Google Voice Opens To All

An anonymous reader writes "Google Voice is now open to anyone in the US, removing the need to search for an invite. At the Google Voice site, anyone with a US IP address and a US phone number can sign up for an account. Non-US IPs are blocked, and non-US-based phone numbers are prevented from attaching to Google Voice (with the single odd exception of the 403 area code of southern Alberta)." Good timing on the part of Frontier Communications Corp., which just filed a lawsuit claiming that the Google Voice feature connecting a user's home, work, and cell phone numbers to another number infringes one of their patents.

Comments

WTF

[linhares]

since when US=ALL?

Re:WTF

[7213]

Roughly, the end of WWII. Or if you're lazy, we'll just call it 1950.

Re:WTF

[lazybeam]

Exactly!

Re:WTF

[Kitkoan]

since when US=ALL?

Reminds me of that joke about the UN poll.

Last month, a world survey was conducted by the UN. The only question asked was: "Would you please give your honest opinion about solutions to the food shortage in the rest of the world." The survey was a huge failure...

Africa they didn't know what "food" meant.

Eastern Europe they didn't know what "honest" meant.

Western Europe they didn't know what "shortage" meant.

China they didn't know what "opinion" meant.

the Middle East they didn't know what "solution" meant.

South America they didn't know what "please" meant, and

the USA they didn't know what "the rest of the world" meant.

Re:WTF

[Phillip2]

For quite a while as far as I had noticed.

I thought it was rather funny actually.

Re:WTF

[pete-classic]

Allow me to introduce you to the concept of "context". This is a US-based, and US-centric site. Surely you can understand this.

Here's another example from Auntie Beeb. Am I meant to gather that all women around the world can obtain contraceptives from UK National Health Service? Of course not. Context. Learn about it. Live it. Love it.

-Peter

Re:WTF

[Dishevel]

Awesome.

Re:WTF

[yeshuawatso]

What about Canada and Mexico?

Re:WTF

[camperdave]

What about Canada and Mexico?

They were the ones who asked the question.

Re:WTF

[value_added]

This is a US-based, and US-centric site. Surely you can understand this.

No need to shout. You could have said "It's all about us".

Or something like that. ;-)

Re:WTF

[linhares]

Allow me to introduce you to the concept of "context". This is a US-based, and US-centric site.

Allow me to introduce you to the concept of "context". This is a US-based, and US-centric site, INSIDE the Internets.com!, which connects us all. The web is the context. If you think slashdot isn't a "global" entity because of its history and server location, tell me why it is always talking about things like Ubuntu or thepiratebay or linux or skype or; well i could go on but laziness is also global.

Re:WTF

[Anonymous Coward]

1) Slashdot has a significant number of users from other countries.
2) Google is a multi-national corporation that provides most of its services to any country with Internet access that hasn't explicitly blocked them. The UK NHS isn't.

Re:WTF

[bernywork]

Apparently the Australians hung up when they heard the indian accent....

Re:WTF

[Pootie Tang]

/. FAQ: http://slashdot.org/faq/editorial.shtml#ed850

Slashdot seems to be very U.S.-centric. Do you have any plans to be more international in your scope?

Slashdot is U.S.-centric. We readily admit this, and really don't see it as a problem. Slashdot is run by Americans, after all, and the vast majority of our readership is in the U.S. We're certainly not opposed to doing more international stories, but we don't have any formal plans for making that happen. All we can really tell you is that if you're outside the U.S. and you have news, submit it, and if it looks interesting, we'll post it.

It is worth noting that there is a Japanese Slashdot run by VA Japan. While we helped them a little in their early days, they essentially run their own content without any real involvement from us... none of us can read Kanji! There are currently no plans to do other language or nation specific Slashdot sites.

Re:WTF

[ashridah]

Allow me to introduce you to the concept of "context". This is a US-based, and US-centric site. Surely you can understand this.

That, for some reason, keeps posting stories about Australia. Riiiight.

Re:WTF

[ncalsmitty1369]

Doh!

Re:WTF

[morgan_greywolf]

Huh? That is the rest of the world! /me waves his American flag

Re:WTF

[DriedClexler]

And while we're at it, the U.S. Open isn't *really* open...

Re:WTF

[paiute]

The Canadians wondered why everyone didn't just grab a bowl of poutine in between periods.

The Mexicans were busy mowing my lawn.

Re:WTF

[Anonymous Coward]

Wait, first people complain that US citizens are too self-centered and refuse to recognize the existence of the rest of the world, then when those same people show an interest in outside events, they get rebuked for not being US-centric enough?

Re:WTF

[JWSmythe]

By the rest of the world, they mean the US territories which we have not yet occupied.

