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Is Google Voice Doomed To Be 2nd-Class Messaging System?
itwbennett writes "There's a lot to like about Google Voice, including 'voicemail transcriptions, the ability to send and receive unlimited text messages by phone or website, and recording incoming calls,' says Voice convert Kevin Purdy. But when it comes to app integration, Voice is falling short — even on Android phones: 'Most apps that do neat things with incoming texts, like read them out loud when you're driving, can't work with Voice. Tasker, a crazy, nerdy automation tool that can do things like turn your volume up when you get a text from your wife, can't work with Voice.... Online services that text you to verify or remind you are about 50/50.' Google employee Nikhyl Singhal wrote in a Google+ post that 'Hangouts is designed to be the future of Google Voice.' But what Voice users like Purdy are looking for is some sort of 'assurance that Google Voice can work just like any other text messaging system.'"
due to Betteridges Law of Headlines
For Craigslist and other uses for a disposable number where I don't trust the other party, Google Voice is very handy. Just this use alone makes it worth having.
Which means it's still very much a niche product.
Once it works in Europe, China and India then we can talk about it having any signficant market share.
Even if every single person in the US switched to Google Voice I think it would still be less users than Skype has already...
As long as companies keep releasing their product exclusively to the USA, they're sure to fail at gaining any traction.
It's Google.
Instead of me having to use real SMS for company pages, an email to Google Voice messaging would be a very handy replacement. Instead of being tied to a single device I could get alerts on all my google voice outlets and not worry about SMS overages
...until they featured "improved" integration with my cell carrier. I used it for voicemail and transcription only. Now, if I try to replace my carrier voicemail with Google Voice, it also replaces my cell phone number with my GVoice number, all my texts come from GVoice, etc. I can't seem to simply redirect voicemail to it any more. Good service, but it needs better integration and more granular control.
"Tell me doctor, with all of your defenses, are there any provisions for an attack by killer bees?"
I don't know why GV is not better integrated into my phone. My choices in GV settings are to use GV for ALL calls, NO calls, or PROMPT when calling. If you use PROMPT when calling, you are then asked, on a per call basis, if you wish to make the call with GV or not. But there's no "Remember this choice for this contact" checkbox, and to me it's an incredibly lame oversight. It is for this reason alone that I have GV set to NO calls, and only use GV for received voicemails. I used to use the GV Chrome extension to send text messages, but instead I bought BrowserTexting (a combination of an Android app and Chrome extension) to see and send SMS from my computer.
I want a neat and simple IM Application e.g. WhatsApp based on standards like XMPP - Removing Talk has pushed google to death for me. I dont need and dont want Hangout or Voice - I live in a rural area and bandwidth is scarce so no Voice or Video chat for me ...
So for me i switched to using my own XMPP/Jabber service - Prosody was quick and simple to set up.
Google Voice does a number of things far better than any other system that more than make up for whatever deficiencies the author believes it might have.
I will preface this by saying that I am a Sprint cellular customer, so Google Voice can be fully integrated into my telephone service.
1. My cell number is integrated in to Google Voice. This means that I can answer calls from anyplace I happen to be logged in to the desktop version of Gmail or have the Google Voice app installed. This means that I do not need to have my phone tied to my actual person 24 hours a day. I can answer a call while I'm reading on a tablet in my bathtub or while my phone is charging in another room.
2. Google Voice transcribes voicemails so that they are delivered as E-mails, so that I don't have to listen to them. This is worth actual money to me. I hate voice mail with a passion.
3. I dislike SMS messages because, again, I don't like having to have my telephone permanently anchored to my body. Google Voice allows me to filter and deliver SMS messages as if they were E-mails and to respond to them as such. SMS messages never hit my phone. I've never opened the SMS app on it. I just respond to e-mails. Again, this is a tremendously valuable service.
If I'm missing something from not having texts delivered to my phone, I don't know and I don't care what that is, because as far as I'm concerned, Google Voice is doing every single thing I want it to already.
-- I wanna decide who lives and who dies - Crow T. Robot, MST3K
Hangout is great, I get it. If they REALLY implemented Voice in Hangout I'd be fine if it were just as simple to utilize.
However, what I don't want is when my Aunt Tilly wants to call me that I say "wait, I don't have a phone number any more - just go to the local library where they have broadband, ask them to install the Google Talk plugin or whatever, and start a hangout with me." Oh, and I'd like it to still ring my home phone, which is just a phone (not a smartphone, not a cell phone - a handset, two pairs of wires, and about $1 in circuitry).
