Though it's still in beta, GrandCentral might be the Next Big Thing in phone applications -- for some people. The premise is pretty simple. You get a single number which you can then distribute to your contacts. Then, you input your phone numbers where you can be reached (e.g. home, business, cell, etc). When a call comes in to your GrandCentral number, it will ring all of your numbers (and caller ID is preserved) and if you pick up, you'll get to screen the call or pick it up.

There are some nifty features: you can set up different voicemail greetings by caller group (e.g. friends, family, work, other) and you can set ringback tones (what your callers here while your phone rings) by caller group. You can upload any mp3 file to use as your ringback tone too.

The cool part? Voicemails are stored in GrandCentral's servers and you can play them back via your browser. Everything is well-categorized and the user interface is pretty slick (AJAX is all the rage, isn't it?).

For me, I don't think it's that something I'll use too much. I don't change jobs very often (2 jobs in 12 years), and my cell number and home numbers don't change. And, I don't want to have to do a mass emailing or calling to alert all my contacts. So, don't write this number down in ink for your Rolodex (heh - analog contact databases are so retro!) but you can try it out and give me a call on my new GrandCentral number (404) 704-0087.