Google Voice Now Works WIth Existing Mobile Numbers

IP-192.com was one of several readers to note that Google Voice users can now utilize their existing mobile phone number for collecting voice messages instead of applying for a Google Voice number. From the post at the Google Voice blog: "Up until now, if you wanted to use Google Voice, you needed to choose a new number. Taking calls through your Google number allows us to offer features like call recording, call screening and getting text messages via email." Not all features (like conference calling) are available to those bringing their own number, but voice messages by email is my favorite feature.

Comments

Still US-only?

[alexo]

Wake me up when Google voice is available outside the US.

Re:Still US-only?

[RDW]

'Wake me up when Google voice is available outside the US.'

Well, your messages might be available pretty much everywhere:

http://www.boygeniusreport.com/2009/10/19/random-users-google-voice-mail-is-searchable-by-anyone/

Re:Still US-only?

[Anonymous Coward]

Available outside the US? How about available in the US to more than a select few.

Re:Still US-only?

[raju1kabir]

I use it outside the US. It's the first service I've found that can give me free incoming SMSes. I have them processed by my mail server to perform certain actions, as well as being forwarded to my non-US phone.

Re:Still US-only?

[Korin43]

The headline is incorrect. It should read "Publicly posted voice mails are indexed by Google" or possible "Google Voice users find out how the Internet works".

Re:Still US-only?

[supernova_hq]

I got an invite a long time ago, unfortunately when google decides who gets invites. The problem is that I live in Canada (where google voice is not available).

Google: Could you please tell me why you gave an invite to someone who lives OUTSIDE your coverage area when others INSIDE your coverage area are fighter over them?

To all the Americans looking for an invite, if I could give mine to you, I probably would. Especially considering it will probably be open-registration before us measly Canadians are allowed in :(

Re:Still US-only?

[Anonymous Coward]

Wake me up when Google voice is available outside the US.

I'm Canadian, living in Canada. Canadians make the exact same complaint every time an American company releases some cool new product available only in America.

To which I reply: they're a goddamn American company...what obligations (if any) do they have to us? Why aren't Canadian companies doing something similar? Oh right, because Canadian companies are more interested in screwing over their compatriots instead of releasing cool new products.

Wake me up when a non-US company does something even remotely as cool as what Google does and offers it in the US at the same time as in its home market.

How it works

[Anonymous Coward]

So, Google can now be set to be the termination point for your voicemails for your mobile, that is, you configure your mobile phone to call their voicemail gateway instead of your providers. Spiffy, though visual voicemail on the iPhone is a tad better interface, at least until there is another google voice app for the iPhone...

Re:How it works

[spuke4000]

I gotta say that Google Voice is way better than the iPhone's visual vmail. They're really different things: google transcribes your voice mail and SMS or emails them to you (among lots of other things). Visual vmail just shows you who called you without having to dial in.

Re:How it works

[Hijacked Public]

I have had Google Voice for about a year, and an visual voice mail for two, and I don't know that I'd say one is necessarily 'better' than the other because, as you point out, they are two different things. Like asking if a hamburger is better than a fishing pole.

I use visual voice mail most all the time, and only read GV's voice-to-text when I'm somewhere I don't have a cell signal. But it is nice to have both.

Re:How it works

[ryanvm]

Actually, hamburgers are significantly better than fishing poles.

Re:How it works

[Luyseyal]

Give a man a hamburger and he will eat for a day. Give him a fishing pole and he will sell it for $5 on craigslist to buy a hamburger.

-l

Re:How it works

[Golddess]

Unless you like fish and not cow. You can also get more than one meal out of a fishing pole.

Re:How it works

[Anonymous Coward]

And significantly more mercury!

Re:How it works

[nine-times]

You can also get more than one meal out of a fishing pole.

I guess so, if it's a big fishing pole. But it won't taste as good as a hamburger.

Re:How it works

[Darth Sdlavrot]

Halfway there. Now I need to set gvoice to be the termination point for my landline voicemails and I'll be all set.

Re:How it works

[mcgrew]

Visual vmail just shows you who called you without having to dial in.

Hell, my $100 phone will do that. I look at the list of missed calls, that's who left a voice mail.

Re:How it works

[locallyunscene]

They both reduce the fish population.

Re:How it works

[0100010001010011]

This message as translated by Google Voice:

I shot a gay that oogled Morice. Is may better than iTone visual female? Bear real lee different tings. Google transcribes you're choice tail and sms or ails him to shoe (a mung lo savanna swings). Usual gmail trusts ows ewe who call dew without having to smile him.

Yeah, but after a while you can decipher it.

Re:How it works

[Mr2001]

The Google Voice app for Android does everything visual voicemail does, AFAIK. You can see all your messages, with transcripts and audio recordings, without dialing in.

Re:How it works

[jo42]

google transcribes your voice mail

AKA "wire taps".

Re:How it works

[zippthorne]

I've never had one that was that bad. Maybe you just need fewer retarded friends.

Re:How it works

[jdgeorge]

Hamburgers don't reduce fish populations; people do. Same story for fishing poles, nets, and seaborne garbage as hamburgers.

Credit to the National Rifle Association for making this point. Extra credit to Burger King for making this point so delicious.

Re:How it works

[Anonymous Coward]

"Guns don't kill people. Apes with guns kill people!" -Heston

Re:How it works

[Life2Short]

Let's see you entertain a kitten with a hamburger...

Re:How it works

[metamatic]

Spiffy, though visual voicemail on the iPhone is a tad better interface, at least until there is another google voice app for the iPhone...

Which is exactly why Apple won't allow a good Google Voice app on the iPhone.