    I am confused about the Alberta reference though. We took over Canada and Mexico years ago. We just don't like the Mexican territory much, so we don't let them come up to visit. Canadians though, they look and sound (mostly) like regular white folks, so they're more than welcome to come over.

    [ducking]

Re:WTF

[MBGMorden]

Indeed. Complaining about Slashdot's US centric state is a bit like going to a friends house and complaining about what they cooked. They don't mind you hanging out, and they don't mind you taking part in dinner, but if you don't like what's being served - shut up or leave.

Re:WTF

[UnknownSoldier]

The Canadians were too busy apologizing for the food shortage to give an opinion...

Re:WTF

[Bill, Shooter of Bul]

What and what now? Its like you're making up words.

Re:WTF

[jaymz666]

I would give a +1 funny if I had one

Re:WTF

[jaymz666]

The Baseball World Series isn't, the NFL World Champion isn't, etc...

Re:WTF

[MMInterface]

since when US=ALL?

It seems like you are just taking the use of the word out of context. If I say "everyone was at my party", it doesn't really mean everyone in existence, especially if the scope is clarified in the sentence after. I assumed that the word "all" wasn't meant to be taken literally or imply that the "US=ALL", but instead meant that the service was no longer invite only.

Re:WTF

[schlick]

We are Americans... Stories about Australia are kinda like watching the show Cops. http://bash.org/?262417

Re:WTF

[Joe Tie.]

Well, kinda. It is deserved at times. Like when anti-bush Americans started yelling about how they were going to move to Canada. On one hand, kinda good that they're taking an interest in the world. But on the other, just horribly insulting that they thought they could get Canadian citizenship by running to the border and screaming 'LET ME IN, I'M AN AMERICAN! YOU PEOPLE ARE SO LUCKY TO HAVE MY PRIVILEGED ASS ALLOW YOU TO HOST ME!'

Re:WTF

[shutdown -p now]

Slashdot also regularly post stories about UK, and, occasionally, about all kinds of other countries out there. This doesn't mean that it's not US-centric - it just means that Americans (or rather, American geeks) are occasionally interested in some aspects of other countries.

I understand getting offended when someone assumes that you personally are an American when replying to your comment on Slashdot, but whining about US-centric assumptions in TFA is pointless. Learn to live with it already (and use Google to convert to sane metric units when needed).

[I'm not an American]

Re:WTF

[twidarkling]

Sounds about right.

Re:WTF

[multi io]

Allow me to introduce you to the concept of "context". This is a US-based, and US-centric site. Surely you can understand this.

The fact that Slashdot is a US-centric site is obviously totally unrelated to the question of why Google opened Google Voice to US internet users only.

Re:WTF

[Eth1csGrad1ent]

except Slashdot is commercial enterprise, so its more like going to a friend's restaurant and complaining about the food that you ordered and paid for. They don't mind you paying to hang out, and they don't mind selling you dinner, but if you don't like whats being served - shut up or leave.

and hey... nothing says you can't do that.

But I would point out that the tag line ISN'T "News for Nerds (in the US). Stuff that matters (to nerds in the US)", and furthermore, that the site is built on and sustained by commentary, submissions and content from people ALL OVER the globe.
ie. this "by Americans, for Americans" is pure BS.

Re:WTF

[LingNoi]

Allow me to introduce you to the concept of "context". This is a US-based, and US-centric site.

No it's not dude. Your example of context is a .co.uk. As much as you hate it slashdot is a world-centric site. The company that runs slashdot is US based and has nothing to do with anything.

Re:WTF

[TexNex]

That, for some reason, keeps posting stories about Australia. Riiiight.

What, why shouldn't an American site post Australian topics...Australia is a great place and has good beer. Risk factor aside, gaining Australia is important in the quest for world domination as they have the only supply of Koalas which are crucial to the hearts & minds portion of the COIN strategy.

Re:WTF

[hitmark]

being any nation centric online, especially when using english, is in this day and age, futile.

Re:WTF

[The Great Pretender]

I'm meant to pay for /.??? Man I must owe them a fair bit of cash by now.

Re:WTF

[hitmark]

could be a case of different laws in different nations.

for instance, you cant get a skype-in number in norway because the land line numbers are area based, and assists emergency services to narrow down the callers location. Heck, i think there was some issues when voip services from telcos and isp's where being rolled out, as people took their voip phone with them on vacation.

Re:WTF

[JWSmythe]

    Well, that was in retaliation for the United States attempting to annex York (Toronto), and burning the Canadian Parliament buildings.

    I did a little hunting to refresh my memory, and all I could find on it was that British troops were involved, under the command of Major General Robert Ross and Rear Admiral George Cockburn. I couldn't find any indication of what units were involved, or where they may have come from. Generally, I'd say it would be safe to say it was the British, not the Canadians, although it was retaliation for American actions in Canada. That in itself is a bit ambiguous though, as Canada was a British territory at the time, so technically they were all British. :) ... and obviously it was a joke about the invasion of Canada and Mexico. I know in speaking with people in both countries, that's a touchy subject, being neighbors with a nuclear superpower who doesn't always play nicely with others. To them, I apologize.

