Google Voice and Asterisk

[rdinsf]

If any of you have an old Grandcentral account, you can now upgrade it to Google Voice.

The only real show stopper is that it now has a fairly good voice recognition engine that transcribes voicemails and then emails the transcript.

There does nor appear to be a SIP gateway for Google Voice, so if you wanted to use it for VM with Asterisk you would have to forward the call to the POTS number assigned to the Google Voice account (calls to the GV POTS number can be forwarded to Gizmo5, but not the other way around.)

I do see some limited use for people who are going to be in situations where they cannot call in to hear their voicemail messages, temporary forwarding to Google Voice would enable message transcripts by email.

Now, if only they would turn that voice recognition of voicemails into a freepbx module...

 

[james]

the schmooze guys made "the magic button" which did voice recognition. That was done with commercial software which afaik is the only way to do it. Because of licencing you wont see this in a default freepbx deal.

 

[rdinsf]

Well, then they've gone well beyond the Magic Button. As far as I can tell, the magic button responds to a few commands. The Google Voice thing recognizes a whole message. Much larger vocabulary, presumably much more difficult to implement. I would pay something to add that functionality to my system (transcribing voicemails), being able to issue voice command only while cool, seems to be more of a novelty to me.

the schmooze guys made "the magic button" which did voice recognition. That was done with commercial software which afaik is the only way to do it. Because of licencing you wont see this in a default freepbx deal.

 

[wardmundy]

We plan to cover this in more detail in an upcoming Nerd Vittles article, but...

One simple way to implement this now is to assign an extension which forwards calls to that extension directly to the voicemail system on Google Voice. Then you could add an IVR option on your system which said something like:

Press 2 to leave a message which will be transcribed and promptly delivered to the recipient by email or SMS.

 

[jehowe]

My grandcentral email is an apps account, and word has it that it will be a couple more weeks for me. Google Voice feels like it has the potential to be a gamechanger, and if it gets any traction it's going to give the carriers and MS fits.

Features aside, one question I would like answered is what data Google Voice retains, and if they could be forced to hand to the courts users call data in civil suits.

 

[wardmundy]

They keep call records for sure, and any court could order production of those records for use in criminal or civil proceedings. That's really no different than any other provider.

 

[rdinsf]

I thought of that, but as a control freak I kind of like having the emails handled by my own system.

And, it would be cooler if I could forward the call via SIP rather than PSTN.

We plan to cover this in more detail in an upcoming Nerd Vittles article, but...

One simple way to implement this now is to assign an extension which forwards calls to that extension directly to the voicemail system on Google Voice. Then you could add an IVR option on your system which said something like:

 

[rdinsf]

But, the difference is that not only do they keep an audio copy of your voicemails on their server, but a transcribed copy as well.

They keep call records for sure, and any court could order production of those records for use in criminal or civil proceedings. That's really no different than any other provider.

 

[wardmundy]

I'd be very surprised if they kept the voicemails or transcribed text for very long. But stranger things have happened.

And, yes, SIP connectivity would be nice, but they like to jingle.

 

[rdinsf]

As a data point, my Grandcentral account (which I have used as failover backup for Asterisk) has recorded messages back to 2/08, when I started the service. It's up to the user to delete old stuff.

Given that google=gmail and in theory you keep your gmail forever, it might well be that Google Voice users might have a fair amount of storage and no reason to delete. In fact, the transcripts, being just ascii characters, don't take up much server space.

I'd be very surprised if they kept the voicemails or transcribed text for very long. But stranger things have happened.

And, yes, SIP connectivity would be nice, but they like to jingle.

 

[grumpy]

is there a product currently for anybody that does voice recognition engine that transcribes voicemails and then emails the transcript.

I had a lawyer ask for this just yesterday, he would like a screen in his office and kind of have the messages stream by.

 

[jehowe]

http://www.phonetag.com/ - Offers voicemail to text services. Not free, but they have been getting favorable reviews.

 

[bmore]

Google Voice now has option to turn off Press 1 to receive call

With GrandCentral, to work with your PBX you needed a way to press 1 before the caller is connected. Google Voice has an option in Settings to turn off Call Presentation. This removes the need to Press 1 on incoming calls. The is great if the call is going to your pbx. If you turn it off, features like Send to Voice mail, Record call and Listen-in on voice mail are disabled... Not really important if the pbx will handle calls and voice mail.

 

[wardmundy]

Test Drive

If you'd like to take Google Voice's free voicemail transcription services for a Test Drive before the release of next week's Nerd Vittles article...

1. Dial 678-444-2445 and leave a message
2. Wait about three minutes for your message to be transcribed and sent to the NV Mail Headquarters
3. Using a web browser, go to nerdvittles.com/GoogleVoice
4. Click on the last message in the list to display Google Voice's transcription of your voice mail

NOTE: To protect your privacy, four digits of your CallerID number will display as... Asterisks.

 

[krzykat]

I must say, pretty impressive

 

[krzykat]

Must speak in english though, I tried spanish, and it tried to convert the words as english. Hey - I had to try haha.

 

[mchapman]

The system transcribed my name wrong...instead of "Mike" it wrote "Mark". I may have not spoken clearly.

 

[noblenull]

Call Widget - Multiple Calls?

Does anyone know if the Call Widgets in Google voice can run multiple calls at the same time? For example, if we set a Widget up to call our business hunt group - would multiple people be able to use the Widget at the same time?

 

[wardmundy]

Googlified Messaging: Asterisk’s New Best Friend

 

[bmore]

Google Voice and Privacy issues

When using Google voice and with voice transcription, be aware of privacy issues. Remember that as much as we like Google for its capabilities, they are in the business of collecting, aggregating and using information for financial gain. There are no limits with what they do with or how long they keep the information they collect, except those limits (if any) they choose to place on themselves.

Consider how easy it is to setup up your Pbx withan IVR menu that for example says, "Press 4 to record a message and have it transcribed and sent to me via SMS". Asterisk dials Google voice which records the caller and sends you an SMS.

Now consider if you would still leave a message on such a system if the message instead had full disclosure: "Press 4 to leave a voicemail which will be transcribed by Google and sent via SMS. Your voice mail and transcription may be stored indefinitely at Google. If we or you are ever involved in a lawsuit or divorce etc the opposing attorney can get a subpoena sent to Google for your voice mail. Google will promptly forward them the information. But thank you for still leaving a message."

None of this is to say that you should not use Google Voice but just be aware of privacy issues. On most voicemail systems like Verizon etc, your voicemails have a finite lifecycle. And in case you think that Google will not just cough up your info, think again. And consider how easily Google stored info can bite you in the butt...

Here is a real case: In some countries public persons do not have a higher burden of proof for libel, slander, defamaton etc like in the US. Bad mouth, say a politician or an athelete and they can sue you for libel, slander or defamaton. In this case someone used Gmail to send an e-mail with shall we say non-complimentary stuff about a newspaper publisher.

The e-mail was forwarded and it got to a business competitor who then forwarded it... The publisher sued the competitor. oogle was subpoenad and promptly coughed up the sender's e-mail, ip address etc. Now the originator of the e-mail is a defendant in a defamtion lawsuit. See how 'private' info not meant to be public can cause you a headache when stored on public servers.