Re:How it works

[Anonymous Coward]

Which is exactly why Apple won't allow a good Google Voice app on the iPhone.

Or so they say.

*cough*AT&T*cough*

Re:How it works

[dontmakemethink]

Though not a cellular service, Vonage has great features like this. It emails a notification of voicemail, and I have a filter set up to forward the message to my cel phone. When I'm overseas, I bring my VOIP adapter along, patch it through my laptop as a wi-fi gateway, and I have my home phone with me, including calls to and from North America at no extra charge.

One place I stayed for a week had no wi-fi, but some nearby moron was kind enough to leave their access point unsecured. Free overseas calling via unsecured wi-fi is a riot!

Another time I really freaked out my German friend, telling him I had a short-wave cordless phone with global range. I showed him my cordless phone, clearly a North American model. As we sat in a cafe, I told him to call my home phone number, and the cordless phone rings. I answer, and he absolutely loses it. "Where can I get one!!" Then I reveal that I had my laptop, VOIP adapter, and phone base set up in the rental car out front using a power inverter and the cafe's free wi-fi. He was so punkt. I so wish I had that on camera!

Re:How it works

[michrech]

After having just looked at it, it appears to just "call forward" to your Google Voice account. At least for Sprint (the carrier I use), it called it "conditional" call forwarding -- for busy signals or unanswered calls (otherwise calls to your mobile number ring as normal). The instructions also said Sprint won't support conditional call forwarding 'till mid-November, so if you were to enable it now, you might get charged (most likely just minutes usage) 'till they have that support in place.

It's actually a good deal for the carriers, I think. It has the potential to off-load a lot of the voice mail they'd otherwise have to handle to a third party at very little (if any) cost to them, which also reduces any support costs associated with providing voice mail...

Re:How it works

[RobertM1968]

You can also get more than one meal out of a fishing pole.

I've found the wooden fishing poles are a little more tasty than the fiberglass ones. But either way, unless you are a light eater, you can barely get even one meal out of a single fishing pole. Meanwhile, a cow makes considerably more than one meal.

Re:How it works

[supernova_hq]

You don't have a kitten do you? ANYTHING will entertain a kitten!

Re:How it works

[LordLimecat]

Pretty sure Google's business model on this is obvious, and not terribly suspicious. Perform speech recognition on voicemail, convert to text, insert contextual ads. Allow outgoing calls @ a fee for additional revenue.

but seriously, that tinfoil hat looks good on you.

Re:How it works

[TClevenger]

I got a GV translation that just said, "com com com com com". When I actually listened to the voicemail, it turned out to be a fax machine calling me.

Re:How it works

[hawk]

Yeah, kittens are notorious for their dislike of red meat . . .

oh, wait . . . :)

hawk

People always forget about Hawaii

[butabozuhi]

Available in the US? Still waiting for a number in a Hawaii area code...

Re:People always forget about Hawaii

[ShiningSomething]

We all know Hawaii is in Kenya.

Re:People always forget about Hawaii

[vegiVamp]

Only in Kenya ? They got Lions ? Lions and tigers ?

Oh wow!

[Anonymous Coward]

Now google allows you to do what the government has been doing for you for the past 5 years! Now your government mobile history is inextricably tied to your online activity!

Yup.

[denzacar]

From TFA:

Setup Issues: Phone carrier not listed in setup

As of now we only officially support the following carriers listed on our site (Alltel, AT&T, Cricket Wireless, MetroPCS, Sprint, T-Mobile, US Cellular, and Verizon).
We are working on extending the support to more carriers soon.

Internet, just like UFO and Elvis sightings - only available in America.

Re:Yup.

[LMacG]

Nobody should ever release anything that doesn't instantly work worldwide! Especially when it's free!!

Re:Yup.

[Anonymous Coward]

I know you think you're being facetious, but what you say is true.

Releasing something like this in only one country lets competitors see if it is popular or not, and not risk taking a plunge on a product they might not make money on.

It leaves them with 95% of the available market to conquer first hand, so it's actually a really stupid thing to do.

Re:Yup.

[Anonymous Coward]

Umm, no, only in the US, I live in country in America, Costa Rica, and we dont have it yet.

Re:Yup.

[NiteShaed]

And that's why Google is penniless and in danger of vanishing at any second. My god, their stock is down to $549/share today and....wait, what?

Seriously, there's a little more to it than just watching Goog from a distance and copying them when you have a chance. Could some unknown startup in Estonia come out of nowhere and take Google's spot? I guess anything's possible, but I'm not about to hold my breath waiting. Even if they do, Google can still make a buck or two off the American market, where they'll have a pretty good head-start. It's not exactly a corporate fate-worse-than-death.

Re:Yup.

[Anonymous Coward]

Get the fuck over it. Would you call yourself an American? No.

Re:Yup.

[Anonymous Coward]

Shut up you pedantic faggot. You know what they mean. Do me a favor and go self destruct like your shithole country.

Re:Yup.

[alexo]

Nobody should ever release anything that doesn't instantly work worldwide! Especially when it's free!!

You seem to have missed the point entirely.
My post was not a criticism of Google. I am happy for you and the other US residents that can use Google Voice (for free, as you have mentioned) but it is a bit hard for me to get excited about the technology when I personally cannot use it. So if you have any information about when it will be available in, say, Canada, I will thank you for it (once you wake me up :-). Otherwise, your reply was surprisingly unhelpful.

Re:Yup.

[Anonymous Coward]

And that's why Google is penniless and in danger of vanishing at any second. My god, their stock is down to $549/share today and....wait, what?

People said that about so many failed (or should be failed) companies, I assume you're making a joke. There was a time GM -COULD-NOT-FAIL-.