Re:WTF

[RivenAleem]

No, it's like me (an Irishman) being invited to your party where you offer "world cuisine" consisting of Texan, Mexican, Canadian & McDonalds (because we all know McDonalds is worldwide, right?) And you turn your nose up at my Irish Stew, because it's weird foreign food.

Looking forward to the World Series this October?

Re:WTF

[Tuan121]

You are reading a US centric website.
The article refers to a US based company.
The product in question has a lot to do primarily with the US phone system.

So "All=all the people in the US" is implied.

Deal with it.

Re:WTF

[petermgreen]

Do you actually need to be in the US or do you just need a US IP and phone number? (both of which i'm pretty sure I could if I wanted purchase pretty easily)

Re:WTF

[FatAlb3rt]

Then climb up on your goat and demand your money back.

Oh... you're not a subscriber?

Re:WTF

[jonadab]

Meh. If the idea of the US invading Canada is "touchy", somebody's missing a sense of humor.

I mean, come on, Canada? It's absurd. The only resource they really have a lot of that we might want to take is land, and it's not exactly tricky for a US citizen to buy land and get a resident card up there if you should happen to want to do so. Everything else they've got, we've got more, unless you count snow, which is prohibitively difficult to transport, or hockey, which nobody down here wants.

Re:WTF

[jonadab]

> INSIDE the Internets.com

Funny, I didn't see that in the URL.
http://slashdot.internets.com/
Eh?

Huh. It says the page is "under construction".

Yeah, I know, foreigners *can* access it. Foreigners can also access Baidu, but that doesn't stop it from being Sinocentric. Their front page isn't even in English! Horrors!

Re:WTF

[NiteShaed]

Either English isn't your first language, or you just don't understand what you're responding to. Let's try it again:

Slashdot is run by Americans, after all, and the vast majority of our readership is in the U.S

Note the bold part. This has nothing to do with national pride, or position in the world. It is a statement of fact that, as far as Slashdot's staff knows, most Slashdot readers are located in the United States.

Really, if you're going to go all vitriolic you should at least understand what you're ranting about.

Re:WTF

[NiteShaed]

The site's FAQ disagrees with you....

Re:WTF

[Anonymous Coward]

3 out of 5 US students can't locate the "rest of the world" on a map.

Re:WTF

[morgan_greywolf]

I mean, come on, Canada? It's absurd. The only resource they really have a lot of that we might want to take is land,

You sound really, really sure of yourself.

I hate to burst your bubble, but we import more oil from Canada than any other country in the world.

Re:WTF

[ArsonSmith]

so since the world can access http://usa.gov/ that means the US is in charge of the world.

It's sarcasm I know the reason the us is in charge of the world is due to superior military presence, and a desire to kick ya'lls ass.

Re:WTF

[bhiestand]

except Slashdot is commercial enterprise, so its more like going to a friend's restaurant and complaining about the food that you ordered and paid for.

I'd say it's far more like going to a Chinese restaurant and complaining that they don't serve korma and naan (Indian dishes).

Re:WTF

[Eth1csGrad1ent]

Yeah.... Except there's nothing on the signage or on the menu that says "Chinese". The sign simply says HOT FOOD FROM AROUND THE WORLD*, and the restaurant is throwing a tanty any time someone asks for something that ISN'T Chinese. ie. go and look at the fine print where it clearly states "*HOT FOOD FROM AROUND THE WORLD is strictly limited to Chinese, and chinese only. No further discussion will be entered in to."

Re:WTF

[Eth1csGrad1ent]

no... I'm a contributor. Thats my payment. I contribute.

Slashdot is built on contributions - nothing else - and those contributions come from slashdot readers all over the world, with submissions from online content sourced from all over the world. Thats the point.

Google Voice is...

[J-1000]

Worth it just for the shortened answering machine message. Say sayonara to the Long Winded Lady.

Re:Google Voice is...

[RobertB-DC]

Worth it just for the shortened answering machine message. Say sayonara to the Long Winded Lady.

Also, I love the text messages with the (attempted) transcription of the incoming message. Even when it's mangled, it tells me whether my ex is calling to tell me something important, or if she's just going to tell me the latest gossip about people I'm not related to any more (her, for example).

And the failed transcriptions are sometimes hilarious. My son likes to call up and leave a message just to see what Google thinks he said. A recent example: "Hey Dad and I found Steakhouse on. So either holler okay, but in the day picking up in." For great justice!

Re:Google Voice is...

