In the middle of the summer I finally received my Google Voice invitation.  I have to say that Google Voice is extremely powerful and could change the way that we use our phones as communication devices in the next few years.  There are some core features to Google Voice that I would add to truly make it the killer mobile app.

1. Customized Voicemails

In Google Voice you can add customized greetings for groups of your contacts.  Instead of keeping a whole group of people together in a “group” you could assign just one person to a group and then give that one person a personalized greeting.  What is missing is the ability to add a customized voicemails per contact, time of day, or group of people.  It would be nice to let someone know you are driving at a certain time and will be able to get back to them later; I commute to school every day at a certain time so this voicemails setting could stay the same for months.

2. Mobile Interface (I know they’re working on it)

This one is pretty self explanatory.  Having a mobile interface for Google Voice so that any phone can change and update settings via a mobile browser (dumbed-down or otherwise) is key for Google Voice to truly break into the mainstream market.  The Google Voice team is working on it, I believe mostly to combat the crazy, unbelievable lie-fest from Apple and AT&T.  Hopefully sooner than later.

3. Calling from Google Voice number without software.

I own a Palm Pre and with the Google Voice application I can call out from my Google Voice number.  This means that when my girlfriend sees my number pop up on her phone she wouldn’t see my Sprint number but my Google Voice number.  To have this feature without the software would be great.  The way that I see it working would be when you dial a number the Google Operator asks you if you want to use your Google Voice number or your Sprint number.  You of course could choose in your user preferences if you want this enabled or not, or if you want either number used automatically.  The faster people learn your new GV number the better.

There isn’t that many more features that need added Google Voice; it is robust just the way it is.  There addons would be a benefit and would make GV an excellent tool for anyone that wants more control from their phone.  If there are any other addons that would make Google Voice better than it already is, leave them in the comments below.