Seriously, there's a little more to it than just watching Goog from a distance and copying them when you have a chance.

Yep, that's why google is the search engine of choice in all Asian countries. Oh wait, it isn't. In fact, a lot of Koreans that use the internet haven't really heard of Google any more than you've heard of Ask Jeeves.

Even if they do, Google can still make a buck or two off the American market, where they'll have a pretty good head-start. It's not exactly a corporate fate-worse-than-death.

Well, that's true, there's always the home country, and if that's going good, everything is perfect, you can ignore the worldwide market. Anyone want some Nortel shares?

Re:Yup.

[Anonymous Coward]

> Nobody should ever release anything that doesn't instantly work worldwide! Especially when it's free!!

I wholehearted agree.

Unfortunately, now and then some folks at certain US government organizations might come up with some export restrictions -- so there goes your worldwide to hell.

It's better not to use things whose repositories are located in nations with strong restrictions (US, Russia and China come to mind); if one really must to do it, don't count on it as a permanently available resource.

OTOH, any country could change from neutral to aggressive given enough time... so it is better to keep a lot of mirrors.

Re:Yup.

[Anonymous Coward]

If the government had left them alone, GM wouldn't have failed. There's no way you can run a successful business when you've got so many laws and regulations telling you what you can and cannot do, from what products you make to how you handle employees. It's all part of the plan though. You can't take over a strong industry so you have to weaken or destroy it first.

Been using it...

[Muckluck]

and I am not thrilled with it. I picked a number that is frequently misdialed (admittedly - my mistake) and they want $10 to change numbers. I am using the do not disturb feature to send most calls to VM. The translation software is about 80% correct on guessing what my messages actually say. The other 20% are often more fun to read due to the humor of the translation. They have a way to go before this will be a reliable "ready for prime time" service.

Re:Been using it...

[Muckluck]

One of my voice mail transcripts:
"Hey it's Blake, Hey just called. He will not be in tomorrow. He is sick and he said he tried to get a hold of Robin Hood, so I'll be in all of you so bye. "
Should read
"Hey it's Jake, Sandy just called. She will not be in tomorrow. She is sick and she said she tried to get a hold of John. Please give me a call when you get this. Bye."
Actually, now that I think about it - Robin Hood could have helped us...

Re:Been using it...

[natehoy]

$10 to change numbers? By any standard I've ever seen, that's a steal.

Seriously, look into doing the same with a local telephone service sometime. Some years back, the local telco issued me a home phone number that had previously been owned by a company that went Chapter 7. After a little under 2 weeks of constant phone calls at all hours of day and night (who makes collection calls at 3AM? Seriously?), I called the telco and asked. By the time I stopped talking to the rep and said "no, thanks" we were up somewhere north of $175 in fees, surcharges, and "because we're the goddamned phone company and we'll tack this little sucker on too and you'll bend over and like it, biyotch" charges. For a phone number that THEY had chosen and was in my possession for less than 2 weeks.

I picked a number not in my area back when Google Voice was GrandCentral and in beta, because no numbers were available here in the Hinterlands. I gladly paid $10 when a number became available with my correct area code, and if I could port my old Vonage number over I'd happily fork over another $10 and thank them. Given that I can use my free Gizmo line with an old Linksys PAP I have hanging around as my primary phone line now, I figure Google is saving me about $20 a month from my old 500-minute Vonage line, and loading me up with awesome features Vonage never dreamed of to boot. If I have to send then $10 every now and again, I'm still seriously ahead.

And, yeah, I've run into the "Voice Misrecognition Follies" with Google voice. Fortunately, none of the calls have been urgent, and I can tell that "Hi, versus Doctor Smith and your appointment is tomato at flower dirty" is good enough to save me the time of retrieving and listening to the audio, and make me laugh at the same time. And I can always listen to the original if they've completely messed it up. I've also had "Visual Voicemail" from Vonage and several other transcription services I've tried, and "guess what? It ain't that pretty at all." None of them do it any better. The whole technology is not ready for prime time, but it's good enough for me every time so far, and at least Google does it for free. Vonage charges a quarter per message.

I suppose if I was a pharmacist taking prescriptions, I wouldn't want to have it translate "Vicodin" when the doctor said "Viagara" or something, but for the kinds of calls I'm likely to get, the text has always allowed me to get the gist of what was being said (and I can always click a button on my Blackberry or on a website to listen to the original audio, but I've never had to).

Re:Been using it...

[QuantumRiff]

I wish they would let me edit the transcript. It would be much faster for me to correct the transcript, instead of going back and listening to the VM later if I need the information again. Not to mention, it could really be some great feedback to tune their algorithms...

Re:Been using it...

[LandDolphin]

Sounds like Google was attempting to give you a more interesting life. In your google life, you had Robin Hood and Sally in you.

Re:Been using it...

[ndege]

The strange thing I noticed is that when the transcripts first became available, they were dead on accurate most of the time. Over the past 6-8 months or so, they seem to have gone down in quality.

I wonder if Google is making use of new algorithms for the speech processing that might be less CPU intensive, but provides much of the information.

Anyone out there that might know if a change was made internally?

Re:Been using it...

[Nadaka]

I think the original algorithm they used was "pay people to listen to your voice mails and have them write it down"

Re:Been using it...

[vishbar]

Who would have thought that 867-5039 would be a bad idea?

Re:Been using it...

[ndege]

Ahhh... wow.

I feel sorry for the poor people having to transcribe messages from pushy sales people making cold calls to my gmail number. What a strange view of America they get.

Re:Been using it...

