Google and Twitter have launched a phone service that will let people in Egypt send out tweets, even though the country's Internet service has been effectively shut down.

Google worked with SayNow, which it recently acquired, to provide the service which it hopes Egyptians without internet access will take advantage of to stay connected.

Users simply need to call +16504194196, +1390662207294, or +97316199855 and leave a voicemail. It will automatically tweet the message and use the hashtag #egypt and an internet connection is not required. People can listen to the messages by going to twitter.com/speak2tweet.

While the service was put in place in order to help Egyptians trying to tweet amidst the protests, it's unclear if this service will remain in place in the future.

From The Google Blog