Google Voice

[FlynGSXR1k]

Kicks ass... simple as that!

It's still by 'invite only' but once you sign up for the invite, it takes less than a month to get your invitation.

It's taken the former Grand Central and just made it a machine.. and best of all.. it's FREE.

If you have multiple phone numbers (or like me, have a cell phone that doesn't work at home etc), this is a tool you'll use endlessly. Other features include web-based SMS'ing, call filtering, and custom call routing.

Anyone else using it yet? (I know Schleppy is!)

[Wishbone]

Wanna give a quick run down for us lazy people who don't wanna google it

[FlynGSXR1k]

Basically you pick a 'central' phone number -

you associate as many other numbers as you want with it (i have my cell and my home phone tied to it).

Callers call your universal number - and it rings all of your phones until you answer one of them and 'accept the call'. It forwards the call to whatever phone you answered.

Thats just the voice features - it also lets you import your outlook contacts and SMS via the GUI... you can set it to send incoming texts to your cell phone and email as well. Essentially gives you 100% control of your phones

Wanna give a quick run down for us lazy people who don't wanna google it

[Wishbone]

Then in that case it kicks ass

[Kenn157]

Been using it for almost a couple months now...

[daviid]

ive been using it for about 2 years now [Grand Central when i got it]. I love it, I give it to people who im not so sure I want them to have my real #, but I need to give them something. The ability to autoblock #s is sweet too.

[drinkingmymilk]

I got it just before we started looking at houses (6 months). Every realtor, insurance company, oil company, or people I knew I never wanted to hear from again got the number. Blocking #'s is so easy, answering when I want or never missing a call is great. Getting the voice mail texted to you rocks for when work calls. I couldn't go back to not having it.

I just wish the iPhone got the app for it with out jailbreaking.

[schleppy]

I've got two invites if anyone wants it and will really use it.

[senecak19]

I read about this on a place not more than a few weeks ago. Someone want to invite me???

kevinsenecal@gmail.com

[slammp]

Not to be a downer, but soesnt this mean Google, or whoever they want to allow, can now listen directly to every cvonversation you have? I have never been much of a conspirancy guy but that sounds like soemthing I dont want to get involved with.

[schleppy]

Not to be a downer, but soesnt this mean Google, or whoever they want to allow, can now listen directly to every cvonversation you have? I have never been much of a conspirancy guy but that sounds like soemthing I dont want to get involved with.

Who knows. With everything being digital now, I think worrying about Google listening to your phone calls would be at the bottom of my list. I'm sure MANY people could (and possibly do) listen to your calls, read your txts, long before Google could.

And hey, if Google listening to my boring calls provides me with better phone service in the long run, I'm fine with that.

[senecak19]

This is great and all, but now do you go about getting an invite?

[drinkingmymilk]

This is great and all, but now do you go about getting an invite?

shoot me an email. idriveagirlcar@gmail.com

yes.. that's really my email.

[drinkingmymilk]

I just checked on my invites for some one here. They're all gone I know I had 2 or 3 left.. hmm.

here is the request page, mine took about 2 weeks back in May. https://services.google.com/fb/forms/googlevoiceinvite/

[NobodySpecific]

So I just set it up so that my voicemail goes through Google Voice. The nice part is that it always does this, even when somebody calls my cell phone number and not my google voice number (so that mobile to mobile is used instead of the other person's minutes). This way I instantly get a text message that has the transcribed voice mail. So now if I'm somewhere where I can't check my voicemail (like a meeting or a concert) I can still know what that person wanted. That way if it's an emergency I can leave, otherwise I can just ignore it and deal with it later. I can also archive all of my voicemails online, check them from the computer, etc.

I don't think people are given invites to give out, you just have to request it and hope they give you one. I got both invites that I requested in under a month.

[Mr. Kurtz]

They must be catching up, because I requested an invite when I read this thread(25th), and got it today.

[Jaynnus]

me too...got it but I don't get it..

Why would I give out that number if I could just give them my cell number? And what good is the message thing that transcribes the message and sends as a text or you can retreive online if they can't get the message even close???

It would be nice if you could have calls from certain numbers forward to your cell and others leave a message....now that I would see as useful.

[FlynGSXR1k]

There are a LOT of features some you may find useful, some not so. Personally the BIG plus for me is the fact I dont have any cell service at my house - so instead of trying to explain to people to call this number, if im not around call this other number, or trying to explain why I haven't replied to texts for 2 days (over a weekend) - I give out my one number - and it rings all of my phones until either I answer or reject the call. the transcribing I get from the voicemail is pretty accurate so I really like that feature since my company also has cell blockers in the building to prohibit cell use in the office.

The idea of being able to block certain numbers is a big plus too!! :-)

[NobodySpecific]

me too...got it but I don't get it..

Why would I give out that number if I could just give them my cell number? And what good is the message thing that transcribes the message and sends as a text or you can retreive online if they can't get the message even close???

It would be nice if you could have calls from certain numbers forward to your cell and others leave a message....now that I would see as useful.

You can do that. You can set it up so that certain calls are forwarded to certain phones (or no phones at all, which will send it straight to voicemail). It also means you don't have to give out your cell phone to shady people that might still need your phone number (a delivery company or something like that). If those sketchy people then keep trying to contact you, you can block the number very easily. It also makes life easier if you ever change cell phone numbers. And you can still check the voice mail like you normally would, so if it looks like it was poorly transcribed you can check it immediately. You lose nothing and gain so many options.

[Wishbone]

Could you make a current number the google voice number. Or do you need to get a whole new number?

[Kurlon]

Could you make a current number the google voice number. Or do you need to get a whole new number?

As of just recently, you can now use an existing mobile number.

[Mr. Kurtz]

It would be nice if you could have calls from certain numbers forward to your cell and others leave a message....now that I would see as useful.

http://www.google.com/support/voice/...&answer=115089

[drop]

It would be nice if you could have calls from certain numbers forward to your cell and others leave a message....now that I would see as useful.

you can do that with google voice.

edit: asdlkfjasdf i didn't finish reading the thread first, don't mind me. 945 other people already told you and they did a better job too.