OT- Google Voice?

[Joe J]

Anybody tried the new Google Voice and have any opinions? Thanks,

[hrhofmann]

What is Google Voice?

[Jo Ann]

I have it and like it. The only thing I don't like is that if I am screening and waiting to hear my answering machine pick up, I won't hear anyone who has dialed the Google Voice number, as GV will intercept the call before it rings through to the machine. Also, the "send your voice mail to email" feature is only semi-helpful, as the speech recognition technology renders the written message pretty much meaningless; you really have to dial in and listen.

I really like the ability to choose a number that is local for those who call you the most often (I set it up to be local for my son's family) and the free texting and almost-free calling, even for international calls. Keep in mind that if you will be dialing in to route calls through your GV account, you may want a number that's local for you (won't matter on your cell phone, of course).

[SMS]

I've been using it for about a year. It's great.

Alas, they've driven Voicestick and MyGlobalTalk out of business.

[Higgs Boson]

Could somebody, while standing on one leg, explain what it is about? KISS.

[Jay Hanig]

I've just started with it. So far, so good. I'm probably just scratching the surface of all the things it can do.

Jay

[Erik]

I've been using it since the old 'Grand Central' days...

For me, it biggest feature is the free 24/7 domestic calls. It's saved me bundles so far. Definitely get a number, other than placing international calls, it's all free.

If you have a web site, GV has a widget you can include for family friends customers or who ever to call you toll free (within the US).

GV has tons of other features as well.

I saw somewhere within the last week or so that Google has now opened GV up to the public, as in no more invites or waiting lists to get a number.

Erik

[Shaun Eli]

I've had it for a while and it's fine, except:

occasionally the sound quality isn't that good, so I'm glad I didn't put my google voice # on my business cards (so I'm continuing to pay around $7/month for voicemail).

callers hear a message that google voice is trying to locate you, and then it rings where you tell it (maybe there's a way to turn this off but I haven't bothered to look)

the speech-to-text voicemail feature (it'll email messages) isn't very good.

but it's free! (for now, anyway)

Copyright 2010 by Shaun Eli. All rights reserved.

[Art Todesco]

I've had it for some time. The good thing is that when you call my Google Voice number, I've set it up to ring both the house land line and a cell phone. Whichever answers 1st gets the call. The voice mail on GV is pretty nice too. It sends you an email with the message translated into words on the screen. You can also click on it and listen to the original recording.

[Metspitzer]

This would be a very nice feature for someone like my sister. She lives in Alabama near the Georgia line. She has to pay extra so she can make unlimited calls to Atlanta/Georgia area.

This would effectively allow her to change her phone number to Georgia which I am sure she would much rather have.

Thanks for the tip.

I wonder how often Google sells the number to telemarketers.

[Shaun Eli]

I've never gotten a call on google voice from anyone I didn't know.

[krw]

I live in Alabama near the Georgia line, too, and use a cell phone to make all calls. No extra, anywhere in the US.

I have a Vermont phone number, which confuses the hell out of the businesses around here. ;-)

The only spam calls I get are from politicians and referendum proponents in Ohio. My guess is that they bought the list from the DMV there.

[Metspitzer]

The Google Voice seems like a more attractive option for my sister as she has two kids that also use the phone.

[krw]

You're probably right, but note that there are devices that will connect a cell phone to the wired phones in a house. I've thought of buying one, but there are only two of us and two cell phones.

[PhoneGuy]

I've had a Google Voice number almost since it came out. It is very nice to have a local number for may faminly to call in Phoenix and it rings my phones here in Boise. It has quality issues at times with latency and dropped calls. I've had a few clients who use the number for their business with dubious results. I think it's fine for residential non critical use but not for business use.

Greg

All Call Technologies Virtual Phone Services

[The Daring Dufas]

I was an early adopter of Hagicjack and it worked so so at first but improved with time. The adapter stopped working but I keep the number to give out to hospitals, insurance companies, banks and especially any government agency. The calls go to voice-mail and are sent to my Email as wave files. For $20.00 a year I have a phone number that I can give out to anyone who is likely to violate my privacy or pester me.

TDD

[David Nebenzahl]

On 7/3/2010 4:56 PM Metspitzer spake thus:

She lives in the Deep South? So since Google Voice supposedly has voice recognition software, wonder if it would show such text as "a tar on a far truck"?

Sorry, couldn't resist.

[Joe J]

I told my brother about it and he signed up. He loves it! His wife calls her relatives in the Netherlands weekly and he just went from .12 per minute to .02 for most international calling. He told her to talk all she wants, which she always did anyway!

Thanks for the opinions!

[Metspitzer]

I think I am going to like Google Voice.

I wish they would allow you to receive a fax too. My fax machine is suppose to be able to detect the difference between a fax call and a voice call, but I have to set the fax machine to manual to receive a fax, and give out my voice number.

Anyone know where Google takes suggestions? I see the day coming when I am so dependant on Google's free features that I am going to end up paying them thru the nose for them.

[Metspitzer]

BTW I found out where to suggest features for Google Voice.