[ProfessionalCookie]

Sound like you should send feedback. They could also use the corrected transcript to tune their voice recognition.

Re:Been using it...

[Anonymous Coward]

That's the wrong number its 867-5309

Re:Been using it...

[tonycheese]

Yeah that's a brilliant idea, use the feedback. In the meantime, you can add notes under it, I suppose.

Re:Been using it...

[tonycheese]

That's interesting... maybe they're fiddling around, giving different people different algorithms and seeing which ones people find more or less useful. They do this with themes and layouts, so it would make sense for them to do the same with voice recognition algorithms, right?

Re:Been using it...

[Anonymous Coward]

In that awful song it's 867-5309 not 5039

Re:Been using it...

[Khue]

I would have to say that most of the misrecognition failures are due to terrible voice quality relating to cell phone issues. I've heard enough cell phone based voice mails to interpret just what exactly people are saying. I really don't blame the voice recognition software, more the carrier.

Re:Been using it...

[raju1kabir]

They could also use the corrected transcript to tune their voice recognition.

Oh man, could I have fun with that.

Re:Been using it...

[Anonymous Coward]

Doctor Smith and your appointment is tomato at flower dirty

Oh man! Talk about embarrassing, my girlfriend once got tomato in her flower dirty (if you know what I mean). But a quick trip to the doctor and some antibiotics cleared that right up.

Re:Been using it...

[Anonymous Coward]

Hey.

You're wrong.

Re:Been using it...

[Anonymous Coward]

...I wouldn't want to have it translate "Vicodin" when the doctor said "Viagara" or something...

Man, I don't know, "Viagara" sounds like something that rather than getting it up, would make it fall...

*crickets*

Re:Been using it...

[supernova_hq]

I would LOVE that job. 90% of them are exactly the same. Just open a text editor with the top 10 sales pitches, then copy/paste and change the name of the caller.

Re:Been using it...

[Anonymous Coward]

Phonetag isn't free, but offers a voice mail to email gateway service that is much more accurate than Google Voice.

Re:Been using it...

[nick0909]

Favorite one I have gotten recently: "Hello, this is a dead heat without my front. I'm employees at at the i'm having a call from building being. If it's the 8 call me back at this is. Thank you. "

Re:Been using it...

[bill_mcgonigle]

giving different people different algorithms and seeing which ones people find more or less useful.

Yes, I thought this was assumed from the 'Transcript Useful?' checkbox. They're collecting massive statistics on various voice recognition methods so they can eventually start placing the correct ads next to YouTube videos.

It's cheaper for them to offer us a phone service and have us do the data entry than to hire out the work. Win-win-win. Somebody will want to start regulating this soon, it's too good an idea.

Re:Been using it...

[ndege]

That's a fascinating theory you present...wish I could mod you +1 Insightful!

Re:Been using it...

[badkarmadayaccount]

New keyboard. Now.

Re:Been using it...

[vishbar]

I know. He said it was often misdialed...hence the joke.

Re:I want...

[Anonymous Coward]

Serious enough to double post it. Now that is serious.

Visual Voicemail

[Bodero]

I would have been all over this but for the fact that my Blackberry Tour now has Visual Voicemail much like many Blackberries these days as well as the iPhone.

Does anyone with an iPhone or visual voicemail-enabled phone see value in this? I like the transcription feature but it's not a game changer.

Re:Visual Voicemail

[MrEricSir]

How about the ability to redirect your phone number to a different phone (or multiple phones)?

Re:Visual Voicemail

[Hijacked Public]

Well, it is free, so it doesn't need much in the way of value to justify getting it.

I use it when I am somewhere I can't get a cell signal on my iphone, or where I get the 'visual voicemail is not available' message. Wading through ATT's prompt based voice mail menu system is not something I have the patience for any longer. So I read the GV messages via wifi or the like.

Re:Visual Voicemail

[SpinyNorman]

It's not just visual voicemail (with automatic transciptions - read your voicemail if you want/need to be quiet) - that's just one feature.

The main feature of Google Voice, IMO, is that your Google Voice number is really YOUR number, not the number of a particular location/device. Via the web you can program what phone(s) - zero or more - ring when someone calls your GV number and you can pick up the call on any device. If you like all your calls can go direct to voicemail and you'll then pick them up either by phone or on the web.

The use of this is that you don't need to notify anyone if you go on vactation, change job, lose your cell phone, or whatever - they always call you at your GV number, and you choose where to pick the call up (maybe just at an internet cafe via the visual voicemail).

Re:Visual Voicemail

[Anonymous Coward]

Difference is if you disconnect your phone you can still retain your voicemails infact keep your voicemails for ever. The other feature is transcriptions which I am not so sure is available on other carriers..
 

Re:Visual Voicemail

[Anonymous Coward]

While nice, Google Voice has some issues.

One is the latency. Whenever I'm talking to someone over GV there is a noticeable VOIP-like delay and if you're using GV over VOIP then it's doubly bad and often bordering on unusable.

Other issue is Google knowing every call you make or receive. Google is essentially just like any other advertiser. Do you like to give those kind of people all your details? Google must be a gold mine for anyone interested in knowing everything about you and everyone you know.

Re:Visual Voicemail

[Drathos]

That feature isn't available when using your own number, only when using a number assigned to you from Google.

Re:Visual Voicemail

[Anonymous Coward]

I find Google Voice to be a great service to me. It was a good thing also that when I signed up, I also switched carriers. I was going to give people a new number and it might as well be the Google Voice number. Only about 3 people actually know my real cell phone number and I like to keep it that way. Being able to block phone calls and text messages, being able to jump on the laptop and text people from your number, as well as being able to call from your number on any phone in the country. The latter comes in handy when I am in a bad reception area or I need to a pay phone to call someone. Google voice provides a level of transparency I have definitely gotten use to. If I worried about what I was going to say in terms of Google privacy I would just use my native number.

