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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
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
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).
$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."
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.
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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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.
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.
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.