Google Voice Contest Winners

Wow – what a response! My Google Voice Review article garnered quite a bit of attention and interest, ESPECIALLY the contest where we had 30 Google Voice Invites up for grabs. Many people asked how we could be giving away “invites” when Google Voice was only accepting current Grand Central customers. Well, I worked out a nice little arrangement with Google so winners of this contest should be considered VIP.

Android Forums Contest Results
The contest went really well and the contest thread accumulated 1500 posts pretty darn quickly, with every 100th post winning an account invite. Thanks to everyone who participated and I hope those of you who joined JUST for the contest will stick around for good! Take a look at the contest here.

Phandroid Contest
We asked users to email us with the reasons THEY should win and I think I need to stay this… PLEASE STOP EMAILING NOW! We’ve been getting hundreds of EMails since the contest started and as you can see by this post, the contest is over. Later today I’ll be submitting the full list of winners and I’m assuming it will take our friends at Google a couple days to get it going.

Below are the winning entries which I have posted anonymously. If you see your entry below it means you’ve won. If you want your submission removed just use the contact form and I’ll gladly take it down. I’ll send an EMail to all the winners once I hear back from Google about when everything has gone live.

The first submission automatically won because it seemed appropriate:

I’m not going to lie and make up some sappy story about why I want to win.
Basically, I NEVER win anything. I LOVE Google, it’s my best friend. ^^
I use all the services Google offers, and I love my G1. And right now I can’t sleep because I’m to excited about Cupcake. ha ha.
But when I heard about Grand Central, I was like meh, until it became Google Voice, and then I actually wanted it.
I think it’s really cool, and I would love to be one of the first people to use it.
I just started going to your site recently, but it’s one of my favorites. (wiping the brown from my nose)
Well, I hope you even consider me.
And thank you, now I have even less reasons to sleep. -.-

Here is to a T-Mobile Customer Support person… just promise when Phandroids call you that you treat them well!

I work for T-mobile as a customer service rep and I’m always wanting to stay up to date on new gadgets and technology. This google voice sounds really cool!! I would love to have a beta acct to play around with and tell everybody at work and also let my customers know how it works. Well if you think I would be a good candidate for one of the beta accounts just let me know. Keep up the good work. I’m on your site multiple times a day! Absolutely love it!

Although the Email subject line was incorrect, I couldn’t help but give this lad a GV invite because his submission made me laugh. Good stuff:

Dear Moderator,
I need this.

There are 3 main reasons:
1.  My last name is Hooper.  Having a phone number be xxx-xxx-HOOP would be more badass than dividing by zero.
2.  I want to fake being badass:  I want the call routing (custom greetings) to give people the impression that I hate everybody but them.  Then they will probably call from another number and know the truth that I hate everybody.
3.  I’m badass.

There are 2 features that will work towards a common goal of mine: economizing phone sex.
The transcriptions feature looks amazing.  Now I just need to figure out how to make her leave a message.
Being able to record all that phone sex and play it back is great.  I might even be able to sell it.

There is 1 thing I will abuse to annoy everybody.
I will use this service to have 2 cell phones:  One that I actually answer, and one I will never answer.  That way there will be two tiers of call screening.
When I find out somebody is actually a cool cat, they will get access to the real phone.  Tell me that’s not frustrating and cool at the same time.

I’m excited about putting my personal life on record and in the hands of a major cooperation.  I would gladly hand over my privacy and dignity for cool features!

Old people rock. This guy is 80 years old, hitting up Phandroid and I gotta show respect to my elders!

WOW…. a chance for a new Google Voice Account…. at my advanced age of 80…. I am not sure that google will start handing out account before my time is up :-).  Thanks guys!

Phandroid helped this guy kill 2 birds with 1 stone. BTW, did you know Chuck Norris can kill 2 stones with 1 bird?

I was very excited to see your contest in my feed reader this morning.

Here’s my story: I’ve been a Verizon customer since 2001 and I’m tired of handicapped phones and their shitty, overpriced Get It Now “features”. I’ve decided that an android phone *will* be my next phone, and I was all ready to buy the G1 using the Costco coupon last month (with a print-out of the phandroid post with the coupon…), but much to my dismay T-Mobile will not take my phone number (it’s “out of their market”).