Re:Visual Voicemail

[Yez70]

It's also great with services like My Circle where you get 10 free phone numbers on your cell plan. Add your Google Voice number, tell Google Voice to display the Voice Caller ID rather than the caller and have Google Voice forward all calls to your cell. Unlimited free incoming calls....

Re:Visual Voicemail

[Anonymous Coward]

freeeeee

Early adopters lose

[Anonymous Coward]

Interesting, I went to change mine to my current number but google wants $10 for that service... serves me right for being an early adopter!

Re:Early adopters lose

[StayFrosty]

I just checked my GV account. You don't have to change your GV number...you can redirect your mobile phone voicemail to GV. All you have to do is go in to settings, click on Phones, find your mobile phone in the list and click the "Activate Google voicemail on this phone" link. You keep your old GV number and any voicemail that used to go to your mobile carrier's voicemail goes to GV instead. It doesn't cost anything to do it this way either.

Missing Features

[dijjnn]

From TFA:

More specifically, if you sign up for Google Voice with your existing number, you'll get:

        * Online, searchable voicemail
        * Free automated voicemail transcription
        * Custom voicemail greetings for different callers
        * Email and SMS notifications
        * Low-priced international calling

If you decide to also get a new Google number, you'll get all of the above PLUS:

        * One number that reaches you on all your phones
        * SMS via email
        * Call screening
        * Listen In
        * Call recording
        * Conference calling
        * Call blocking

So, you don't get all the features if you port in an existing number. How ... lame. Completely killed my interest in this most recent development.

Re:Missing Features

[Patik]

So, you don't get all the features if you port in an existing number. How ... lame. Completely killed my interest in this most recent development.

There's really no point to this new option -- it's just a stripped down 'lite' version of the existing service aimed at drawing in people who were scared off by the "you'll have to change your phone number" nonsense. There's absolutely no reason to choose this option when you sign up. If all you want are the voicemail features, sign up for a "full" account (with a new number), then add your existing phone and switch on voicemail handling. That's it.

Actually, this new option is even worse: once you set it up, you can't go back to your carrier's voicemail system. You're stuck with Google's whether you like it or not.

And by the way, it's not full number porting, you still keep the same carrier. Not yet at least -- Google says that's on the horizon.

Re:Missing Features

[tjb627]

All this is doing is forwarding your phone call to Google's voicemail instead of your own. This is nothing new, I've been doing this for weeks.

Re:Missing Features

[RanCossack]

I don't think it's actual porting so much as just some background forwarding of voicemail messages; at least, I had a "new Google number", and the changes allowed me to set up my normal cell number like that.

Re:Missing Features

[herksc]

Actually, there is no "port" involved here, really. This is essentially just setting up your carrier to forward calls on no-answer/busy to your google voicemail.

Re:Missing Features

[Anonymous Coward]

It's basically just voicemail (like youmail) if you use your current number.
The bigger thing here is that if even if you use a new number, but have some relatives that don't call you on your google voice number, you can still get their voicemail in the same way.

Re:Missing Features

[SoCalChris]

There's really no point to this new option -- it's just a stripped down 'lite' version of the existing service aimed at drawing in people who were scared off by the "you'll have to change your phone number" nonsense. There's absolutely no reason to choose this option when you sign up. If all you want are the voicemail features, sign up for a "full" account (with a new number), then add your existing phone and switch on voicemail handling. That's it.

It would be stupid to sign up for the "lite" version of this instead of the full version. But being able to forward my existing cell phone # to use google voice for voicemail is huge to me. I no longer have to wade through Verizon's crappy voicemail system (Which has no way of deleting all new messages - I get a ton of spam messages).

Actually, this new option is even worse: once you set it up, you can't go back to your carrier's voicemail system. You're stuck with Google's whether you like it or not.

Maybe it's not enabled for all carriers, but I've got an option on my settings page to revert back to using Verizon's voicemail if I like.

Re:Missing Features

[Anonymous Coward]

I signed up with Google Voice about a month ago and got a new number for it. As expected, no one uses my new GV number.

Today I logged in and was able to turn on GV for my mobile phone's voicemail by entering a code into my phone. If/when I want to switch back to my carrier's voicemail, I can just click the 'deactivate' button in GV.

Of course, I can't speak for joining without creating a new number...

Re:Missing Features

[samuel.hurley]

Its just TDMA call-forwarding no reply. Example: from AT&T's website (http://www.wireless.att.com/learn/basics/choosing-features-services/call-forwarding.jsp): * Immediate Call Forwarding: Dial *71 and the 10-digit number to which your calls should be forwarded. Press Send. * Call Forwarding Busy: Dial *73 and the 10-digit number to which your calls should be forwarded. Press Send. * Call Forwarding No Reply: Dial *74 and the 10-digit number to which your calls should be forwarded. Press Send.

Re:Missing Features

[Nerdposeur]

So, you don't get all the features if you port in an existing number. How ... lame. Completely killed my interest in this most recent development.

You're missing something. I already have a GV account. If you call my special GV number, I get the full feature list. Now I get that, PLUS I can click to add the "Lite" version to my actual cell number.

That means that if you call my cell directly, I can still send you to GV voicemail, with the "Lite" feature set.

As they say:

If you already have a Google number, this new feature should also help with the transition to your new number, as you can now forward unanswered calls to your mobile phone to your Google Voice account. This way, people who still call your old number will reach the same voicemail as people who call your Google Voice number. If you already use Google Voice, you can add Google voicemail to any mobile phone you've linked to your account.