[Hes Nikke]

This is actually in my google voice voicemail list:

Don't call me back. Give me a call back. I'm just trying to see. Well I just want to try to grab a spouse from. Ohh. It's Jeff, It's or anything, so if you get that restriction. I'm not sure but school work it out. Thanks. Bye. Yeah. Yeah. Yes, that's it. Yeah bowl last night, okay hello. I don't later bye and okay. Yeah, the boys are okay. Okay bye. Will there. Bye. So yeah. But bye our, well, but alright we are on a shirt this chill. Yes, all yeah cool. So Hey Mr. I'll buy dot com. If you've got a lot. Hey Nate, it's Vicky, that was on that. But yeah, so I won't get far. Nate drop it off, it was or company. Bye. Yeah, Hello Said, so you know it like it. Ciao it Paul, but hello.

Re:Google Voice is...

[forkazoo]

The sad thing is, I kind of understood parts of that.

Still, when will Google just admit that they are trying to solve an impossible problem, and allow the option of transcription straight to IPA? With IPA, at least I can muddle through it and try to figure out what it means. With an attempted full English transcription, I get gibberish that I have to mentally translate back into an intermediate form, and then try to guess at what it is supposed to mean. Extra levels of indirection just make it harder, not easier.

Still rather laggy.

[jalano]

Google Voice has one critical flaw, and that is it has an inherent "processing delay" that it introduces into the voice path.

The delay is slightly longer than the delay most cell phones have talking to another cell phone. When you add the Google Voice delay in, it's almost an unbearable 1/3 to 1/2 a second.

I've used it from my land line calling calling out because of the free calling feature, and for that the delay is tolerable. But I can't justify having it forward to my cell phone because if anyone calls me from a cell phone, the combined lag makes the conversations really hard to have.

Re:Still rather laggy.

[J-1000]

But I can't justify having it forward to my cell phone because if anyone calls me from a cell phone, the combined lag makes the conversations really hard to have.

The good news is everyone will continue to call you back with whatever pops up on their caller ID (your cell phone number) despite your best efforts to coach them all into using your GV number.

Re:Still rather laggy.

[yeshuawatso]

I've been with this beta since the first invites were sent out and have never experienced a lag. But then again, I stopped using it for voice since it's redundant when using a cell phone. I still lose minutes with or without it. Free text messaging with archive seems to be the best feature, as transcribing hasn't worked for me in a while and when it did, it didn't work very well.

Re:Still rather laggy.

[Sancho]

I started out using my number as a throwaway. Gave it to companies who I didn't trust with my real number in cases where I needed to have them contact me quickly. The blacklist feature was what really sold me on it. The SMS was just a nice bonus.

Then I started using the number more and more, and eventually it just became my default number. I gave it out to all my friends and never looked back.

I've noticed the lag, too. It manifests, in practice, by both parties trying to start talking at once, stopping, restarting, repeating. Occasionally, I'll also have choppy conversations--where the other side thinks I'm cutting out--but that could just as easily be my carrier.

Re:Still rather laggy.

[Sancho]

You can call Google Voice to initiate a call. You can also (with most cell phones) program your address book with delays between digits. Between these two, you should be able to call from your GV number.

Re:Still rather laggy.

[caseih]

If you can get them to text you once, it sets up a semi-permanent hashed phone number that you can not only text back to, but also call. Then they'll always see it as coming from your GV number. I do this all the time and it works great. I usually add the GV hash phone number to my address book as a secondary number. Just choose that when placing the call.

Re:Still rather laggy.

[JWSmythe]

    I tried out Google Voice for a while. I had given all my friends the number, but they still had my direct numbers. I received an awful lot of comments that calls to Google Voice would usually go to voicemail, or like you said, there would be an unreasonable lag in the conversation.

    I compared my cell phone call log to the Google Voice log. I missed an awful lot of calls, where my cell never rang. I even test called myself from a few different phones, and the majority of the time experienced the same thing. Now all I get is voice spam to it, and they never make it through to my cell. I don't know who the number was issued to before, but I feel sorry for them. They must have been on every marketing list there is.

Re:Still rather laggy.

[Jah-Wren Ryel]

I stil use a circa-2001 cell phone on t-mobile and 100% of my calls are through google-voice (both incoming and outgoing), been using it since it was grandcentral, and I haven't experienced an excessive delay. Now most of my calls are through Ooma's VOIP but I still occasionally use the cell phone too.

Re:Still rather laggy.

[RobertM1968]

The good news is everyone will continue to call you back with whatever pops up on their caller ID (your cell phone number) despite your best efforts to coach them all into using your GV number.

The better news is that if you have an Android phone (and some other non-Android phones I think), you can select which number is used to return calls. On my G1, I have the option of (a) always using my cell number to return calls, (b) always using my GV number to return calls, (c) always being offered a prompt asking me which to use, and (d) having option a set but hitting the GV app "button" to make a call through GV anyway.

