Google has launched a new service offering Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) calls to users.

The Google Voice product came about following the search engine's acquisition of GrandCentral in July 2007.

Initially only available to existing GrandCentral users, Google Voice allows users to receive voicemail transcripts and archive and search their text messages.

Low-priced international calls and Goog-411 directory assistance are also available through Google Voice.

The service retains many of the features offered by the original GrandCentral product, including a single number for home, work and mobile phones, a central voicemail inbox that can be accessed online and call screening.

Google Voice will be rolled out to more users "soon", Google product managers Craig Walker, Vincent Paquet and Wesley Chan said in a post on the Official Google Blog.

"The new application improves the way you use your phone," they stated.

Last year, a study by IDC revealed that more than a quarter of small and medium-sized enterprises in Europe had deployed a VoIP service, with a further 17.6 per cent intending to do so in the near future.

The main drive of VoIP take-up was found to be cost, although the fact that VoIP can offer a single point of accountability was also a significant factor, IDC said in its report.