I love Google Voice because it is a bridge that allows me to interface modern technologies like the web/mobile/etc with basic telephony (SMS, PSTN/etc) which are used by everybody who isn't under the age of 25.
The ONLY reason I use Google Voice is that it allows me to easily send and receive SMS messages via a web interface. Who the hell wants to type out messages on a cell phone when you can do it on a full keyboard, without messing with your phone.
If I could do that with my real T-Mobile number, via some T-Mobile web interface, I'd use that instead. Why the hell isn't that an easy thing to do? SMS via website?
With the first link, the chain is forged.
I use a Google Voice number exclusively, and I'd be thrilled to have any kind of usable first-party iOS app. There are about 500 apps that will let me check my voicemail and initiate a callback-call from a cellphone or landline, but as far as I know, Talkatone is the only one that does actual in-app VoIP, and I'd club a seal for a crisp, clean Google version... or at least some more options.
Google Voice has always been second class. Less reliable and worse quality than Skype. Poorly integrated in Android. I'm bitter as an early user who had big dreams.
That's all they need to do, stick a shiv in cellular service companies and be done with them once and for all. I know it is possible to do this with some convoluted setup, but I want Google to officially support it. I have no need for voice and text service on my cellular data plan, just the same as I have no need for TV and Phone service on my home Internet plan.
1) Why can't my tracfone call my google voice number? ARGHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! :
2) Why doesn't google voice allow sending/receiving pictures via sms?
I use Gvoice for my personal calls and messages on my work phone. This is a good system because I can keep my number when I change jobs, but still use my work phone which I have to carry anyway.
I'm honestly surprised how bad the user experience is when using the Voice app for iPhone 4. I seriously wonder if I got some kind of counterfeit app (if that would even be possible), the usability is THAT bad.
Gvoice text messages pop up on the lock screen instantly, but then when I go to view them, I have to open the Gvoice app (slow) then "refresh conversations" (very slow) in order to even read the full message again. There is no excuse for this since if the phone displayed the text on the lock screen, what could I possibly be waiting for? How long can it take to display a few kB of text that has already downloaded?
For texting, when in a "conversation view", new texts almost never update properly. The only way to update the conversation view is to scroll to the TOP of the conversation (even though the newest messages are at the _bottom_!) in order to trigger the "updating conversations..." function. Of course a single conversation can be many pages long. Which means the fastest way to refresh the conversation (which I shouldn't have to be doing, since the text already displayed on banner and the lock screen...) I still have to navigate back to inbox and refresh, and wait. WTF? This is such a usability bug that I can't believe anyone would ship it.
Text conversations are not threaded properly at all. I have to constantly delete old conversation branches.
For voice, there is NO proper call history. NO CALL HISTORY!!?? There is a "dialer" and a "quick dial" but no way to call someone back based on history. And you can't revert back to the iPhone's proper call history either, because the numbers that show up in the iPhone history are random numbers to google servers. I honestly never thought I would use a phone that did not have a usable call history.
SMS? cool and expensive last decade. now most new cell phone plans offer unlimited SMS. same with prepaid.
most new cell phone plans offer unlimited minutes in the USA to any phone as well. no point in using google voice to save your day time minutes
i dumped my land line phone a long time ago because my cell phone is unlimited minutes. unlimited SMS means i have lots of subscriptions like NYC Subway text alerts coming into my phone.
i've had google voice for years and rarely use anymore
I am an avid consumer of most google products. But Google Voice is just too unreliable to merit serious consideration. My texts randomly show up 12, 16, 18 hours later with no rhyme or reason. Sometimes it's when I restart my phone, switch between wifi and the network, sometimes it's just because. Plus the failure to support MMS except in limited circumstances.
I just ditched Google Voice after using it for 2-3 years because it's incredibly unreliable. Missed/late deliveries of texts, incoming calls that don't arrive and go straight to voicemail (with an occasional notification that I even have one!), and messages that won't even send without a reboot. I'm far from the only one either. Sorry Google, but I need my phone to actually work as a phone. I guess I got what I paid for.
Google killed off Google Reader because it "only" had about a million users. (Although based on the number of new Feedly users it's likely that the number was a lot higher than that.) Google Voice has about 3.5 million users, and while it has a lot of great features it also has a lot of limitations and quirks that have been there a while and there's no sign of Google addressing them. Now Google says that Hangouts is the future, but I suspect the transition is going to be akin to pulling the rug out from under Google Voice users, similar to the way that Google Reader users were "transitioned".