I didn’t buy the phone that day so I could think through my options and I’ve decided that it’s worth abandoning my 8 year old phone number to get my hands on an android device, but I also decided that if I was going to change my number I might as well try to move my main number to Google Voice, so I’ve been eagerly awaiting the public offering.

So that’s it, if I win this contest you’ll be killing two birds with one stone for me: I’ll be able to buy my first much-desired android phone, and I’ll be able to use the much-desired Google Voice, which looks awesome from what you’ve shown and everything else I’ve heard.

Thanks for the contest, and all the great android news. Keep up the good work!

Hopefully Google Voice will help this guy get to the hospital when his wife is delivering!

I would really like to have Google Voice because I work from 2:30 pm to 11:00 pm and while I am working all my friends are home and call me while I am at work. It would be nice to get an email at work from the calls I miss. Also, my wife is pregnant and we are expecting around May 18th and I’m afraid she won’t get a hold of me at work but I do keep my Gmail up while I am at work. That would definitely help out in this situation. Thank you and Phandroid rocks!!! Steve.

Persistence pays off:

I saw the contest on androidforums.com and tried to hit the 100 slots with no success. I did get 101, but that was as close as I got. I thought I’d try to win this way. I missed the chance to get onto GC by a few days and was stoked when I found out Google was going to finally make use of the service. However, waiting on them to open the service up to the public has been painful. The reason I’m interested in getting onto the Google Voice service now, more then ever, is that I just set up my Ooma hub yesterday at home and I’m hoping to establish my Google Voice number as soon as possible so I can switch everyone from the number I’ve had for years to my new Google Voice number for life. I suspect Google will let people port their numbers some day, but I just can’t wait that long to keep the number I have now. If you select me as winner I’ll be happy share my good fortune with all the members of my blog on ERE (Electronic Recruiting Exchange) as I’m sure the staffing community would be jealous to learn of my good fortune. Once I have a Google Voice account linked up to my mobile, work and home Ooma system I’ll finally have a low cost, business quality communications solution to manage my phone life.

Thank you for the chance to win a Google Voice account and good luck with the results of the contest.

Android wouldn’t be what it is without developers:

I’m an Android developer.  I’d love to work on some GV related utilities, so pick me!

Android lovers FTW. And by the way, we’ve dropped the ball on the Podcast… just bad scheduling mixed with unforeseeable issues.

I am an absolute Android freak. I spend most of my day surfing the different Android blogs, to the point that my wife is starting to wonder who is this “Android” really and why do I read so much about him :). Although I do not post much on forums, I am a loyal reader of Phandroid as well as a loyal podcast listener (By the way, where is the next podcast, lots going on with cupcake/Haykuro). On a serious note, I am a consultant for a software company and travel quite a bit, this application would be awesome in helping me keep in touch with everyone when I am on the road. I look forward to your response and appreciate your consideration.

I hope this makes things more convenient for this guy’s wife. Switch to Diet Coke and keep reading Phandroid!

I have a big hello from a fan of the site…

First I wanted to start by saying that you guys are doing a bang up job on the site and keeping me up to date on whats going on… I check the site out from work and at home… shoot really some days reading the site and coke are all that gets me though the work day…lol…

I was really hoping to be a contest winner because I think that Google Voice could help me push my wife into getting a G1 like me… see my wife is 80% deaf and we do a lot of texting but there are times when she is at work or something and she misses a call and the person that calls her leaves a message, well more times then not she can’t either hear the message cause the person is talking to low or there is to much noise in the back ground for her… and with the transcribing that Google Voice provides would be freaking sweet cause she can just read whatever it is that the person said and thats awesome… thats the biggest reason why I would like to be a contest winner besides the fact that I can say I won something and all the other super cool features that Google Voice has to offer.Thanks and have a wonderful day.

Hi.

Thanks for the blow by blow article.  Good read, and great evaluation.
It only makes me realize I need Google Voice even more.