Re:Missing Features

[metaomni]

"Actually, this new option is even worse: once you set it up, you can't go back to your carrier's voicemail system. You're stuck with Google's whether you like it or not."

Umm, you can revert your forwarding back to your carrier's voicemail. They'll even tell you how.

Re:Missing Features

[tonycheese]

As others have said, I don't know why you're convinced that Google won't let you change back to our old voicemail system, how would you even know if you didn't have it? I signed up for it, and I see an option to disable at any time.
I'm happy about the new option, by existing descriptions of Google Voice I didn't know before that I had the option to keep my old number and ONLY forward my voicemail. Plenty of people will be convinced to switch by the newer service allowing us to keep the same number.

Also, your post is just so... inflammatory. Your word choice seems so angry and negative as if they were pushing a giant turd down our throats. It's really not that bad... if you don't want to use the new service just leave it alone, plenty of people like it!

Re:Missing Features

[Anonymous Coward]

The real key is that this saves you from having to notify your entire social network and contact list that you have a mysterious new cellphone number. It's basically like keeping your old number and using google to add new features to your voicemail and call-waiting.

There are definitely some nice features for those who get a brand new number, but that just seems like logistics - it's got to be somewhat complex for a free third-party system to intercept calls that would otherwise be routed to a wireless company's handset - you still keep your existing wireless company contract.

One trick to the way google voice works is that when connecting conference calls and listen-in calls google is actually calling each individual separately and patching them together as a second step. If your google voice number is the same as the number google is calling to make these connections, it's probably a little like two mirrors pointed at one another.

Re:Missing Features

[Anonymous Coward]

How would it be possible to provided the added services (save SMS via email) without using a Google number? Google can't magically redirect your existing number to their servers.

Anywho, this offering is exactly what I want - keep my current number but get transcribed messages with message metadata. Listening to messages is painful.

Re:Missing Features

[Anonymous Coward]

What about the feature where Google mines your telephone calls for their own profiling and advertising purposes? -- Does this require a new Google number, or does it work with your existing number?

Re:Missing Features

[Anonymous Coward]

This isn't 'number porting'. Its 'call forwarding to a google voice number'

And its a temporary solution, as I'm sure google is working on the regulatory requirements to be able to port numbers.

Re:Missing Features

[bill_mcgonigle]

For months I've had Google Voice set to Do Not Distrub and had my Verizon voicemail forwarded over to it (*-something my google number). I guess this eliminates the extra rings?

Sprint subscribers beware

[NiteShaed]

I was pretty excited when I saw this, but then with a little more digging it looks like if you're on Sprint, you'll get a minimum 20 cent charge per voicemail (20 cents per minute call forwarding). Some people are saying Sprint has or is about to do away with this fee, but I haven't seen anything definite.

If I'm mistaken PLEASE correct me (and supply a link showing that the fee isn't around anymore), but for now I guess I'll be passing on this :(

Re:Sprint subscribers beware

[ZeroPly]

This is incorrect. The charge is if you forward your Sprint number to another number, not the other way around. I use Sprint and Google Voice, and have never had an extra charge from Sprint. The only number I give out is the Google Voice number, my phone is set to not even ring if a call comes in to the Sprint number - the caller just gets a voicemail telling them to call the Voice number instead.

Re:Sprint subscribers beware

[dillpick6]

I can confirm that Sprint is still charging (at least in the New England area).

A friend turned it on for his phone and sent a test message, successfully made it through, and was transcribed to his email. We did notice that there are an extra few rings before VM picks up because Sprint is forwarding on to the new number.

After a while, the charges did show up in his account on sprints website at 20 cents a pop.

Hope this helps!

Re:Sprint subscribers beware

[NiteShaed]

That's not what this new feature is though. If you sign up to use your existing cell number, you forward the call *from* your cell phone *to* Google Voice to land the voicemail on their system instead of your own. It's very cool, and gets you out of Sprint's garbage voicemail system, but unfortunately Sprint does seem to still charge 20 cents/min for call forwarding.

Re:Sprint subscribers beware

[ZeroPly]

I did not understand the question in that case. I'm still missing why that's "new". I can do that right now with an arbitrary cell phone and my existing Google Voice number. Checked through the Google Voice page, I'm probably missing something.

Re:Sprint subscribers beware

[NiteShaed]

I never actually thought to try doing it before today, so I can't say. I hadn't realized that you could set call-forwarding on Sprint to forward only after a no-answer, I thought it was either all calls getting forwarded or none, and since the only phone I really use much is my cell, I had no place that I wanted to forward to anyway....

Re:Sprint subscribers beware

[tonycheese]

It sounds like people who use Sprint get a warning message, and I didn't get a warning message with Verizon, but just in case - does anybody know of other carriers doing this?

Re:Sprint subscribers beware

[tobiasly]

This is the warning I got when trying to activate my Sprint phone for this feature: https://www.google.com/voice/voice/sprint They say Sprint will drop the charge in "mid-November 2009". So, um, real soon now.

Re:I want

[NatasRevol]

Call Jenny. She'll know.

MWI on a forwarded call

[oh-dark-thirty]

One possible drawback is that if you have your mobile's VM forwarded to Google's VM, your mobile phone will only show a missed call and not a new VM.

Re:MWI on a forwarded call

[fugspit]

Unless you are running the google voice app on you phone, In which case you get a nice nice little "you have a new voice mail popup"

If your phone is incapable of running the Google Voice app (e.g. iPhone) you can set it up to email or sms you when a new voice mail arrives.