Apparently, it's supported as an app on at least Android and Blackberry phones (with, if memory serves, it being rejected from the iPhone app store), and as a web app for virtually any other smart phone (iPhone, Windows imMobile, Palm WebOS, Nokia N60, etc)

Google Voice Page

It makes it pretty easy for me... I select "Call with Google Voice" when making any business call, or "Call without Google Voice" for all others (I chose option (c) above for my phone). It adds one more click to making each phone call... but that's it. And of course, using the "Call with..." option enables all of GV's other options (recording, transcription (as pathetic as it can be), conferencing more people in, and so on.

As for delay, I dont experience any added delay on my GV calls... though occasionally, I do experience bad call quality. Very rarely lately, but a few months ago, it was a little more obvious and a little more frequent.

Re:Still rather laggy.

[gotpoetry]

I've used GV on two different android phones and I have never noticed any delay at all. The talking is done through the phone system, not with VOIP. The data channel is used to tell Google to call your cell and essentially perform a call transfer.

For me it works flawlessly.

Re:Still rather laggy.

[GooberToo]

Google Voice seems to call numbers in the order they were provided to them. At least in my experience. That means longer delays the lower on the list you go. Meaning, if you didn't provide your cell phone as the first number, which already has extra delays, and doubly so if its a first generation Android device, chances are all the delays add up long enough you will miss calls. Delete all your numbers. Add back your cell phone. Then add the numbers in order you're most likely to be reached.

On first generation Android devices, its not uncommon for the phone itself to add a second or three between the phone receiving a ring and the device actually ringing if you have much in the way of third party applications which react to either rings, loss of network, display turning on, etc. Heck, with the right mix of applications, its entirely easy to consistently miss calls on these first generation phones. Also, some of the ring applications adds LOTS of delay.

Re:Still rather laggy.

[TheCRAIGGERS]

I thought this was pretty much the case on all cell phones (or at least CDMA ones, never had a GSM one). I would sometimes call my cell from a landline and count the number of rings before it would actually ring in my pocket. It was usually two or three.

Re:Still rather laggy.

[GooberToo]

Exactly. Now add to that another one or twice on an bogged down Android phone.

Besides, these days a ring heard at the source of origination doesn't actually mean its ringing at the destination. On cells, usually the ringing begins when carrier's switch accepts the call. The difference from that time to locating the cell's tower and issuing the ring, and being detected by the endpoint device, is the delay others are talking about.

Re:403 is odd?

[Kitkoan]

You'd want to call either 250 - 604 - 778 for BC for a code 420. Alberta is for oil...

Re:really?

[Mitchell314]

Here I thought the word "all" was defined as everyone, and not the important 4.5% of the world's population.

FTFY. :P

Oblig. Prior Art/Obvious

[Nethemas the Great]

Because the notion of call forwarding is novel and has never been thought of/implemented before...

Re:Oblig. Prior Art/Obvious

[jornak]

Well y'know Frontier's serious about this patent suit... they decided to file it outside of the East Texas District!

Re:Oblig. Prior Art/Obvious

[Nethemas the Great]

*sigh* poor Google...

Re:Oblig. Prior Art/Obvious

[Z34107]

Google Voice does a lot more than just call-forwarding, although having one call ring any or all of your phones is pretty nifty. You get voicemail with adequate transcription (you can get your voicemail messages e-mailed to you), free text messaging, blacklists, incoming call recording, call routing (these people automatically get my cell, these automatically go to voicemail), free US+Canada long distance, cheap international calling, and a "call me" widget you can throw on a website that lets people call you without ever knowing your telephone number.

Probably a lot of other stuff that I missed. But, you can't argue with the price. If you haven't tried it, go waste ten or so minutes to set it up. I applied for the beta on a whim not knowing what I would do if I got it. Now, I would cry if I had to go back to handing out my actual phone numbers.

Re:Oblig. Prior Art/Obvious

[jaymz666]

for some reason voice mails for me never get transcribed. some are from overseas (australia) and some domestic. I don't know why

Re:Oblig. Prior Art/Obvious

[Z34107]

Try going under settings, voicemail & text, and seeing if the "Transcribe Voicemails" box got unchecked. If it's checked and you don't see your inbox being transcribed for you, there's definitely something weird going on.

Re:Oblig. Prior Art/Obvious

[jaymz666]

Wow, obvious. And it was unchecked. not sure how that happened. I should have checked myself, but didn't.

Thanks

Gizmo5

[BiggoronSword]

I want VoIP! Give it to me Google!

Re:I am still waiting...

[Anonymous Coward]

I am still waiting for google finger, google ear, and google sight to go with google voice.