Full disclosure: I'm not a Google Voice user. I used to be a very satisfied Google Reader user.
Until it has MMS working and group messaging, the text service through Google Voice will be 3rd class in my book (although, I use it daily to save on basic text messaging).
I ditched my cell texting plan and switched to using Google Voice, saving $360/year (had family texting on AT&T). People complain that they have to text a different number, but they can get over it.
It's my understanding they are going to integrate it with Google Hangouts soon.
SJWs are the new boogeyman. -Me
Google employee Nikhyl Singhal wrote in a Google+ post that 'Hangouts is designed to be the future of Google Voice.'
I wish Google weren't insistant on melding their existing services with their social platform, or dropping them altogether to concentrate on Google+ alternatives. I'm not particularly interested in Google+ and definitely won't be coerced to use it in order to use some of Google's otherwise very good services.
Facebook won the social game before Google ever entered it and there's not a chance in hell Google will overturn them now. Concentrate on your core services and keep your users happy, or you will lose them.
Google Voice is what it is. It's not a replacement for your phone, and it's not a real instant messaging platform. It won't get support from vendors until Google decides what kind of beast it is, or what it will be merged with.
google+, hangouts, google wave, google reader's lost social functions, and so on...there's no reason to develop for it because nobody knows what its future holds, including both its existence and its compatibility with whatever features they build it on.
In SOVIET RUSSIA... erm...NSA AMERICA, the Internet logs onto YOU!
I am also a Sprint customer with Google Voice integration. For the most part things work smoothly, but I have some complaints.
One major problem is that there are no options for altering the behavior of a permanent secondary line. I cannot delete or suspend it, and cannot change the number (it is possible to change the number for a single primary, but this option is unavailable for a permanent secondary). If there is a way to selectively forward all calls from the secondary number to voicemail, I can't find it.
It's a bit of annoyance, because it turns out my permanent secondary number turned out to be very similar to the main number of a large company. I get up to a couple of wrong number calls a month, and it is starting to get annoying. At this point, I am considering de-integration from Sprint, so I can delete or change the number. However, there are a large number of people on the Google Voice forums that ran into glitches when de-integrating and re-integrating; not sure if the problems were ever fixed, and whether I should take the risk that something will break.
I use Google Voice during my work day since I can't have my phone on me in the building. Handy to have since my outside facing phone # can change from time to time and I can just forward GVoice calls to my office phone. It's also nice to be able to text family/friends about plans, things needing done, etc, but outside of work? I hardly touch it. I keep the app on my phone to see if I get responses after I leave the office, but I more often than not just switch to my phone's messaging app.
Google doesn't want seamless integration with existing/external normative systems. Gmail uses a bizarre facsimile of IMAP. Google Talk killed Jabber support a few weeks ago. Voice is not really a phone service, stop thinking of it as one.
Sorry Google, just because you're putting chain link and razor wire around your garden (instead of masonry) doesn't make it any better. Hangouts will be the graveyard for all these services that users don't want bolted together, but are walled off from everything else.
Google voice seems destined for the chopping block but when it works I love the product. Are there any viable replacements, even if they cost money?
I must chuckle, a fair number of people I know and even in this thread have mentioned that they use Google numbers as a cover number for recruiters. I do, too. So, I'm grateful that Google provides this service, but just how it translates to dollars is slightly baffling. Using Google's service as they're intended is a really bad idea, but using them cautiously (i.e; not using your real identity) doesn't exacly help Google pay for these services either.
"Most apps that do neat things with incoming texts, like read them out loud when you're driving, can't work with Voice. "
Duh, just listen to the audio file message, really easy to do.
Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
I guess nobody realized that hangouts is migrating to use WebRTC. If so my comment would not be moderated.
IMHO the biggest and most obvious missing feature is the ability to send and receive images and group texts. There's nothing worse than your friends sending group texts from their iphone and you're left out, ever. damn. time. Once they get that fixed then we'll worry about trifling stuff like app integration.
I use GV as my "primary" cellphone #. Granted, I don't actually use my "phone" as a phone very often. I pay next to nothing for cell service, since my phone is connected to wifi most of the time. Sipdroid + GV, while probably only about 95% reliable works well enough for me -- I have had issues with texts not getting forwarded properly, though I solved that by having all texts sent to gmail. It's slightly inconvenient to have two "cell" numbers, though most people i know can deal with that. The voicemail transcription is pretty neat, works well enough, and is often hilarious. I'd pay a reasonable yearly fee for GV. It's my impression that GV mostly exists because google is interested in optimizing its voice recognition system. I sometimes "donate" accurate translations of my voicemails.
