and so there's no incentive. I hoped to give up Caller ID on my landline ($8/month) with GC (my cell plan has it included) but have not been able to.

@MagicEightBall: You can't get a Canadian number, but you can USE the number in Canada.

I have a set up whereby my GC number forwards to my Gizmo account, and I can answer the call through Gizmo. It seems like it doesn't help Canadian callers who have to pay to call a US number, but wait. . . there's more!

In your GC account, you grab some code that puts a button on a website that makes calling totally free all the way 'round. Basically, a person can enter their own phone number on my "call me" button, then GC calls them (free for them), gets them on the line, then rings me (which I have set to go through Gizmo) and free for me!

I don't need Gizmo for this set up to work -- GC will forward to my CDN number, but I don't have a land line, only a cell. I don't necessarily want to use cell minutes (especially if I'm roaming) so enter Gizmo.

If Canada had Skype In, life would be a lot simpler, but this is a free solution that works.

For more specifics, check out www.internettablettalk.com's forum. There are specific directions for turning a portable wi-fi device into a phone using this set up.

Put in my request/reserve for a GC number on 2/29; to day is 3/10, and still no email from them...

So when does anyone think I should expect to hear from them?

@diamondmaster1: 03/22 and STILL no email from them.

Wonderful timely service, eh?

Like Diamondmaster I am waiting since late Feb. I have actually requested a number twice. Upstate NY. Anyone have suggestions? Checked spam mail. Nothing there either. I am beginning to take this personally

04/16/08 and still no email....

I believe I should start to take this seriously.