I believe you have to be over 40 to qualify for the google finger...

On patents...

[Skuld-Chan]

I have the impression its impossible to do anything in this country without infringing on some patent somewhere.

Re:On patents...

[forkazoo]

I have the impression its impossible to do anything in this country without infringing on some patent somewhere.

Did you license having that impression? You probably should have.

Re:On patents...

[noidentity]

Sorry, I've already patented making it impossible to do anything in this country without infringing on some patent somewhere. Having the patent granted was the implementation of itself.

It's good but it could be great

[eudaemon]

Grandcentral had consensus-based call filtering; numbers flagged by enough people as undesirable got added to a blacklist anyone could subscribe to and Google took it out, which is a shame. Google voice still has trouble turning off some call presentation features - for instance pressing "4" to toggle call recording. Every time you receive a call from an automated system that requires a 4 as input GV just eats the digit. They also removed SIP call handling for anyone but Gizmo 5, another damn shame. Having said that, it is free except for international calls and those are pretty cheap.

On the upside they already handle texting, making those $20/mo unlimited texting plans redundant. Now we just need EU-like cell plans where "caller pays" and we'd be all set - you can complete google voice calls as inbound to yourself via the mobile and full web pages. Oddly the Android client doesn't offer this feature.

 

Re:It's good but it could be great

[Colonel Korn]

Caller pays is stupid. I'll pay my phone bill, you pay yours, thank you very much. Europeans have some interesting ideas sometimes, but this is not one of them.

The frustrating thing is that it results in a 20x increase in the cost of calling a cell phone in Europe vs. a landline via a calling card, skype, google voice, or whatever else. Cells in Europe, unless using VoIP services to get around the insane prices, essentially cannot be called from the rest of the world.

Re:It's good but it could be great

[Anaerin]

Caller pays is common sense. If you call me and blast telemarketing messages down my ear, why should I have to pay for the privilege? If you had to pay extra to receive a long-distance call, would you say that's fair?

Re:It's good but it could be great

[misexistentialist]

Caller pays is how landlines worked for decades. It is not a novel European idea.

Re:It's good but it could be great

[nazsco]

1. No way to input digits in any system
   (office conferencing, home banking, etc)

2. A HUGE delay in SMS.
    messages may arrive instantly, or take up to 12hours.
   (using the google voice app on the nexus one. can't get more compliant than this)

3. Broken SIP support
   (can be worked around if you happen to have a Gizmo account from last century. no way to get one now)

4. Call recording is only if you receive the call.
   (both ways are legal/ilegal in most country. but they decided to do evil and predict the law anyway)

5. Still broken as hell for domains.
   (you just get a broken gwt ui. no content. no way to get a number now for your domain account. great way to recompensate for loyalty)

To anybody interested:

[phyrexianshaw.ca]

the patent in question was http://www.freepatentsonline.com/7742468.html

which unless I'm HIGHLY mistaken was filed on 09/01/2009, well AFTER google voice was developed and released into beta. PRIOR ART MUCH?

Great SMS-email relay

[by (1706743)]

I've been using Google Voice as an SMS-email relay to remotely control appliances. Glad more people will have the option of doing the same!

Re:403 is odd?

[Monkeedude1212]

Which is actually why its open to us.

Alberta does so much business with the states - it's surprising. You'd think something like Toronto that is right on the boarder might have some sway, but its all the oil businesses in Alberta that want in on Google Voice. Anyway to save money for long distance to Imperial Oil.

I want unlimited data

[nurb432]

Well, i have it now but if i so much as sneeze on my plan it will dissimilar in to the AT&T ether.. If you have to pay for data use, *and* cell minutes, what the point of voip other then security?

Re:I want unlimited data

[HereIAmJH]

If you have to pay for data use, *and* cell minutes, what the point of voip other then security?

I've been waiting for Gizmo to open up again so that I can set up an account for my VOIP desk phone. I couldn't care less if my cell phone can do VOIP, but I haven't had a land line at home for a decade and it would be nice to have an ISP neutral option for SIP.

808 ( Hawaii )

[Ken Broadfoot]

".....single odd exception of the 403 area code of southern Alberta."
Add 808 to that exception...

Re:808 ( Hawaii )

[EkriirkE]

Forgive me for being a stupid US'ian, but isn't Hawaii is part of the US? Where Alberta is part of Canada?

Re:808 ( Hawaii )

[yurtinus]

That all depends on who you voted for in the last Presidential election...

Re:808 ( Hawaii )

[EkriirkE]

I've regretted my decision ever since they invented free money.

Alberta Blocked?

[achard]

I figured it was because 403 is forbidden...

Re:Alberta Blocked?

[Samah]

That means the rest of the world must be 404: Not Found.

GV is great-- here are two ideas

[SethJohnson]

I love Google Voice. I use it for my company.

