Google Voice - what is it & what does it do for me?

[BigE"s DROID]

Was wondering about GV....Now i want it! How do i get an invite?????

 

[JRFogarty]

Was wondering about GV....Now i want it! How do i get an invite?????

I'm not sure if this is the best (or most direct) way but I downloaded the app not knowing much about it and when I opened it, it directed me to page I could request the invite.

 

[CrashnBrn]

Was wondering about GV....Now i want it! How do i get an invite?????

https://services.google.com/fb/forms/googlevoiceinvite/

 

[bcnu53]

I got a GV number (thank to someone on the board)
after looking into it and setting it up I am not sure it is going to be of much use to me. My plan does not have friends and family so if I call the number it is going to cost me minutes, and if I were to give it to friends and they had a Verizon phone then if they were to call the GV number, they would pay for minutes and I would pay as well. so far I have not given the number out to anyone and the only plus I can see for it is that I can get an email when I have voice mail on my Droid and so I can check the email via the computer or could call it from my home phone or any phone for that matter, as long I did not use my cell I would not be paying for minutes.
I wonder if the uses for it may change after they start VOIP but for right now I do not see that I am going to use the GV number for much of anything and do not think I really want to pass it out to friends

 

[PatG]

I got a GV number (thank to someone on the board)
after looking into it and setting it up I am not sure it is going to be of much use to me. My plan does not have friends and family so if I call the number it is going to cost me minutes, and if I were to give it to friends and they had a Verizon phone then if they were to call the GV number, they would pay for minutes and I would pay as well. so far I have not given the number out to anyone and the only plus I can see for it is that I can get an email when I have voice mail on my Droid and so I can check the email via the computer or could call it from my home phone or any phone for that matter, as long I did not use my cell I would not be paying for minutes.
I wonder if the uses for it may change after they start VOIP but for right now I do not see that I am going to use the GV number for much of anything and do not think I really want to pass it out to friends

Pretty much my thoughts exactly as I also don't have F&F. I just got the invite and am going to get the number, just in case it becomes more useful in the future. However, I am not giving it to anyone. I don't get too many voice mails, so using minutes when someone leaves me a VM or calling VM is no big deal. Getting texts of the voice mails left would be cool. I got unlimited SMS, no need there. However, I don't have long distance service on my landline and I do call internationally once in a while. In those instances Google Voice will come in handy.

 

[hookbill]

Pretty much my thoughts exactly as I also don't have F&F. I just got the invite and am going to get the number, just in case it becomes more useful in the future. However, I am not giving it to anyone. I don't get too many voice mails, so using minutes when someone leaves me a VM or calling VM is no big deal. Getting texts of the voice mails left would be cool. I got unlimited SMS, no need there. However, I don't have long distance service on my landline and I do call internationally once in a while. In those instances Google Voice will come in handy.

Why pay for unlimited SMS? I mean I pay 5.00 for 250 messages and I never come close because when I do use heavy texting I use Google Voice.

 

[kfurlongi]

I just got voice as well, I chose to get a google number rather than just linking my cell phone number to it. You can link your cell to the google number which works just as well in my opinion, and then have the option of adding more numbers later. Voice is cool but under my current plan (and contract) it is not as useful as it could be. I only use it to manage my voicemail and for international calls so that you don't incur the extra fees. I already have unlimited texts and my minutes are limited to a family share plan, which would affect me using google voice all the time (it counts as calling out to call through your voice number on your cell phone)

Have you used International calling on this? I heard you are charged by Verizon and Google Voice--is that true?

 

[kfurlongi]

I guess it would help in answering my question to know that I am on Verizon, pretty sure I pay $10 for unlimited text M2M + 500.

I use my cell number for business, so I won't be changing to a Google number - unless there is some benefit to it that I'm missing.

From what I've read here the GV would give me "Visual Voicemail" for free, but how does that work?

Visual voicemail means it appears as a text message on your phone AND an email in your Google (gmail) account. You can also call the number you're given for auditory voicemail.

 

[kfurlongi]

This is a good question that has been asked twice in this thread with no answer yet... just giving a gentle push...Can anyone help us out?

I think this is a stupid question but I want to make sure I am correct. In order to use the google voice functions like visual voice mail the person calling has to dial your google number right? In other words I have to tell everyone that I have a new number and give them my google number. Is that the only way?

No, you do not have to get the GOOGLE Voice number--you can use your own number (there are two ways of doing this). You still get visual voicemail using your own cell number.

 

[PatG]

Pretty much my thoughts exactly as I also don't have F&F. I just got the invite and am going to get the number, just in case it becomes more useful in the future. However, I am not giving it to anyone. I don't get too many voice mails, so using minutes when someone leaves me a VM or calling VM is no big deal. Getting texts of the voice mails left would be cool. I got unlimited SMS, no need there. However, I don't have long distance service on my landline and I do call internationally once in a while. In those instances Google Voice will come in handy.

Why pay for unlimited SMS? I mean I pay 5.00 for 250 messages and I never come close because when I do use heavy texting I use Google Voice.

I am on a family plan. My two teenage kids crank out (send and receive) about 1500 each every month.