I have recently been called as Bishop of our local congregation.
Basically, I’m the pastor for 300+ people.  We have our share of
widows, families, old and young.  It’s really a full time job.  Our
ministry is unpaid.  So, I get to have two full time jobs : )   No
worries, I’m glad that I’ve been asked to serve.

Anyway, I have a family of four (my oldest is a teenager!) and as I
mentioned, I also have a full time job – I run my own business.  You
can imagine, I have a LOT of phone numbers I have to keep track of for
all of this:
– Home Phone
– Work Office phone
– Bishop’s office phone
– Cell phone
etc.

I have been waiting and waiting for Google Voice to go live.  I can’t
tell you how hard it’s been knowing that GV is out there.  The tools
to make my life so much easier.  I currently use Google for
everything, Gmail – with over 1200 contacts, tons of Google docs, etc.

To give you an example of how it would benefit me; my family tries to
sit down for dinner together as often as possible.  Inevitably, like
everyone out there, we get a call while we’re sitting down to eat.  If
I had GV I would know that the members of my congregation were taken
care of, being filtered to the right message area.  Then again, any of
the widows and single moms out there struggling with this economy, I
want to make sure their calls come through – no matter what.  Also, my
business calls would also be going to the right message area – I
wouldn’t have to worry about my congregation OR my livelihood.  And
the guys trying to sell me Ginsu knives would all end up getting the
GV brick wall.

Just like you I hate giving out my cell phone number to anyone I don’t
really ‘know.’  Well, imagine having 100 households who all expect to
know where you are 100% of the time!  Again, I’m excited as all get
out to serve these people, but I’m sure you can imagine how incredible
it would be to be able to NOT have everyone know your cell phone, and
to be able to control the flow that goes to my home, cell, office,
etc.

I have found friends that worked at Google and had them try to get me
an account, begged and pleaded would be more like it.  Anything to
help me get more control of the flow of people in my life.  Don’t get
me wrong, it’s great to be able to serve all these people.  Just
having a bit of control would be incredibly helpful.

You guys are awesome, thanks so much for this opportunity to help.
You WILL be helping 30 people with Google Voice.  I know it’s an
awesome application – Google made it :)
I’ll leave it in your hands.  If you think I’m worthy of something
like this, I’m sure you’ll tell me.  If you think there are others who
would benefit more – then please pass the opportunity to them.

Best to you and your efforts!

Wow, I don’t know how to convince you I should be on the beta team.
I have nothing funny sentimental or even note worthy to add.

But here goes…
I work in post production film and television industry and I have been
continually implementing every Google product available into our
system.
I spend everyday fighting with the film industry artsy farts, not over
issues with their films, but on the topic of iPhone vs Android.

We use all beta stage products in our facility, and not only would I
greatly enjoy using the Google Voice system,  I will be a consummate
professional and helpful beta tester.

Please give me another Google feature that shows those editors and
directors where they can stick their iPhone.

Cheers!

I was forced to watch “The Devil Wears Prada” with my girlfriend last night and actually enjoyed it. A big focus was Paris and figured it was fate. This guy wins because of randomness.

I wold love to try out Google Voice because I travel ALL the time!  I am constantly in the air, or in a different city.  It would be great to link my voicemail with two phones i.e. home phone and cell.  It would be really cool to take advantage of the text the voicemail feature also.  This way if I’m in Paris France I will not have to call and waste money checking my voicemail, I can just get a $.35 text rate.

O, and did I mention that I subscribe to the Phandroid RSS read on Google reader?  Yeah, that’s the best reason of all!  I also was one of the first to pre-order the G1!  Man waiting for that thing sucked……

Thanks for your consideration.

When I am at work, I literally have two tabs open at all times.  The
first is gmail (i mean, really, who doesn’t) and the second is google
voice because I check approximately every half hour to see if it has
opened to the public yet.  I have google news alerts set to give me
any update on anything having to do with “google voice” and I am
literally about to pee my pants at the thought that i might be able to
win an invite from you all.  literally.