Two tips:

• AT&T free unlimited minutes via Google Voice.
• Beg them for incoming fax handling. That would be HUGE.

Re:GV is great-- here are two ideas

[TooMuchToDo]

THIS. Incoming fax handling would be awesome (turning any incoming docs into PDFs or TIFFs). Bonus if it'll automatically shove the incoming fax into your Google Docs account.

Re:GV is great-- here are two ideas

[swebster]

Beg them for incoming fax handling. That would be HUGE.

Isn't fax a dead technology?

No iPhone App

[Wingman 5]

according to http://www.google.com/googlevoice/about.html there is a App for the iPhone. I can not find one in the App Store, is there any other app other than http://m.google.com/voice for the iPhone?

Re:No iPhone App

[lakeland]

They wrote it, apple rejected it and told them to make a webapp - google for more details.

AT&T (Now MCE) Personal Reach Service

[jmitchel!jmitchel.co]

AT&T introduced a follow-me service that (top of my head) covered most or all of the patent claims in 1996, probably at least as much as Grand Central does.

Re:403 is odd?

[Kitkoan]

But the oil is in the oilsands, located in Northern Alberta which has the area code of 780.

Re:Free phone service = Surveilance. Use CB Radio!

[amicusNYCL]

I keep telling this to everyone.

When you keep telling everyone to speak in codes on the phone and remind them that the military is using cold fusion to power their CPUs, do you keep getting ignored?

Grrrrr auto spell check

[nurb432]

No, not "dissimilar", should have been "disappear"

Re:403 is odd?

[snowraver1]

Nobody cares about the workers; All the head offices are in Calgary.

Re:403 is odd?

[dhalgren]

But Toronto isn't right on the border. Or the boarder, I hope. Toronto is very heavy, after all.

Call Forwarding

[EEPROMS]

I think Frontier forgot to mention Call Forwarding in their patent application. The fact that call forwarding has been around for over 30 years within the communications industry seems to make me again wonder what the patent office is for, definitely not for reviewing patent applications thats for sure. I remember conjoining my mobile. home number and work number on a NEC pabx way back in the late 80's ffs, yes that is what call forwarding is.

It's not quite ready for prime time.

[Animats]

Google Voice still needs work. They seem to have a terrible time getting some cell phone operators to recognize Google Voice numbers, and there are constant complaints about SMS messages not getting through to some numbers. Part of the problem is that Google isn't a real telco, and they don't participate as a carrier in the North American Numbering Plan. They rent their blocks of numbers from third party small carriers, which sort of works most of the time.

Re:FIX SLASHDOT

[i8degrees]

I'm glad that I am not the only one -- I, too, am having the same described problem as stated above, but only on my main workstation, which its browser version is 3.5.9 whereas version 3.6.3 of Firefox on my other station does not have these issues! Although, even on the newer version of Firefox, I am click

Damn rendering issues ...

how is this different from gtalk?

[Brain Damaged Bogan]

how is this different to using gtalk with a microphone? I've been using it on my n900 to make voice calls to my brother's n900 for a while now... or does google voice allow you to dial a traditional phone number?

Re:how is this different from gtalk?

[SammyIAm]

Google Voice does indeed allow you to dial "traditional" phone numbers, as well a providing your account with a "traditional" phone number that people can reach you at.

Why Apple Approved Opera And Not Google Voice

[juancnuno]

http://blog.ryankearney.com/2010/04/why-apple-approved-opera-and-not-google-voice

Re:Why Apple Approved Opera And Not Google Voice

[darrylo]

Maybe. That doesn't explain the existence of the iPhone "Pinger Textfree" app, which gives you free unlimited US texting via an sms-only number. (Yes, I know that they used to charge for texting, but now it's free and unlimited within the US, since it switched over to an ad-supported model.) H*ll, even the kids with iPod Touches know about and use it.

I hope they're ready for the additional load

[Whuffo]

I've been using Google Voice (previously Grand Central) for years. It's been great to have a stable phone number - home phone or cell phone numbers may change but just tweak the configuration and your Google Voice number is still good. It's worth much more than the price (free) for just this. But there's more!

When AT&T couldn't figure out how to sign me up for home phone service I started looking into VOIP service - I wanted something with a normal looking and acting telephone that didn't require a computer to work. Gizmo5 provided the answer; they provide standard SIP service which is compatible with numerous SIP phones. With Google Voice forwarding to my Gizmo5 SIP line I've got the best of both worlds - free incoming calls and 1 cent per minute for outbound calls to anywhere in the US, Canada and the European Union. I've been using this setup for over 8 months now and it works great - very good call quality and very reliable service. My total phone bill for those 8 months is just under four dollars.

