RumorTT: Google is planning to shutdown Voice in the near future

One of Google's favorite hobbies is killing off services that the company no longer wishes to support. Last year we saw this happen when Google grew tired of supporting its Reader service, and this year it looks like one of its older services will be led to the chopping block. Several reports have popped up today that suggest that Google is looking to retire its Voice service and integrate some of its key features into Hangouts.

Google launched Voice back in 2009 when it decided to rebrand the aging GrandCentral internet calling service. One of the best features about Google Voice was the ability to have a second phone number that would ring straight through your Gmail account or your Android Device. Additionally many users loved the way Google Voice handled voice mails and many switched their Android devices over to Google Voice just for this voice mail feature. Unfortunately this feature for far fewer users than it glitched out for, and now it appears that Google will be putting an end to the service in an effort to further unify its Google+ and Google Hangouts services.

No word was given on when Google might kill Google Voice, but I for one can not wait to see it go. I use Google Hangouts almost exclusively now for my "At PC calling" and could never get Google Voice to function properly for more than a few days at the time. There is a part of me that is sad to see it go though as I was one of the original GrandCentral subscribers way back in the day. As with Reader going away, the death of Voice will benefit us more than we realize at the moment, and I can not wait to see how Google Hangouts improves because of this.