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If there is anything profitable on the Internet, Google (News - Alert) will definitely want a piece of that action! With the advent of mobile phones that offer more and more Internet features, this has become a profitable business over the years. Now, according to a Reuters report, Google Inc. has acquired GrandCentral Communications. GrandCentral Communications is a start-up that lets users manage their existing phones and voice mailboxes over the Web as if they were a single account.

 

Based in Fremont, California, GrandCentral is one of those companies, which are using Web-based software to voice calls over the Internet. The advantage in these methods is that the user can simultaneously with regular phones. GrandCentral’s founders, Craig Walker and Vincent Paquet, have a history of being noticed by Internet giants. Prior to this, they were running Web-calling pioneer Dialpad Communications, which was acquired by Google’s biggest competitor, Yahoo Inc. in June 2005.

 

The GrandCentral Web site confirmed the deal where Walker and Paquet said that the user will get a single phone number that forwards to all of his phones, giving him one number for life. However, the financial details of the deal were not disclosed.

 

GrandCentral’s founder Craig Walker is one of those persons who turned problems into opportunities. Once, when he was traveling, he realized that he needed to check three voicemail mail boxes — one for his cell phone, another for work and one for his Blackberry phone. This led to the invention of Grandcentral, where the user can use a single number for all his phones. The multiple phone numbers for your home, work and cell can be set to one phone number, which you can set to ring all, some, or none of your phones. This makes sure that your phone number is tied to you, instead of its location.

 

We may think that a startup phone company will have to compete with the established names such as Vodafone Plc or China Telecom (News - Alert) Corp. Ltd. But these startups are taking a newer, less competitive route. They are introducing phone-like talk features into Internet services on blogs or social network sites like MySpace or Facebook.

 

For the past several months, GrandCentral has been holding public tests of its service. Although most of the features offered in public tests will be offered in the product, users cannot upload their audio tracks as ringtones. Instead, licensed music tracks will be offered.