A service that lets you receive cell, work and home phone calls at a single number, transcribes your voicemail into text, and lets you record all your calls at the press of a button has been re-launched as a Google service.

Google Voice will be available initially to users of GrandCentral Communications, the company that developed the service and was acquired by Google in July 2007, said an entry on Google's official blog Thursday.

The service helps users manage their existing landline and mobile phone services, allowing them to:

• Route multiple phone numbers, both landline and mobile, to a single number.
• Receive voicemail notification by email or SMS.
• Receive voicemail messages themselves by email as an MP3 or transcribed text.
• Change the ringtone of the person you are calling during your call.
• Record calls by pressing a button on the dial pad and access recordings online.
• Switch between a landline and cellphone in the middle of a call.
• Let people call them from a web page without providing your number.
• Listen to a voicemail message as it is recorded and pick up the phone in the middle.

During beta testing, all features are free, but Google said it will later add paid features "at a very affordable price."

There will be per-minute charges for connections involving international calls.

Google plans to make the service available to non-GrandCentral users in the U.S. in the next few weeks, but has not yet said when it will be available in other countries.

Google would not disclose how many users GrandCentral had or how many are in Canada. But Canadian spokeswoman Wendy Rozeluk said the service is available to Google staff in Canada.

Google Voice could offer competition to services currently available for a fee from other companies. For example, Rogers, SaskTel and Telus all offer unlimited voicemail to text conversions for $5 to $15 per month.