Google Voice is currently undergoing internal testing in Europe. Apparently, the company is looking to take the service global. Jens
Redmer, Google's European Director of Business Development, told The Next Web that the company is taking "concrete action" for this purpose. As the service is going through internal testing, it is being reported that it is doing pretty well in the dry run.
However, Google just stopped short of providing a launch date. According to the company, the service is covered by a myriad of legal and regulatory laws, which need to be tackled on country by country basis. So, while the implementation of the technology will be easy, it is the regulatory portion which is going to cause some delays. Given Google's history with European authorities, getting the approval for this service is going to be uphill task. The company is currently testing out Voice's transcription service.
Google Voice offers quite a few really interesting in feature. In the US, it allows you to have one number for all your devices. it also features low cost international call and lets you screen the calls you receive. Apart from it, you can also perform conference calls, record your calls and use voicemail service. Hopefully, all these features would be introduced in the Europe as well, as and when the service is launched. The service is already available in the UK in a very rudimentary form, as Google lets you make voice calls through Gmail. However, the full scale deployment of the service has the potential of changing the mobile phone landscape in the country.