I'd pay a reasonable fee for GV, especially if there was an app that properly integrated it with the android dialer (sipdroid is really a hack).
What the fuck is WebRTC? (rethorical question, since I had to google and wikipedia it)
And if it works, will it be secure or will any random javascript garbage you get by browsing the web be able to listen to what reaches your microphone?
"Free" voice chat services that are recorded? (if only so the admin can fap at sex chat)
What if I adopt it and make it a mainstay and then big G decides to junk it a la Reader? Recent google breakups have weakened many a hearts!
I'm convinced Google Voice is the next Google product on the chopping block. It hasn't been upgraded in years, it's still kind of wonky. I love it, and use it as replacement for iPhone's Visual Voicemail. Plus it's awesome when traveling out of the country. And the ability to filter callers etc. is just basic stuff that should be available to any mobile customer. They have slightly updated the web interface by integrating it into Hangouts with the new GMail--but they also removed the ability to make calls from GMail. It's only a matter of time before Google kills it.
ralphbarbagallo.com
Google's support for Voice has been abysmal. Almost zero improvement in 2-3 years. I still can't get SMS to work a lot of the times. SMS verification for other services, never work. Can't use GVoice's VOIP service with an iPhone, so not much of a Skype replacement. I know the VOIP service works with a desktop browser but they refuse to implement it on the mobile app. Sometimes, you just can't get to a real computer and only have a tablet or smartphone on you. And when you can make a VOIP call, the quality is terrible and I would have to fall back to Skype.
Google Voice is just the old Grand Central service. Google has done very little to it since they bought the company.
If you want to deal with phone and SMS messages from a program, look at Twilio. It's not free, but it actually works.
I've just learnt today on this slashdot page that Google Voice was restricted to the US and if I had ever wanted to use it I would have been unable to do so. I didn't even know what it did anyway (be some sort of Skype, connecting to real old phone networks), I supposed it was some sort of Voice mail of voice chat for Google Talk.
Seeing that Google Talk is deprecated, that's two Google services I will never have to worry about anyway.
I don't have a gmail btw, still using the same Yahoo webmail account since 2001. With the NSA shitnitz, I've stopped logging in to youtube (which only serves to pretend you're an adult so you can watch videos flagged as fap material) and this way I'm not logged in to Google against my wish.
volume up when you get a text from your wife
up?
how many pairs of boxer shorts should you own?
I do use Google Voice on my Samsung S3 however it has its faults. Here's a list of downs and ups:
1) With GV, The outgoing call log becomes useless as Instead of showing the number you actually dialled, it lists the automatically assigned arbitrary proxy numbers Google Voice uses. These numbers are all over the US (even when placing local calls) so you can't even figure out which state you were calling, let alone which number.
2) I'm a Brit living in the US and am particualarly bugged by this one: Even though you can make and receive calls internationally, GV won't let you text internationally, so that means you have to use your service's texting so now the text recipient gets to see your real phone number (which negates the main benefit of GV). It also means the Voice app can't be your primary/only text message reader, as it is designed to be.
3) making calls via GV is occasionally spotty: Sometimes you cant get a connection via GV even when you can natively. Also sometimes calls dont connect properly (e.g. one side can hear but not speak to the other)
4) If you answer an incoming call too quickly, (i.e. within 1 or 2 rings ) you get this stupid intermediate voice telling you to type 1 on the keypad to confirm you're not an automated answering machine or something. Its the most retarded and frustratingly annoying thing I've ever had to deal with, especially as the Android phone app doesn't bring up a keypad when you answer a call, so now you have to jump through 2 more button presses.
Its not like its really stopping automated systems wither as they could easily fake that out by either not answering immediately or just also sending a '1' button press when they do.
5) The notification bar in android tells you when you get an incoming message, but even with voice installed, touching the notification opens the crappy native reader, not the voice one.
6) BY FAR THE WORST THING is that there is NO WAY to speak to or get any support from Google for any of its services including GV even the charged ones. They have a forum, but Google NEVER respond to anyone on there. A solution to most of my points, especially 4) has been requested many times on the forums by thousands of people, but Google apparently dont even read their own forum.
Now the good points:
3) International calling via GV is WAY cheaper per minute than T-Mobile even with their extra $5/month add-on for cheaper international service.