Re:MWI on a forwarded call

[oh-dark-thirty]

For my EnV Touch, I guess an SMS notifier would be the best solution, as I have to make a trip to the mobile web to check email..

Re:MWI on a forwarded call

[oh-dark-thirty]

I suppose I could also use my mobile phone's email address, but either way it's a -1 for my 250/msgs a month...

Re:MWI on a forwarded call

[Anonymous Coward]

You can have Google Voice send you a text message when someone leaves a voicemail though which, IMO, is just as good (assuming you're not paying $0.15/message or whatever they're up to now).

Re:Google Invites?

[Z1NG]

You can ask google: https://services.google.com/fb/forms/googlevoiceinvite/ Not sure how long it will take though.

Re:Google Invites?

[Endo13]

Yes, there's an official signup page:

https://services.google.com/fb/forms/googlevoiceinvite/

I used it, and had my invite within a week or two.

No new subscribers

[MBGMorden]

The news sounds exciting, but from everything I'm gathering anybody who's not already using Google Voice can't signup at the moment. The site says it's only available to Grand Central users, and that doesn't appear to be open for signup right now either.

As someone who's still using the ancient call the system and keep pressing next to skip messages I want to keep system, I'd happily switch over to this (hell I'd even pay a bit for it - between Gmail, Reader, Picasa, Google Apps, and this, I'd certainly be willing to pay for my Google account - not more than $10-ish per month, but still).

Re:No new subscribers

[jmscott42]

Do you know anyone with Google Voice? I noticed in the last day or so it suddenly said I had 3 invites..(!) Hadn't seen that mentioned anywhere, but have been (figuratively) under a rock the last few weeks.

Re:No new subscribers

[tonycheese]

I signed up for an invite from Google over the summer. It took about a month to get an invite, but I think they tend to move faster and faster with invites to their various services, so if you sign up now you might get an email from them in a week or two.

Replying to myself

[NiteShaed]

Well, I just called Sprint, and the rep says the 20 cent/min forwarding charge is definitely still in effect, and he had no information on it being repealed. Hopefully they're planning on doing it soon, which is what Google Voice is saying when you activate the service.

Landline?

[Anonymous Coward]

So, two questions - What prevents this from working on landlines? - Do you use minutes on your cell plan when GV handles calls ?

Don't wake me until Google Voice supports porting

[ericrhall]

Heck, I would even pay a small monthly fee, maybe a buck or two a month to port my existing cell phone number. This is a number I have had since cell phones became popular. I would gladly port it, cancel my current Verizon phone, and then shop for the best plan out there regardless of carrier. Google voice would free me to have a device and plan morph with the changes in my lifestyle over time.

T-mo prepaid not working

[intiha]

Doesnt work with T-Mobile prepaid FYI. Google FAQ mentions that "conditional voicemail forwarding" is not enabled by some carriers. Tmobile is one I guess!

Egg Freckles?

[cloudscout]

Google Voice voicemail transcription is the new Newton.

Eat Up Martha.

Since when is call forwarding new?

[eberon]

So.. we should be excited because phone numbers (including Google Voice numbers) can receive forwarded calls when configured via your carrier? NO WAI!

Transcripts are like MadLibs

[sjbe]

google transcribes your voice mail

AKA "wire taps".

Clearly you haven't actually read any of the transcriptions...

For those who don't use the service, the results are a bit like playing Mad Libs. Often useful but I have yet to see a transcription without some key words wrongly transcribed. It's especially bad at names. I'm also reminded of the handwriting "recognition" on early Apple Newtons. Granted, it's free so I'm hardly going to complain but the technology has a way to go.

Re:Transcripts are like MadLibs

[ShiningSomething]

So true. It is especially funny when you receive a message in a language that isn't English. Not that I have a problem with that.

Mod parent informative, please.

[Arthur Grumbine]

I had the same experience as the GP, thinking that I had to pay $10, but then I saw that I could just choose to "Activate Google Voicemail" for my cell phone (which currently receives all my GV number calls). Very easy to do. I chose my provider, and it immediately popped up a code/number to call which activated it instantaneously. To set custom greetings for specific numbers/people just click on the "Contacts" link on the left-hand column, the choose the Contact you want to change (you will need to have the phone number in that person's Google Contacts profile) and click the "Edit Google Voice Settings". Select "Record New" for the greeting, and Google will call your cell phone and you can record and confirm the greeting right there. To be honest, for sound quality I would have preferred if I could record the greeting using my computer's microphone (a decent quality corded headset) instead of my cell phone, but still - very easy to setup.

How is this new?

[Fnord]

It effectively already did this, at least on any handset/provider that lets you specify the forward number for unanswered calls. I put my GV number in as that number, and configured GV to go straight to voicemail. Combined with the GV app for android, I get a nice visual voicemail like interface along with transcription.

How is what google is promoting at all new?

Re:How is this new?

[natehoy]

Automates the process for those who don't even know such a feature existed? Google has gained a great deal of notoriety for making things just, well, simple.

You can almost already do this on most providers

[caseih]

On GSM phones, just dial *002*# and all your unanswered calls will go to your google voice account. Of course Google likely uses this technique, but has some added logic to make it so that Google Voice will not forward back to your cell phone if the call is being forwarded from your cell phone in the first place. I can't find any details on how Google does it, but it has to be done with the forwarding mechanisms already offered by providers.

A downside to all this is that forwarding uses up your airtime. Also it's not available on T-Mobile prepaid (though it is on AT&T GoPhones).

Re:You can almost already do this on most provider

[caseih]

Slashdot ate the code. It's *002*gvnumber#

See http://geckobeach.com/cellular/secrets/gsmcodes.php. Non-gsm providers have their own codes too that you can find with google.

