Does this really work? Yes. I successfully set up Google Voice accounts for my wife, coworker, and mother. All it takes is a little patience.

Google Voice invitations are actually links sent out to an individual's email address. These links can be used by any Google account. The following will show you how to get one of these links from someone who doesn't need it.

You'll need to monitor the real-time mentions of Google Voice on Twitter. You can use Twitter's search page or any number of other Twitter monitoring tools. I like Tweet Grid. In fact, if you want to save some time, simply click here to get the exact Tweet Grid that I used. Please leave a comment if you're aware of more efficient ways to monitor Twitter in real-time.

Tweet Grid automatically updates, so you'll need to watch it for a while. Sometimes, you'll have to watch it for a long while, depending upon the time of day and whether Google is currently sending out invites.

What you're looking for here are generous people who have received their invitation but cannot or do not want to use it. Even if they don't explicitly offer to give the invitation away, most of the folks I tweeted were kind and willing to give it a shot.

If you're catching all of the Google Voice mentions on Twitter, you'll eventually see someone offering to give an invite away.

When this happens, send them an @ reply as soon as possible, politely asking for their invite.

After you reply, follow their Twitter account. This is important because if they agree to give you the invite, they'll need to be able to send you a Direct Message (DM) via Twitter. One can only send a DM to another who is a follower. In other words, if you're not following them, then they will not be able to send you the Google Voice invitation link via Twitter.

I've found that folks who are willing to give their precious Google Voice invitation away are wonderful people to follow! By following them, you'll not only gain an invitation to an amazing new Google service, but you'll gain a new and interesting connection as well.

Then, once again, it's a waiting game. Some folks will be more aware of their @ replies (@ mentions) then others. But if you're kind, polite, and open to the other person's time situation, most will eventually reply. If you're the person they want to give their invite to, they'll send you a DM with the link.

Be cautious, as you should with any link someone you don't know sends to you. Since the Google Voice invitations are long, many folks will use a URL shortening service like bit.ly, is.gd, or tinyurl.com. The easiest way I've found to check that link before you click on it is to go to Untiny.me.

Not once did I receive a link to a questionable or dangerous site. All the links I received were genuine Google Voice invitation links. It's still, however, good practice to know where the link leads to before clicking.

Simply copy and paste the tiny link into the untiny.me extract field. Make sure the resulting link looks like this:

If so, you're almost there. Click on the link and log into your Google Account. If you see a dialogue box asking you to choose your phone number, you're in and ready to go. If not, you'll see a different message stating that the link is invalid.

I publicly thanked everyone who gave me a link, valid or not, because they were very kind to give me the chance in the first place. And what a chance it is! The first invitation I got was for my wife and I stammered around the kitchen as she set it up mumbling, "I can't believe it was that easy." It's really a great feeling to get this invite, to be one of the first to try out this revolutionary service.

Obviously, not everyone who wants an invite will get one. That's how Google wants it for now. But with a little patience and luck, this just might work. Good luck and have fun once you've got your new Google Voice number!