I work in Washington, D.C. and frequently deal with
1.people who i don’t actually want to talk to, but often need to hear
what they are calling about to determine if it is important
2.a work environment in which it would be SOOOO helpful to be able to
determine who gets sent to what phone.

Do I think I deserve google voice?  Absolutely.  Do I think everyone
deserves google voice and google should just release it already?
ABSOLUTELY.  That being said, i recognize that this is not a fair
world we live in and so i am hoping–nay praying–that someone reads
this email and takes mercy on me.

Plus I just might pee my pants which would be really funny.  I mean
who doesn’t want to see an adult pee his pants?

SECOND EMAIL

And, on top of that, I literally spent all morning trying to win the
other half of the competition.  I think my boss now officially hates
me.  BUT, if i win this part of the contest, it will all be worth it!
After all, google voice will help me in my quest for a new job!

My Dearest Friend,

I am Mr. Habibi George Iyobo, Barrister and Esteemed colleague of the late Dr. Enchebe Amhed, Director of the Finance Union Centre (FUC) of Lagos, Nigeria who perished in the most tragic of circumstances. I came to know of you in my search for a reliable Person of the utmost discretion to handle a most confidential transaction which involves the transfer of large Sums of money to a foreign account. Before his demise, the most revered Dr. Amhed left with me detailed instructions pointing to the location of several private accounts to which he had diverted funds paid unto him for the execution of certain contracts by Overseas telecommunications providers in the central valley region of Nigeria.

As a most trusted and reputable colleague, I do not need to explain to you the sensitive nature of these funds, which would be otherwise used by the government for purpose unbefitting to the reputation of the late and most honoured Dr. Amhed. I am therefore entreating you for your Assitance in extracting these funds, a total of UK Pounds Sterling (UKP) 750.000,00, to a third country of Switzerland where they may be put towards the greater Works of God as the most elevated and departed Dr. Amhed intended for them.

Since it is very Difficult and Demanding from a country such as Nigeria to access the Swiss banking systems, I was assured that with your assistance, being a person of discretion and demeanor, that you, along with the Hand of The Almighty, could assist in this matter of the maximum importance. In return I would be willing to give to you, soley for the Kind and Assistive services provided in this matter, thirty-three and a third percent (33.3%) of the total amounts or the sum of UKP 250.000,00.

Now that we are agreed to undertake this Mission, which I Pray will be guided by the hand of the Lord, I would require that you, with the necessary amount of Courage, to submit to me approximately and Exactly one (1) Google Voice Account invitiation, so that I may make the necessary contacts to fullfill the last Wishes and desires of our friend and most Reverend companion the departed Dr. E. Amhed.

I am, etc.

Mr. Habibi george Iyobo, Attorney-at-laws

Greetings citizen,

It has come to my attention that the friendly denizens of Phandroid are sponsoring a contest through which a few lucky Americans will be granted access to the fabled “Google Voice Account.”  Now, it would be highly unethical of me, an undocumented alien in your country, to participate in such a competition.  However, I would like to nominate a certain upstanding individual who deserves this “Super Phone Service.”

Meet Clark Kent, born (with birth certificates that are real to prove it) in the quiet town of Smallville, Kansas.  Clark was a quiet farm boy who grew up to be one of the finest and most handsome reporters working for the Daily Globe in Metropolis. In these tumultuous times, even the most mild-mannered of reporters needs the most cutting edge in communication technology.  Advanced call screening and instant voicemail transcription are just some of the “super-powers” he may want to add to his arsenal.

While I could never be impressed by flashy toys like “Active Call Listening” and “Live Vice-Mail,” humans like Clark value those sorts of things.  I mean, what would I do with a cellular telephone?  I can hear from thousands of miles away –IN SPACE!  Sure, I can’t take a message and send it to myself transcribed in an e-mail, but that’s the trade-off when you have sub-zero breathing power.  I mean, sure it’d be nice if my gmail account automatically updated my G-1 every time I added a new contact, but can you really compare that to X-Ray vision?  Can you?

In short, Clark Kent is the man who most deserves/needs this “Google Voice” service.  Not me.  I’m content.

Faithfully Yours,

S  U  P  E  R  M  A  N