Slashdot Mirror
Google Voice Teams Up With Sprint
bhagwad writes "Google announced today that it was teaming up with Sprint, which will allow users to seamlessly use their Sprint mobile number as their Google Voice number and vice versa. This is quite a big step for Sprint and shows a lot of guts, since carriers have always been wary of giving up control. Though GV allowed users to port their phone numbers some time ago, this tie-up makes it easy and could finally propel GV into the public's mass consciousness."
your GV number will likely still be unsupported by nearly anything that uses shortcodes. I wish they would fix that.
Your hair look like poop, Bob! - Wanker.
That's like hiding an diamond engagement ring inside a pile of shit.
Has anyone seen how this will impact Virgin Mobile users, who use the Sprint network? Last time I tried to get Google Voice working with VM, I was told that conditional call forwarding was not available, thus making it a bit less than useful.
What this does demonstrate is that the cell carriers should focus on what they're at least moderately competent at - building and running the infrastructure and letting someone else run the features that make use of it.
One of the main reasons I don't recommend google voice to people who aren't techies is the lack of shortcode support. While I can live without texting my local radio station for every possible contest, I'm not sure my sister agrees.
Any indication how the SMS will be handled? Google Voice has a pretty bad reputation for dealing with SMS messages, particularly Short Codes, although a lot of companies that promise to send you an SMS message are unable to handle a Google Voice Number and will silently drop the SMS message in these cases.
When is GV gonna allow Multimedia Messaging?
I am stuck in 2002 with my 2010 phone.
if i want to text someone from my email i just text it to number@vtext.com. every carrier has this except Google as i found out recently.
after using GV it's nice for anonymous things like selling on craigslist and the VM transcription is pretty good, but absolutely useless in the real world for most cell phone uses. don't really care about having a single number for all my phones. when i sold my old iphones it annoyed my wife that the house phone was ringing all the time and i took it off from GV.
i guess it's cool if you're single and have no kids
As a user of Google voice and Sprint my ears automatically perked up for this article. At the same time I am unsure if I would actually use it. I have enjoyed having Google voice and I tend to give out the number for people that demand a home number or those that are more public.... business contacts, ect. The separate number is a feature for me to act as my fake business/home number so that I am not giving my cell number out to everyone.
HTC EVO 4G LTE w/ CM 10.2 | NookColor w/ CM 10.2 | Samsung Epic 4G w/ CM 10.1
I would be happy if GV were to officially support SIP.
Offer the best phones and let the customer use them freely. I am a long time Sprint customer and things are getting much better, with real unlimited plans for a reasonable prices they can turn it around.
Whenever I read of companies teaming up like this, the first thing I try to identify is what each brings to the plate. I can see why Google wins by getting their voice service exposed to hundred of thousands, if not millions more potential users. But what does Sprint get out all of this? Do they think it will attract new customers? I'm sure it will bring some new people to Sprint.. But I really, really, doubt that that this is the magic bullet to move a lot of users over..
I had hoped that Google would jump in bed with T-Mobile, but clearly that's not going to happen now. If they could snuggle up with Verizon it would be better than nothing. Mostly I just want some dramatic changes to the way cellular service is provided.
No sig for you. YOU GET NO SIG!
Google Voice is a real money saver for me, not only can you use it on your mobile phone but with a little help from some other free VOIP services, you can create your one free land line for your home or office that rings when someone calls your Google Voice number. I did this and It's great for me. Read this if you would like to see how to do this... http://www.tech-adventures.com/2011/02/make-your-own-free-phone-service-by.html
Looks like Sprint is the only less-evil major provider left after T-mobile is eaten. I will have to seriously consider them for my next contract, even though they are on CDMA and have rather weak coverage.
I don't get it. I got a GV number. I already use it. I already use Google voicemail, etc. About the only thing I can see this teaming up as buying you is that you can use your old Sprint phone number. I've already went through the exercise of telling everybody my GV number instead of my Sprint number. In my mind my Sprint number is already considered a hidden or private number. Why would I want to now go back and tell everybody "Oh you remember my phone number that I gave you? That was really a Google Voice number. Nevermind what that was. Use my new number, which was my old Sprint number instead". Talk about simply adding confusion...
So if GSM is so important, you are left with AT&T now. Hope you like AT&T!
zosxavius photography
Would make AT&T's purchase of T-Mobile USA easier for the regulators.
I dunno, I see it as partial competition for T-mobile USA's UMA option. Sure, no global coverage, but a whole lot of Americans don't need that. Having your phone ring over wifi when you've got crappy/no signal (e.g. in a sub-basement office) is really a big thing, and if they partner with a SIP provider and advertise it well, they should poach a lot of T-mobile customers scared that the ATT buyout will end their UMA service.
Several times I had called a friend with Sprint cell service and got an error code instead of a ring or voicemail. I can understand that if someone's phone is outside of coverage or turned off then the phone number won't ring but shouldn't voicemail be reliable? We had confirmed that call forwarding was not turned on or any other feature which should interfere with voicemail. But when Sprint customer support was contacted, they refused to provide support for the most bizzare reason: my land line which I was calling from was on the edge of Sprint coverage. We confirmed with the person that they really believe that coverage area applies to leaving a voicemail message and coverage also applies to land line calls. The person confirmed on both counts that it doesn't matter how the person is attempting to leave a voicemail message, the coverage map still is applied. I have run into others that have had the same lack of voicemail support from Sprint. My guess is they have a troubleshooting guide that is heavy on scapegoating on coverage area. My friend was quick to switch carriers to one that is not incompetent.
Based on what I know about Sprint, I see them trying to separate voicemail from their service not being a gutsy move but rather something that has been a long time necessity that should have been done a long time ago. This should help them refocus their support on items that don't make them seem like buffoons that have no understanding of how telecom works.
This move is still much too little and much too late for me to ever recommend someone try going to (or back to) Sprint. I am waiting for a cell phone carrier to decide that for billing purposes a mobile to VoIP call should be treated the same as mobile to mobile. So, if someone has a plan with free mobile to mobile, it is my expectations that a carrier should allow mobile to VoIP for free as well. Given that Sprint is CDMA, VoIP allows for another critical feature which is being able to access the internet and take a call at the same time. It is technically true that a CDMA smart phone can't handle a standard CDMA phone call and internet at the same time. However, it is a myth that CDMA makes it impossible to do both at the same time. VoIP is an easy solution to competing with this popular feature of GSM on smartphones. But I am not going to hold my breath of Sprint to figure out how to reclaim consumer trust.
Google voice has taken over my voicemail... I am no longer able to get my voicemail form T*Mobile! I've tried to fix the problem, but as with all things Google, there is little support and now my VM is in limbo!! Don't do it!!
So, you're blaming someone else for your own decisions and inability to read clear on-screen instructions right inside your GV account. Bravo.
If you aren't suspicious of your government's actions, you aren't doing your job as a responsible citizen.
Treating your users like a product to sell does indeed take guts, but it's hardly new to cell phone companies.
I notice that Sprint offers voicemail to text for 2.99 a month as an addon feature. Now if they're combined either sprint gives up on this income source or they start charging for this GV feature. Although, if Google starts to actually charge for GV then it may be a break even proposition.
Some mobile plans have that "you can call a few friends for free" plan. Guess what happens when you make your Google Voice number one of your "friends" Read this. http://www.tech-adventures.com/2011/03/make-google-voice-your-freind-and.html