Google Voice (formerly GrandCentral)

[Lucki]

I wish I had more use for the service, besides the basic ring all your phones and visual voicemail I can't find another "ease of use" reason to use it.

It's great for "friends" that you don't really want to talk to, but keep bugging you for your phone number. Give them your Google number, then add theirs to your contact list and set them to go directly to voice mail.

[SephYuyX]

I got mine the other day, and have no idea what to do with it >.>; I suppose I should read up on it.

[Stee]

It's great for "friends" that you don't really want to talk to, but keep bugging you for your phone number. Give them your Google number, then add theirs to your contact list and set them to go directly to voice mail.

That's pretty cool.


Btw their about site Google Voice is pretty neat since each link gives you a video of what it does.

Has anyone tried to make a international call using this? I heard its 1 cent a minute or something like that.

EDIT: nvm didn't see the rates list

[Zosi]

I got mine the other day, and have no idea what to do with it >.>; I suppose I should read up on it.

QFT. I have a Google Voice number, but I also only have one phone (cell), so I guess I won't get as much use out of it as someone who has a whole bunch of numbers to consolidate. It seems like a decent enough service, although I've already heard complaints from many people online about the quality of the voice recognition for transcribing messages and such. Guess I'll start giving this number out instead of my real number and see how it works.

[Kaisha]

This sounds really nice. A shame Canada isn't in on it.

I was thinking this myself, but then I wondered how much a pain in the ass it would be to ensure calls weren't long distance that I'd be receiving, since it'd be Google calling me to tunnel the conversation and not the person directly no?

[nicholai]

got mine it's nice with my G1 the google voice app and it work nicely togeather.

[Stee]

I was thinking this myself, but then I wondered how much a pain in the ass it would be to ensure calls weren't long distance that I'd be receiving, since it'd be Google calling me to tunnel the conversation and not the person directly no?

When you setup your account in google voice you are prompted to select a phone area code and a list of phone numbers for you to choose from (I live in the same phone area code as google so someone check this) .

So as long as you pick your local area code there won't be any crazy charges.

[SephYuyX]

The site is so bogged down.

[Stee]

lol Apple banned accessing Google voice from its products.

[Keria]

lol, my old ISP had a clause in the contract banning all other forms of VoIP because the modem had a phone socket in it that was free to use like 6 hours per week. kinda pathetic

[octopus]

They need to make it so you can directly dial directly on the internet and not having to go through another phone line. That way I'll have no more use for Skype!

[Kurokikaze]

Yes! I would totally love that feature. So far I'm only able to send text messages. :/

[Pyree]

If they want this to succeed, they'll need to fix outgoing calls from your phone. It's so tedious to place a call using your google number unless you have a BlackBerry or Android powered phone. There's no way it'll become mainstream, though, if most people have to first dial their own number, then dial the person they want to call's number. This goes back to the old days where you have to actually REMEMBER a phone number to dial it...

[Jaybar]

If they want this to succeed, they'll need to fix outgoing calls from your phone. It's so tedious to place a call using your google number unless you have a BlackBerry or Android powered phone. There's no way it'll become mainstream, though, if most people have to first dial their own number, then dial the person they want to call's number. This goes back to the old days where you have to actually REMEMBER a phone number to dial it...

God forbid you might even have to use a small black book, too.

[Pyree]

Just to elaborate for anyone that may still be waiting on an invite.

To place a call using your cell phone's number:
1) Open contacts.
2) Find name of person.
3) Press green call button.

To place a call using your google number (if you don't have a BlackBerry, Android powered phone, or data plan):
1) Call your own number from your cell phone's number. (All of the above steps!)
2) Enter your 4-digit pin.
3) Press 2 to place a call.
4) Dial the number you want to call.
5) Press # to place the call.

When you want to just make a quick call, which one will you choose? If you're at your computer, you can place a call through your web browser pretty easily... But the whole thing that made cell phones catch on was that you don't have to be at home to use them.

Also, you'd kind of want to be able to place calls from the number every time you place a call or else not use the number at all. It'd be pretty silly to give someone one phone number, and then call them from another.

[Vade]

Just got mine...I'm going to use it to forward calls from my apartment to buzz people in. The complex has a stupid policy of having to have a local number to call even if it's a cell phone.

[Ikith]

I started using it and I loved it but now I only use it to text when I'm at home. I sometimes use it for calls but not that much anymore as I have my cell phone on my constantly and just can't justify the need for a land line. Oh well I will keep using it for texting.

[Kaisha]

This goes back to the old days where you have to actually REMEMBER a phone number to dial it...

Does the service not have a quick-call system where you can assign shorthand numbers (ex. #19) to dial stored contacts? Sounds like a bit of an oversight otherwise.

[Shalyn]

I just got my invite but realized it isn't for anyone outside of U.S. Anyone know if I could just create a new GMail and put myself as a U.S. citizen if it would accept it or is it checking isp?

[volcanicweather]

After a brief inspection, if google improves this product they could totally destroy the cell phone world by just giving you a data plan and removing calling/texting plans altogether. It would completely revolutionize the industry and would be a smash hit - who wouldn't want to pay $20-$30 / month to have everything a top model smartphone can do and more?