GV secret~

[dUN82]

dont tell them i told you , but you can send int'l sms for free already, at least from my account...

Re:GV secret~

[raju1kabir]

Mine too. In many cases it doesn't cost Google very much for this, maybe even less than sending in the US. Look here: http://www.voipcheap.com/en/sms-rates.html to get a broad sense of relative market rates.

Re:GV secret~

[dUN82]

I guess so, but it's a nice feature that I would have paid for via skype or other voip services, too bad it does not support a broader language in the sms function.

Re:voicemail forwording?

[DaVince21]

No, they're just not the first.

It used to work

[brunes69]

The thing is, GrandCentral used to work in Canada, before Google bought it.

When Google bought it, for some reason they shut down all the Canadian numbers.

Not really..

[RulerOf]

With Verizon, if your phone doesn't ring because it's off or out of service and someone doesn't leave you a voicemail, that person may as well have never called you. Niether the phone, the network, nor the voicemail system has anything or indicate otherwise.

I've been using Callwave for well over a year now, because it lets me take/screen/callback missed calls on my computer, sends me emails (with transcriptions) with voicemails attached, and so on.

I've been eyeballing Google Voice for quite a long time now, as I dislike paying for Callwave (who doesn't have a yearly option, most unfortunately), but I wonder, when it finally becomes something I can use, if the "free" price tag will be enough to move me to the Google service.

Re:Not really..

[raju1kabir]

With Verizon, if your phone doesn't ring because it's off or out of service and someone doesn't leave you a voicemail, that person may as well have never called you. Niether the phone, the network, nor the voicemail system has anything or indicate otherwise.

With my carrier, I can optionally activate (and I have done so) "missed call notification", wherein I receive an SMS notifying me about any calls that I happened to miss because the phone was off or I was out of range. It's completely free, including the SMSes.

On the other hand, I have deactivated voicemail because I think it is the most heinously evil thing known to phonekind. Anyone who is so selfish they would make me spend 3 minutes listening to a voicemail rather than 10 seconds reading an SMS is out of luck.

Re:Not really..

[mcgrew]

Well, that would apply, except I never shut my phone off. If I don't want to be bothered I just set the ringer to "silent". The Google offering does have some features to tempt me, though. Especially at their price point!

Re:Not really..

[RulerOf]

Alas, here in the basement, the phone not ringing is a rather frequent occurrence. :-P

Re:Not really..

[mcgrew]

Well, your battery ought to last a long time then!

Re:Not really..

[RulerOf]

hahaha.

You might think so, but alas, since the signal is lower, the phone has to use more power to keep itself going. I keep it docked in a charger when I'm at my desk (including right now :P).

Re:Not really..

[mcgrew]

Wow, you just reminded me to charge mine, thanks!

Tmobile call forwarding blocked!

[Anonymous Coward]

Tmobile is blocking call forwarding on customers that don't have a contract plan. If your a flex pay customer your SOL for forwarding to Google voice.

Re:Don't wake me until Google Voice supports porti

[swb]

Amen. Voicemail forwarding is a hack.

For those of us who have had real phone numbers for a long time (my cell number dates back over 10 years), Google Voice is gee-whiz neat, but I'm not going to send out a whole new number to people who already *have* my cell number, so it really limits its functionality.

Porting my cell number to Google Voice and then giving my cell number a new throwaway number makes much more sense.

The problem is, this is a 'beta' service -- when will it go non-beta and can we count on it being an ongoing facility? It would suck to find out after getting used to it (either with or without porting) that Google is going to fold the service.

For now, it's a fun toy and I use it to buy and sell stuff on Craigslist to shield my real phone numbers. The SMS feature is nice.

Unwanted calls

[Anonymous Coward]

Anyone else experiencing increased call activity to their cellphones after GoogleVoice?

Re:Unwanted calls

[cl0s]

No. But if you got a new number from Google and are forwarding it to your cellphone, expect a few "wrong #s" calling as it was probably someone else's # before you.

Yup-Kernel 0.1.

[Anonymous Coward]

Paging Linus Torvalds! Paging Linus Torvalds! You're wanted on line three.

and....

[cl0s]

It's better to get another # anyway and simply set up your cell phone # to forward the voicemail to the Google voice. #440#*then-the-number (or something like that) on t-mobile (google it). Instead of going to your t-mo voicemail it will forward to your google voice for voicemail. I use that on my G1 so I can pay for the lower plan (only 400 texts) and make people text me on my GV# but they can call either # and it all goes to 1 voicemail. I'm planning on switching to Verizon on the 6th when the Droid comes out, I'm not sure if Verizon will allow this though (and I'm hoping Jesus Freke gets one too so I can root it ASAP, lol).

Gee Thanks!

[sabre307]

So, because I am an early adopter of Google Voice (take that you furners!), I have to pay $10 if I want to port my cell number that I've had for the last decade over to them. Then I have to go back and retrain all of the people that I have managed to convince to use my new number to go back to using my old number! WTF! Why is it the people who jump in early on something are always the ones who get the shaft later on?

Wait a minute... If I can officially port my number over, does that mean that Google is officially a telco?

Re:Gee Thanks!

[cheros]

Well, I'd give the "Gee thanks" to another "feature". Following the Google Terms of Service part 11, it means that every single call you make can be used by Google for their own purposes. I have no idea why the citizens were up in arms about the security services spying on them - now they go for this stuff voluntarily.

So, the new excuse to give up your privacy (formerly known as "terrorist threat") is now "we don't do evil"?

Nice joke..