4) I really like being able to (usually) hide my actual phone number and just give out my GV one. This means I can easily change my actual phone number at any time. Just because of their crappy implementation, its not 100% foolproof though, as detailed above, sometimes giving out your actual number is still unavoidable.
You get what you pay for.
Your hair look like poop, Bob! - Wanker.
If Google did this they'd have to pay the same taxes as any other VOIP provider. The only reason, they don't now is because they aren't providing a dial tone. Say goodbye to free google voice, and hello to paying Universal Service Fund fees and state and local taxes on it.
Now the good points:
3) International calling via GV is WAY cheaper per minute than T-Mobile even with their extra $5/month add-on for cheaper international service.
Just a note - we pay TMobile $10/mo for unlimited long distance to countries like france and india (wife's line) - and unlimited SMS to cellphones in those countries. No worries, no overage. Does this not appear on your plan?
Regarding GV, it's just a nice little perk for me (kind of like my cheapo efax service - I have a fax at office and home, but being able to scan/pdf/fax digitally is worth $4/mo - GV is free and even more useful than the efax - but both are boosters to productivity they don't replace existing services/tools).
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I guess nobody realized that hangouts is migrating to use WebRTC. If so my comment would not be moderated.
Your comment got moderated because it's shameless advertising for the product you sell.
Another GV on S3 (AT&T) user. Comments:
1) Agreed - very annoying.
2) Not a problem for me.
3) Emphasis on "occasionally."
4) I've never had this.
5) I managed to turn this off in the native app. Can't remember how I did it, or I would post instructions.
6) Yep, support does not exist. Not much of a problem for me.
3) International cheapness is great.
4) Does not happen much.
Overall, I like the service. I have an Obhai at home, so calling me rings all phones. In addition, I set up my mother, who lives in a 3rd-world country on another continent, with her own Obihai. So now we can make free local calls to each other.
Yes, you get what you pay for, and my feeling is that I am getting a lot for free.
Prove anything by multiplying Huge Number times Tiny Number
At this point, I pretty much have to assume it already is.
I've added the Google Voice plug-in to a couple of browsers over the years, but this weekend when playing around with my new Nexus tablet, I couldn't find anything written by Google which provided this. Well, I did find it, but I was told it wasn't available in my country.
And I wasn't about to entrust my login credentials to any of the applications which offer to give me this functionality.
So, since Google hasn't made this readily available to me, I pretty much have to assume this is already a second class messaging system.
Lost at C:>. Found at C.
I've been a google voice user for years now. When I started using it, the lack of MMS didn't bother me much, my wife was the main person that sent me pictures and she would just email them.
The problem comes from Group Text popularized by iMessage. Group Texts are sent via MMS, not SMS. So when my friends send out a group text, "Hey lets all go grab a beer" I get zero indication from google voice a message was ever sent and I miss out on beer. Not good.
I understand supporting MMS on a service like google voice is a challenge and will require google to work with each carrier separately but it is absolutely critical. Group text is very popular and I don't see it going away any time soon (I know, snapchat, etc are all popular but iOS users live in iMessage).
Google give us MMS support!
I've been using GV as my primary number since the Grand Central days. I haven't had to update my contacts with a new number in eight years even though I've had at least five different cell numbers, three different work numbers, and two different home numbers during that time.
I consult/travel, and am involved in several extracurriculars that result in many calls and texts. I'm addicted to my GV inbox, it helps me organize and track my communications. The transcriptions are fine to get the gist of a message, if I need more detail, I listen to the message. I have never had issues with delayed SMSs.
I know I'm at Google's mercy regarding the continuation of this service, and I absolutely hate that. I would be willing to pay more than a fair amount to maintain the service, as is, no enhancements necessary.
Is there anything I can do?
1) With GV, The outgoing call log becomes useless as Instead of showing the number you actually dialled, it lists the automatically assigned arbitrary proxy numbers Google Voice uses. These numbers are all over the US (even when placing local calls) so you can't even figure out which state you were calling, let alone which number.
This appears to be Samsung's fault. My Galaxy SIII's call log worked properly with GV after I replaced Samsung's customized Android version with CyanogenMod. (There may be a less drastic solution, but I haven't looked.)
4) If you answer an incoming call too quickly, (i.e. within 1 or 2 rings ) you get this stupid intermediate voice telling you to type 1 on the keypad to confirm you're not an automated answering machine or something. Its the most retarded and frustratingly annoying thing I've ever had to deal with, especially as the Android phone app doesn't bring up a keypad when you answer a call, so now you have to jump through 2 more button presses. I think what you're talking about is a feature that allows you to screen your calls I.e. Someone calls not in your contact list, gv prompts them to say their name, which it plays to you when you answer, prompting you to press 1 to take the call. You can disable this under settings from the Web interface, it's called screen unknown callers or something like that.
