Google Gives Users A Reason To Hang On To Educational Email Addresses

In the past, invites for Google's Voice service could take anywhere from a few hours to several months to arrive after a user signs up. Recently, however, the company announced that it would give priority to users with an .edu email address. In fact, the company has promised that if you cough up an email address that ends in .edu, you'll get a Google Voice invite within 24 hours. You can visit google.com/voice/students to submit your address.

Google Voice invites for students

We’ve found that Google Voice can be useful in many different ways to many different people. But one group of people that it’s especially well-suited for is students. We’ve heard college students in particular really appreciate getting their voicemail sent to their email, sending free text messages and reading voicemail transcriptions rather than listening to messages (especially handy while in class).

But since Google Voice is currently only available by invite, a lot of students are still listening to voicemail and sending text messages the old-fashioned way. As a recent college graduate, I can’t think of anything more painful! So starting today, we’ll be giving priority Google Voice invites to students. To get an invite, just visit google.com/voice/students and enter an email address that that ends in .edu.

So if you’re a student, submit your email address and a Google Voice invite will arrive in your inbox within 24 hours. Keep in mind that only one invite will be sent per email address and Google Voice is currently only available in the U.S. And if you’re new to Google Voice, check out our introductory videos at youtube.com/googlevoice.