The Evolving Newsroom

Google Voice looks like a potentially interesting tool (thanks to @bernardchickey for the link).

Via mashable.com:

The new service is called Google Voice, and it’s currently available as a preview to GrandCentral users and a small number of users with invites.

The service looks a lot like GmailGmail reviews for voicemail, although you don’t have to be a Gmail user to use it. It lets you retrieve transcripts of your voicemail, archive and search all your sent and received SMS messages, and you can make calls directly from Google Voice’s interface. The calls are free in the US, and cost a small fee internationally.

The automated transcripts are definitely one of the most interesting features; Google has invested a lot in voice-to-text and text-to-voice conversions lately, and this feature will probably be reliable enough for most users. If you like, you can set Google Voice to email or SMS you the transcriptions.

If you’d like an invite to Google Voice, try here; for a walkthrough, see the video below.