I finally find some time to give you my take on the recent deal by Google and Gizmo5. For those who haven’t had the opportunity to read the news yet, Google acquired the San Diego based VoIP company Gizmo5 for 30 Millions $.
What does it mean for the big G and for the whole VoIP space? Well, Gizmo5 has demonstrated to be the best SIP-based VoIP service out there, letting users make VoIP calls from their PC, IP phones, mobile phones and other devices like, for example, the Nokia N800, offering inbound numbers and offering a service that let users make VoIP calls to Skype users, too.
Last but not least, Gizmo5 was integrated into Google Voice, something that let you do very interesting experiments like the one described in a (very popular) post I wrote many months ago, that is how to make calls from Google Voice to Skype.
Ok, but why was Gizmo5 integrated into Google Voice? I would like to point out that thanks to this integration I could get Google Voice connected to my desktop IP Phone in Italy, something otherwise impossible since I don’t live in US. In other words, the integration of Gizmo5 into Google Voice was, to me, a very important feature that could definitely make the difference.
Now, let’s go back in time when Google Voice didn’t exist yet. For those who forgot it or never knew about it, Google Voice was built around GrandCentral (acquired by Google more than two years ago), the company that offered “one number for life” and was created by Craig Walker and Vincent Paquet, now Product Managers at Google Voice. GrandCentral could also benefit from pal Andy “VoIP & Wine” Abramson’s support and consultancy, the person who actually recommended the integration between Gizmo and GrandCentral.
All that said, how much do you think the fact Gizmo5 was integrated into Google Voice counted for this successful deal? In my opinion, a lot.
What I’m trying to say here is that smart guys like Andy, Craig, Vincent and, last but not least, Michael Robertson (the man behind Gizmo5) made the first step towards this deal a few years ago or, let’s put it another way, were creating the foundations of what could potentially become the main disruption in the VoIP space of the past fifteen years. Impressive, right?
Hats off to these guys and congratulations to everyone involved. Take a look at this interesting article by Wired for more interesting comments by Andy Abramson about the deal.
Related articles by Zemanta
- Google buys Gizmo5 for Google Voice (news.cnet.com)
- Google makes Gizmo5 acquisition official, drops few details (engadget.com)
- It’s official, Google buys Gizmo5 to provide PC to phone calls (downloadsquad.com)
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