Am I missing something with Google Voice?

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boomhower

boomhower

Diamond Member
Sep 13, 2007
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If I am understanding correctly all the calls will be landline so no mobile to mobile minutes? I would have to jump up to another level to be able to even come close to not going over.
 
gsaldivar

gsaldivar

Diamond Member
Apr 30, 2001
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I can't confirm what you suspect, but I do know that you can have a GV number, and the transcribed voicemail service, and number forwarding, without actually having GV handle calls on your Android device.

Simply set the GV app to "do not use Google Voice to make any calls". Then your calls will be routed normally through your wireless carrier and you will get all your M2M benefits as expected. One downside is that unless you ported to GV, people you call will see the actual wireless number instead of your GV number.

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S

s44

Diamond Member
Oct 13, 2006
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There are two tricks.

(1) Go VOIP, or
(2) Get a plan that allows you to pick certain numbers to call as much as you want. Then have GV dial your calls for you (there's a nice Tasker-compatible app by Xinlu that lets you toggle this) and connect you to them with a callback *that originates from your GV number*. Voila, unlimited calling.

I've heard rumors of carriers trying to stop #2, but don't really know since I never had that kind of plan.
 
Patranus

Patranus

Diamond Member
Apr 15, 2007
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Google voice serves no purpose if you know how yo use your phone service.
 
boomhower

boomhower

Diamond Member
Sep 13, 2007
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s44 said:
There are two tricks.

(1) Go VOIP, or
(2) Get a plan that allows you to pick certain numbers to call as much as you want. Then have GV dial your calls for you (there's a nice Tasker-compatible app by Xinlu that lets you toggle this) and connect you to them with a callback *that originates from your GV number*. Voila, unlimited calling.

I've heard rumors of carriers trying to stop #2, but don't really know since I never had that kind of plan.
Click to expand...

Could you explain VOIP more into how that would work. I know what it is but can be implented easily with good quality.

2. Works well if you have a plan that has it. I don't use many minutes so my plan doesn't have it. I'm stepping up to use. I will not pay more money to use google voice. I like the idea and would like to implement. If I can get the voice side done I can cut off my texts from my bill and just do texts through them.

Basically I want to be able to port my current number and have the advantages. In daily use I want to same number being going out bot all calls and texts without needing to change my rate plan. It if won't work for what I need it's not a big deal The old fashioned was has been doing quite well.
 
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akugami

akugami

Diamond Member
Feb 14, 2005
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Patranus said:
Google voice serves no purpose if you know how yo use your phone service.
Click to expand...

So having a number/service that can automatically forward calls to various other phone numbers is useless? Having the ability to get free sms texts is useless?

I'm sure there are other uses but those are two I use the Google Voice service for. Sometimes I'm in the house and I leave the phone in the 3rd floor while I'm in the kitchen and if someone calls my GV number, it will forward to my cell phone but will also forward to my home phone which I have extensions all over the house. Buddy of mine travels to meet customers all of the time, sometimes he leaves his cell phone in the car when he's in the office. He has his GV number forward to both his cell and office phone at the same time. And that's just the usefulness of the call forwarding.
 
S

s44

Diamond Member
Oct 13, 2006
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gsaldivar said:
Ok, how do I do this with grandpa's dumbphone?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fHuai7-jVlY#t=0m19s
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I'm pretty sure you can set *any* device to use GV voicemail and have transcriptions texted even to your dumbphone. Could be wrong though. Wish I'd tried that back in the day.

Anyway, what he obviously meant was it serves no purpose if you're stuck on an iPhone...

As for the OP, VOIP is sort of a pain and not a great frontline option (nice for a backup though). I just use the texting without a port -- have different numbers, since I only text the same handful of people. But since you can have GV-forwarded calls (*to* you) appear either from your GV line or the original number, you should be able to have mobile-to-mobile incoming work even if you port to the GV number or start only handing it out. As for outgoing... you could either call straight from your "hidden" mobile number or use the reverse of the original callback suggestion and have it call you back as if from the destination mobile number. I think.
 
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R

randomlinh

Lifer
Oct 9, 1999
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boomhower said:
If I am understanding correctly all the calls will be landline so no mobile to mobile minutes? I would have to jump up to another level to be able to even come close to not going over.
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exactly why I haven't fully switched over. I use GV as my give out number. That's pretty much it, as well as a 2nd business line.

I cannot give up "free" any mobile to mobile minutes.
 
simonizor

simonizor

Golden Member
Feb 8, 2010
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Patranus said:
Google voice serves no purpose if you know how yo use your phone service.
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Yes, because every phone service gives you free text messaging, free call forwarding to any of your phones, and access to your voice messages and text messages on any device that can connect to the internet.

I use it for those things, and I give it out as my main number because I can keep it no matter where I go (if I moved, I could make a new voice number in that area and have my old one forward to it), and I don't have to worry about transferring numbers between carriers if I ever switch.
 
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abaez

Diamond Member
Jan 28, 2000
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zerocool84 said:
ahahaha I got my Google Voice number as a 310 area code. I give it out to people and they're like WOW 310. Girls who don't know you think you've got money.
Click to expand...

When GrandCentral first started up I grabbed both a local number and a number in the 212 area code (Manhattan). I'm sure it's valuable as there are no more numbers there.
 
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