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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.
Wake me up when Google voice is available outside the US.
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...
Available in the US? Still waiting for a number in a Hawaii area code...
mu
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!
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.
Mit der Dummheit kämpfen Götter selbst vergebens
Serious enough to double post it. Now that is serious.
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.
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...
--I like turtles...
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
... lame. Completely killed my interest in this most recent development.
* 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
~dijjnn
$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).
"This post contains words, known to the State of California to cause thought. Wash brain thoroughly after reading."
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 :(
Some bring out the best in others, some the worst. Some bring out far more.
Call Jenny. She'll know.
There are two types of people in the world: Those who crave closure
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.
You can ask google: https://services.google.com/fb/forms/googlevoiceinvite/ Not sure how long it will take though.
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...
What are we going to do tonight Brain?
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.
There is no -1 Disagree mod. Slashdot.org/faq defines mod options. USE IT.
Sounds like Google was attempting to give you a more interesting life. In your google life, you had Robin Hood and Sally in you.
Spelling and Grammar errors have been added to this post for your enjoyment
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).
"People who think they know everything are very annoying to those of us who do."-Mark Twain
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?
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I think the original algorithm they used was "pay people to listen to your voice mails and have them write it down"
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.
Some bring out the best in others, some the worst. Some bring out far more.
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.
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!
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.
"Frequently wrong, never in doubt."
Who would have thought that 867-5039 would be a bad idea?
Ride the skies
Google Voice voicemail transcription is the new Newton.
Eat Up Martha.
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.
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So.. we should be excited because phone numbers (including Google Voice numbers) can receive forwarded calls when configured via your carrier? NO WAI!
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.
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.
Now that I think about it, I'm pretty sure everything I just said is completely wrong.
Sound like you should send feedback. They could also use the corrected transcript to tune their voice recognition.
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?
Yeah that's a brilliant idea, use the feedback. In the meantime, you can add notes under it, I suppose.
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).
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?
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.
dont tell them i told you , but you can send int'l sms for free already, at least from my account...
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.
No, they're just not the first.
I am not devoid of humor.
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.
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.
Boot Windows, Linux, and ESX over the network for free.
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.
Oh man, could I have fun with that.
"Patriotism is your conviction that this country is superior to all other countries because you were born in it." -- GBS
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).
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.
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.
So, because I am an early adopter of Google Voice (take that you furners!), I have to pay $10 if I want to port my cell number that I've had for the last decade over to them. Then I have to go back and retrain all of the people that I have managed to convince to use my new number to go back to using my old number! WTF! Why is it the people who jump in early on something are always the ones who get the shaft later on?
Wait a minute... If I can officially port my number over, does that mean that Google is officially a telco?
My software never has bugs.
It just develops random features.
Favorite one I have gotten recently: "Hello, this is a dead heat without my front. I'm employees at at the i'm having a call from building being. If it's the 8 call me back at this is. Thank you. "
giving different people different algorithms and seeing which ones people find more or less useful.
Yes, I thought this was assumed from the 'Transcript Useful?' checkbox. They're collecting massive statistics on various voice recognition methods so they can eventually start placing the correct ads next to YouTube videos.
It's cheaper for them to offer us a phone service and have us do the data entry than to hire out the work. Win-win-win. Somebody will want to start regulating this soon, it's too good an idea.
My God, it's Full of Source!
OUTSIDE_IP=$(dig +short my.ip @outsideip.net)
That's a fascinating theory you present...wish I could mod you +1 Insightful!
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New keyboard. Now.
I know tobacco is bad for you, so I smoke weed with crack.
I know. He said it was often misdialed...hence the joke.
Ride the skies