Google Voice's web-based SMS inbox is convenient for frequent texters, but it is, after all, another inbox to tend to. Now, however, you can receive, and even reply to, SMS messages through your email address.
That's convenient on a few different levels. The most obvious is that keeping a Google Voice tab open to track your voice and SMS messages during browsing hours is no longer necessary, as Voice can forward you transcribed voicemail messages with audio attachments and, as of late last night, also forward your SMS messages. The messages arrive from a randomized address at txt.voice.google.com, which makes it nice and easy to set up a new label and filter in Gmail and other mail clients to funnel all your SMS into.
The best part of the SMS emails is that you can reply to them from your email inbox, and they'll appear just as if you'd replied to them from your Google Voice phone number. In Gmail and some other clients, too, that means back-and-forth text messages are wrapped into neat threads, just as they would be on the Google Voice inbox. If you're serious about a single inbox and have regular email access, you could turn off SMS forwarding to your phone and lower, or eliminate, your unlimited texting plan needs.
The one drawback, at least for neatniks, is that the will still sit unarchived in the Google Voice inbox, but if you're devoted to moving your phone messaging life into one inbox, an occasional Select All, Archive isn't too much to ask.
Share some of your clever uses of Voice's SMS-to-email service, or your wishlist for future features (besides, of course, more invites going out) in the comments.
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