Those of you out there who want an invitation to Google Voice should start cozying up to your friends. While I haven't seen it show up in my Google Voice account yet, those lucky enough to have the service will soon be able to invite up to 3 friends.
Google Voice gives you a number that you can use, via a Web interface, to ring a different phone, or multiple phones, or go straight to voicemail, depending on who's calling. You can also send SMS messages from the "faux" number.
With the Google Voice mobile app available on some smarthphones (but not the iPhone!), you can even call others from your mobile phone and have it appear as though coming directly from your Google Voice number.
Beginning Tuesday, Google began to add the ability to invite up to 3 friends to Google Voice users' accounts. It's rolling out gradually, however. Once activated for your account, you'll see an "Invite a friend" link appear on the left-hand side of your inbox.
Don't have a friend who can invite you? You can request a Google Voice invitation at google.com/voiceinvite.