Google yesterday announced it has acquired GrandCentral Communications, a California-based provider of web-based communications solutions that lets people use a single phone number and voice mailbox for all of their phones. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

GrandCentral's services let users personalize phone usage with Web-based features, accessible over the Internet, like the ability to assign a single phone number that rings all or some phones at once based on who is calling. Other features include call recording and access to visual voicemail.

"We think GrandCentral's technology fits well into Google's efforts to provide services that enhance the collaborative exchange of information between our users," Google's product manager Wesley Chan said. "We're really excited to welcome the GrandCentral team to Google," he added.
The company was founded in 2005 by Craig Walker and Vincent Paquet, formerly the chief executive and vice president of business development and marketing, respectively, for Dialpad Communications, a VoIP company that was acquired by Yahoo in 2005. GrandCentral has been holding public tests of its service for several months and is now offering a limited number of invitations to register for a beta account. If you have a U.S. telephone number, you can sign up for an invitation at www.grandcentral.com.