Why I use Google Voice for SMS

I have an iPhone with AT&T service, but I recently started using Google Voice for most of my SMS needs. SMSes sent to my Google Voice number are forwarded to my email. It works great for me:

• I don't want to pay AT&T any more than I have to. I use AT&T out of necessity, not choice.
  
  
• GMail has support for Exchange ActiveSync, and is the default Exchange account on my iPhone. So I get notified of the SMS in email on the phone as soon as it is received (assuming I have data coverage, which is pretty much all of the time) giving me the equivalent of the native SMS experience.
  
  
• The Google Voice extension for Chrome. Chrome is my default browser, I'm in front of a computer for a large part of the day, and my browser is usually open. I can read, send and reply to SMSes using a full keyboard and without exiting the browser, instead of pulling out my iPhone and fiddling with the tiny keyboard to type out a message. So much more convenient!
  
  
• All my SMSes are archived and made searchable not only by Google Voice, but also by GMail. Win.