I don't want a fucking dr sbaitso reading off my texts aloud anyways. What kind of moron allows that?
FreeSwitch is FOSS, you fucking moron.
and you can sell (or in this case ask for donations for) FOSS, you fucking moron.
No thats not it. It has nothing to do with the feature you're talking about. I already have "screen unknown callers" turned off and still get this. It specifically says it is to make sure you're not an automated machine.
Just want to echo your complaint. On the most important phone calls I'm ready to answer. Now I must prove I'm a human? Wtf.
>> we pay TMobile $10/mo for unlimited long distance
umm nope that service is not unlimited it just allows you to use your minutes against international calls made from the US. I guess if you also pay for an an unlimited local plan that may be it.
Wow.. you're still using fax? scan and email dude. :-)
Do you have a VHS at home an an 8 track in your car?
For business and technical reasons that's unlikely to happen.
I love Google voice and it is my primary cell phone number as well.
My only pain is that about two years ago Google dropped the International SMS inbound/outbound capability. In google's defense it wasn't ever "supported" but it worked well. They were supposed to introduce it as a service with a fee, yet that never happened, still waiting patiently.
I'm guessing the press 1, is not to stop automated systems, but you seem to forget that you can ring multiple devices at the same time. So if you have that configuration and your cellphone battery dies, very likely all your forwarded calls would land on your voicemail instead of your other available numbers. Now, I don't know what are you talking about the numbers, the caller id works well within the us (you can set it up to show your real or gv number. So I assume you're talking about long distance and that works as many other long distance services proxying through other local numbers for different legal or other local (at the remote) reasons.
>> we pay TMobile $10/mo for unlimited long distance
umm nope that service is not unlimited it just allows you to use your minutes against international calls made from the US. I guess if you also pay for an an unlimited local plan that may be it.
Yep. It's the new "Simple Choice" family plan - 5 lines unlimited call/text/data (well, 500MB LTE then 2G speeds) for $120 (of which $10 is the boosted international plan call/text).
Wow.. you're still using fax? scan and email dude. :-)
Do you have a VHS at home an an 8 track in your car?
Now that was uncalled for :)
Some people just don't like getting emails with pdf attachments. Also some other folks dont like sending emails (highly overlapping set actually). The efax service like $3.5/mo+per-page cost - totally worth it for those email-disapproving holdouts you don't have a choice to avoid.
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Use an app called Voice Plus https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.bbrother.googlevoicebyname&feature=search_result#?t=W251bGwsMSwyLDEsImNvbS5iYnJvdGhlci5nb29nbGV2b2ljZWJ5bmFtZSJd You can set area codes to be dialed with your regular number or groups within GV to be dialed with regular numbers. It's indispensable when using GV.
I guess I went a different direction with Google Voice. Best case my "home" line was a $25/mo VoIP line. $40/mo with the various Ma-Bells for a basic / barely use it line.
Then I ported existing home number first to Sprint (which was on some obscure VoIP provider which had ported it from at&t where it originated). Here I played a gamble as I already had an existing account with Sprint (wife's cell, I use wifi another GV# for mine w/ no issue). NOT having an account here would have seriously cost me [~$200]. Technically they could have charged me. $0 cost.
This could have just been a easy one step port, but because I was off on some unknown telco Google wouldn't port from I had to do it. Lost one day.
The moment the number went active / worked on the cell I initiated the new number request / port [one time $10 fee] with Google Voice for that number. It worked one day on the cell, and the next on Google Voice.
Then added Google Chat as a forwarded call line.
Bought the Obitalk device and configured it. One time fee $50. So for sixty dollars or within three months the move has paid for itself [so far :-].
Setup a free account ObiTalk at https://www.obitalk.com/ -- needed to configure the device...
So far Google / ObiTalk are $0/mo. EITHER one could change the terms and/or just cancel service with little to no notice. No notice with Obi and I'd just have to port my number someplace else. Same if Google cancels service (though they're good about notifying you). Problem: WILL Google port numbers out. Technically they are not a "telco" and I'm sure there's a loophole allowing them NOT to. Betting on "Do No Evil" here with my 30 year old phone number. Yes. It. Is. Cool.
http://goo.gl/drvIn