A good friend of mine has announced on Facebook that she will be in Mexico for most of September, so calling or texting her will no longer be fiscally desirable on her end. But she need not worry—lucky girl—Google’s got her back. 

You’ve undoubtedly heard the buzz by now, but just in case you’re buried under a pile of books (the thick things with the pages) thanks to the new school year, here’s the latest: Google Voice.

If the “small fee” associated with Skype has irritated you in the past, you’re now free to let those feelings go, friend. For a while, anyway. Google has taken another step towards simplifying our lives (and possibly recording every aspect of them) with their take on the digital phone call. 

There are some pretty nifty features that come with this new toy. First off, not only are domestic calls free and international calls affordable, but Google Voice is allowing users to transfer their cell phone calls to their computer in order to save minutes.

Makes you wonder, doesn’t it… since this feature will obviously be applicable to smartphones, is the actual cell phone plan on its way out, too? Will Google be able to obliterate all minute plans so we can completely integrate all aspects of communication into the internet via our iThings?

If the idea of saving on cell phone minutes isn’t enough to convince you to activate this new feature, perhaps you’ll be swayed by the fact that Google Voice also adds up to a simple phone finder. Yep, you got it—log onto Gmail and give that rogue cell of yours a call to find out where you could have possibly left it last. Zero finder’s fee. 

And when that other caller is involved, Google Voice has the capability to save the audio from your call to your computer, and you can choose whether or not to let your calling partner know this.

…Yeah, I know, that’s where it gets a little weird for me, too. As if Google doesn’t have enough incriminating evidence on me already. I’d sort of prefer not having to censor my phone calls.

For me, though, the main selling point of Google Voice is the fact that domestic calls are free of charge. But it’s looking like they will begin to charge for them starting next year. So, maybe that means the real attraction of the feature is the fact that we can continue to stare at our computer screens instead of some other, more tiny screen when we have to make or answer a phone call.

And as sarcastic as that sounds, it’s sadly true. It is kind of nice to be able to, say, read an email from a friend and decide that your response is simply too profound and complicated to try to type out, and thus make a phone call directly from your inbox.

And just a final thought regarding the pioneer of the digital phone call, Skype: If Google Voice is as superior to Skype as their video chat is, then I’m sold. 

To reach reporter Kelly Baron, click here.

Find her on Twitter: @kellybbaron.