Gizmo5 has been closed to new accounts for months now so those who wish to follow in these footsteps will have to wait. And I suspect there's going to be a lot of legal challenges before this is available to all; with good SIP phones (I'm using some Grandstream phones and they're OK) it's almost indistinguishable from AT&T service and many of the features you'd pay extra for from AT&T are free. This will severely impact AT&T's business - as well as the cable companies, Vonage, Magic Jack, etc. who are selling VOIP service at a big profit. The lawsuits should start flying soon and it's going to be interesting to see how those big operators state their case when everyone sees that they're selling very little more than nothing.

Google Voice and Gizmo5 together is powerful stuff and it's going to shake the telecommunications industry from top to bottom when this is available to everyone. I wonder how far away that day will be...

Re:I hope they're ready for the additional load

[darrylo]

Meh, I hope google fixes gizmo's uber-borked billing system. A while back, I tried to buy gizmo5 minutes (just $10), but they refused to sell me any. I think I tried 2 or 3 different credit cards, but gizmo5 kept on cancelling the orders, with the lovely reason, "Cancelled". I'm a US citizen, in the US, with good credit, and I've never had a problem like that (Skype came the closest, with their silly "one account == one credit card" rule). As much as I would have liked to have used gizmo, they didn't want to take the money that I was trying to throw at them, and so my gizmo account has been dormant for the past year or two.

Re:I hope they're ready for the additional load

[Whuffo]

I had some problems paying them too - what worked out for me was to use Google Checkout to pay them.

Re:I hope they're ready for the additional load

[darrylo]

lol, that was the first method that got cancelled ....

Wildfire connected incoming calls to other numbers

[bihoy]

There certainly seems to have been other instances of prior art, though I do not know what actual patents existed. Wildfire 1.0 was released on October 19, 1994 and provided many of the same features.

"Wildfire smooths the process of completing calls and helps you be more available to callers. The system does a good job of identifying callers, so you spend much less time than before tapping numbers into the dialpad or looking up information in your Filofax or PIM. For example, the informed call waiting feature asks callers to speak their name, then plays that in your ear only (regardless where you're calling from) so you can decide what to do. If you ignore the call, Wildfire takes a message. If Wildfire identifies the caller by recognizing the name, she can take further action."

Thanks, anonymous

[Exp315]

On behalf of all us Canadian four-oh-three-ers. Do you think you could call a little more attention to that fortuitous glitch? Maybe Google didn't hear you.

Re:Thanks, anonymous

[silverpig]

I'm sure google has known for quite some time now...

American centric much?

[GraZZ]

For very limited definitions of "for all".

403?

[Mr Z]

You mean, 403 is not forbidden?

Open to all...

[mrjb]

...US phone number/IP needed. So I'm not part of the "all" subset.

Re:Open to all...

[thyrial]

Yeah pretty much , its a terribly misleading title, there's a difference between a US centric site , and a US only site , and that header is only correct if you exclude everyone outside the US. Fail article is fail I guess...

No it doesn't you liars!

[Snaller]

Yeah, i know you have it in the body text - but don't lie to people in the subject - it doesn't open to ALL - it opens to americans. Humpf

UN HQ

[Ilgaz]

If you see someone claim UN is "united nations" so, it is international, just ask where the HQ is located.

It pisses them off, even diplomats.

slashdot.us

[Ilgaz]

Well, let them change the domain to slashdot.us and allow only USA/Canada IPs?

Not like we (rest of the World) didn't get used to that kind of (Godwin) for a long time.

You call it Opera?

[Ilgaz]

If that thing mercifully allowed to iPhone is actually Opera, what are we using as Symbian/Windows Mobile/Android users?

That is NOT Opera for iPhone, it is actually Opera "mini" for iPhone. Seeing the real Opera on iPhone requires you to have some real high level of access to Opera secure servers. That is a theory only of course, nobody knows if Opera actually coded the real Opera for iPhone and keeping it until app store fascism ends.

Re:FIX SLASHDOT

[petermgreen]

similar story here, on this (windows) system running upstream firefox with autoupdates (currently at 3.6.3) things are fine. On my linux box with debian provided iceweasel (not sure of the version offhand) things are broken.

I sometimes wonder if /. forget to test with slightly older versions of the browsers when they change something.

Google voice opens to all?

[Auldclootie]

Google voice opens to all? This must be some new and previously unknown meaning of 'all' that means 'actually only the minute percentage of the world's population currently afflicted by an accidental affiliation to the United States as a consequence of some act of sexual intercourse - resulting in impregnation - of two persons of diverse gender located between Mexico and Canada... Yes that's right - about 5% of the world.... If 'all' is about 5% - then you don't need many for a ruling majority in the US do you? Oh wait....

Re:Open to all...

[TheCRAIGGERS]

No problem. Just give me your Google Voice number.