Google Voice: Your Top Wireless Tool
This is a review
of the benefits and cautions of using Google Voice for wireless users.
Most Google
Voice
features are FREE!
With
Google Voice you can get a phone
number that is tied to you, not to a device or a location. Make
and pick up calls, send and get texts, and read and listen to
voicemails on your phone, tablet, or computer. You can change the
device your Google Voice number is connected to, as necessary.
You can choose
a random number, one that is meaningful to you, or you can
transfer your existing number. You can also
choose a scaled-down
version, Google voice Lite which allows you to control your messages
through Google Voice - Voice Mail.
What Google
Voice Can Do:
- Google
Voice Gives You One Number for All of Your Phones
A phone number that is tied to you, not to a device or a location. Make
and pick up calls, send and get texts, and read and listen to
voicemails on your phone, tablet, or computer. You can choose
a random number, one that is meaningful to you, or you can
transfer your existing number.
-
Text
From Any Browser or Phone
Google
Voice also offers free texting. You can send and receive texts in your
browser from the Google Voice website or via the Google Voice Chrome
extension. The Google Voice mobile app also offers free texts,
so you can text for free from your phone without any unofficial apps.
This also gives you an archive of your texts you can search online, you
won’t lose your texts when you reset your phone or get a new one.
- Voice Mail as Easy as Email:
Read
transcriptions of your voicemails, add notes, download, and share
voicemails.
It doesn’t just give you a piece of audio
to listen to, Google Voice uses advanced speech recognition to
transcribe your voice mail, turning it into readable text.
If Google Voice messes up the transcription or you’d just rather hear
the original message, you can also listen to the attached audio file on
your phone or computer.
- Customize Your Callers'
Experience:
Screen
calls and create personalized greetings for family, friends, or
coworkers based on the number calling.
- Pick Up Calls from Any Phone:
Choose
to receive calls at home, work, or on your mobile phone, based on who's
calling or when.
- Choose
a Custom Google
Voice Number:
The number can be new,
or you can transfer
your current number.
When
choosing a new Google Voice number, you will be able to choose among
several numbers, but not necessarily in your local area. Adding
a Google number to
your Google Voice account is free. To transfer your mobile number to
become a Google number will cost $20. If you decide to change
your Google number, there is a $10 one-time fee to change it.
To transfer away your Google number to a mobile carrier will cost $3
unless you paid the $20 to transfer in.
- It
Works on All Phones in the US and on Other Devices
Worldwide:
Right
now, Google Voice is only available in the U.S. Users outside the
U.S. can use Google Voice to make phone calls using Hangouts
on a computer, Android
device,
or iOS
device. Also,
Google Voice integrates all of their cool
functionality uniquely on phones from Sprint. Almost all calls made
from Google Voice to the U.S. and Canada are Free. A
few U.S., Canada and Mexico destinations will cost 1 cent per minute
(USD), or the listed
rate for
your local currency. Calls to destinations outside of the U.S. are
at low
rates.
- Make and
Receive Calls From Gmail
Google
allows anyone to place free calls to the US and Canada from Gmail.
However, these calls will appear to come from a random shared number
that your recipients won’t recognize. If you switch to Google Voice,
calls you place from Gmail will appear to come from your own personal
Google Voice number.
Best
of all, you can even receive incoming calls in Gmail and answer them
from your computer. Google Voice integration is now part of Google
Hangouts, so it’s also integrated into Google+ and the Hangouts Chrome
extension.
-
Place
and Receive Calls on Your Phone Over Wi-Fi
Google
doesn’t yet provide a way to send and receive calls from your phone
over Wi-Fi, however, apps like GrooVe
IP and Talkatone allow
you to receive and place calls over a Wi-Fi or cellular data
connection, no need for cell phone minutes. You can also
receive
incoming calls through Google Hangouts through Wi-Fi or any broadband
connection.
-
Easy
Number Portability
Google
Voice allows you to forward your calls
to other numbers. Once you set this up and give everyone your Google
Voice number, you’ll be able to more easily switch phones in the
future. For example, if you move from one cellular carrier to another,
you don’t have to go through the standard process of porting a cell
phone number, you can just use the cell phone number assigned to the
new phone and forward your main Google Voice number to it. Google also
offers a way to port your existing phone number to Google Voice if
you’d rather not give everyone your new Google Voice number. This is
one of the few Google Voice features that costs money.
-
Voicemail
With Transcription
Google
Voice provides voicemail, but it doesn’t just give you a piece of audio
to listen to. Google Voice uses Google’s advanced speech recognition
technology to transcribe your voicemail, turning it into readable text.
If Google Voice messes up the transcription or you’d just rather hear
the original message, you can also listen to the attached audio file
and your hpone or computer.
-
Call
Forwarding With Rules
This
service doesn’t just allow you to forward your calls to a single
number. You can set up rules and priorities: automatically forwarding
calls to your office phone during certain hours of the day and to your
cell phone during the rest of the day, for example. You could also have
Google Voice ring one phone and continue to other phones if you don’t
answer. For example, it could call your home phone, work phone, and
then cell phone in order if you don’t answer any of them.
-
Switch
Phones During a Call
Because
of the way Google Voice handles call forwarding, you can switch phones
during a call. While on a call, press the * button on your phone and
your other connected phones will ring. Pick one up and you can continue
the call without hanging up, perfect if your cell phone is about to die
or for switching between landline and cell phones on the go.
- Discount
International Calls
Make
international call at very low rates, often just a few pennies per
minute.
-
Block
Unwanted Callers
Google
Voice allows you to block calls from specific numbers. The caller will
receive a “Number not in service” message when they call you, so this
may even fool telemarketers into removing your phone number from their
lists.
- Easy
to Set up Conference Calls
- Record Calls
Things to
Know About Google Voice:
- You
may not be able to transfer (or "port") your Google number to some
mobile carriers.
- Calls
made through Google (with your Google number showing on outgoing Caller
ID) are always completed as a VoIP call, if you have a data connection.
If you don't, the call cannot be completed through Google,
you will need to choose the phone's own calling function and number.
- Text
Messages are delivered and returned as an email, and only through
GMail, which could cause a significant delay. You only use the phone's
own Text Messaging function with that phone's number.
- You're
never certain where Voice Mail is coming from: maybe from the carrier
or maybe from Google Voice as an email.
- Google
Voice has not been updated much. We wonder if it will be
supported in the future.
What
You Need to Use Google Voice:
- Google Account
- Touch-Tone Phone
You'll
select a type for each phone you add to Google Voice: Mobile, Work, or
Home. (Text messages will only be sent to phones listed as Mobile.)
- Computer,
with Internet access
- Web
browser: Google Chrome, Internet Explorer 8 and up, Firefox, Safari,
Opera
- Flash
8 and up: Visit Adobe's
Flash Player page to confirm you've downloaded Flash
and what your version is.
- Optional: Google
Voice app on Android or iOS
- Sign Up for
Google Voice >
You May
Prefer Google Voice Lite (Voice Mail Only):
If
you don't want a Google phone number, you
can get a Google
Voice Lite account. A Google Voice Lite account will
still let you enjoy some of the Google Voice benefits, including:
- Voicemail
Like Email:
Save voicemail messages for as long
as you'd like, star important ones, and search through them.
- Voicemail
Transcription:
Voicemail messages will be
automatically transcribed to text and forwarded to you via email and/or
text message.
- Custom
Voicemail Greetings:
Customize your voicemail
greeting based on who is calling.
- International
Calling:
Make low-priced international calls
from the web or from your phone.
- To Sign Up for Google Voice Lite:
Go to
Google Voice, then select "I want
to use my mobile number."
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