google voice invite

[metalmenance]

Got my google voice invite tonight before i go any farther I was wondering if its really worth to use it??? I answer most my calls so dont get many voice mails, maybe 1 a week
Not a huge texter so dont need much more than stock texting i guess
I have read about it on the site but am wondering
what is the bottom line from any that have it,
What are the big advantages to it????

 

[SwordOfWar]

You can probably get apps to support visual voice mail (avoiding the 2-3 dollar fee that verizon charges for that feature)..

The only con to using the service is you have to give people your google voice number, which means people calling to your google voice number will probably charge you minutes even if they are on the same network (verizon).

Also, verizon minutes are used when people leave a google voicemail.

The advantages for people on verizon, is the ability to avoid the visual voicemail charge (but also using minutes when leaving voicemail), and being able to link the google number to multiple phones.

Considering that we all should have text/mms messages included in our plan, I see little benefit from using google's free sms feature.

I just got my invite tonight so I havent been able to test anything, but your suppose to be able to have custom voicemail greetings per contact as well (based on the caller's number, im assuming).

Just remember that using the google voice's voicemail feature will charge you minutes on your plan. This could become a problem for people who get a lot of voicemail, but probably won't hurt your average person who doesn't get a lot of voicemail.

 

[homemadehitshow]

Voicemail does not charge if it's added to a friends and family list.

The transcription of voicemail is worthless for anything but a short message.

However I do like my VM going to Google and I then get an email with an attempt at a transcription and the ability to listen to my message. All very cool.

 

[SwordOfWar]

Voicemail does not charge if it's added to a friends and family list.

The transcription of voicemail is worthless for anything but a short message.

However I do like my VM going to Google and I then get an email with an attempt at a transcription and the ability to listen to my message. All very cool.

I could add it to my 10 number list that comes with my plan. I don't think my friends would like that, though. All your verizon friends/family that call through google would still have to use minutes (unless they also have the 10 numbers list).

It seems like a really kool idea, and if your friends/family don't have verizon it won't make a difference to them. You could tell your verizon friends to use your real number, but then only some of the voicemails would go to verizon, while some went to google's service which would make the whole process kinda ugly having to check two different places.

The service is nice, but it does cause some inconvenience and possibly extra charges if you normally take advantage of the verizon free mobile-to-mobile feature.

That is really my only complaint. I really wish I could talk to my verison friends and allow both of us to take advantage of the mobile-to-mobile thing. Unfortunately, its impossible unless you both have that 10 number list (which you have to pay for unless your on like a 1400 minute plan or better, since it comes free with those higher plans).

If i were to call my friends up and tell them to use my kool google number, but tell them they would be charged for minutes when using it, i doubt any of them would like it.

 

[homemadehitshow]

There seems to be some confusion here, perhaps we are not talking about the same thing.

You can set Google Voice to be the voicemail for your verizon number, so if your VZW number does not answer then it goes to GV, no minutes charged to your caller ????

GV can also be used to make long distance calls from a landline for free of course as well.

 

[samredman]

I have found Google voice to be fun for making a call... which I want to mask my outgoing cell number (for various reasons, none of them nefarious). The other day I called a friend who was just ahead of me in traffic heading out to a sporting event and using my universal phony "foreign" accent which I assume for such pranks, I told him that he needed to return to his factory right away because there was a water leak. Of course, when he called me back (on my cell phone number), prior to exiting, to tell me he couldn't go to the game... I told him that I had just "pranked" him. We had a good laugh and he actually enjoyed (appreciated) the game a lot more... because he thought he was going to have to miss it (life is weird like that, isn't it?). There are other (more legitimate) reasons for using that feature... Google voice seems to have lots of other good things about it and will have lots of uses as I learn more.

 

[jfm741]

I have read all i need to about GV. I have no questions. I want the service, i really could use it. I signed up about 10 days ago but no invite yet. Does anyone have an extra invite they could send me? Thanks for your time.
[email protected]

 

[MOTODROID JON]

I've spent some time looking for this answer and maybe i'm just being a n00b but is visual voice really the only option for voicemail notification on the droid?

 

[panos04]

I am looking for an invite to the Google Voice service. I appreciate any help.
[email protected]

 

[Dragoro]

I've spent some time looking for this answer and maybe i'm just being a n00b but is visual voice really the only option for voicemail notification on the droid?

Choices:

Visual Voicemail
Call in voicemail (normal kind where ya have to call to get your messages)
Google Voice Voicemail (invite only)

Theres others, but those are the main three.

 

[MOTODROID JON]

I've spent some time looking for this answer and maybe i'm just being a n00b but is visual voice really the only option for voicemail notification on the droid?

Choices:

Visual Voicemail
Call in voicemail (normal kind where ya have to call to get your messages)
Google Voice Voicemail (invite only)

Theres others, but those are the main three.

I understand those are the visual voice options but I'm looking for an icon on the notification bar that says "you have 1 voicemail" or "2 voice mails" as opposed to a text from verzion saying "free message from verizon... bla blaa blaa, subscribe to visual voice... blaa blaa"

 

[Dragoro]

Ah my fault, my apologies.

 

[turboale]

also looking for an invite... :icon_ banana:

[email protected]

 

[takeshi]

Got my google voice invite tonight before i go any farther I was wondering if its really worth to use it???

Any question of worth is a subjective matter. I can't tell you if it's worth it to you.

What are the big advantages to it????

However, I can tell you what I find worthwhile:

Multiple phone ring: Coverage is pretty spotty in the skyscraper I work in for any cell provider. I like being able to answer a call to my mobile on my work line and not having to worry about the call breaking up as it tends to. I can also transfer calls from one phone to the other as I see fit -- handy for heading out while stuck in a pointless end-of-the-day teleconference.

Voicemail transcription: Accuracy depends on the caller. For some it doesn't work at all. For some it works well. For the rest (the majority of callers in my case) I generally have a good enough idea of why they're calling so I don't have to sit through their voicemail.

Unwanted call handling: If I don't ever want to hear from someone ever again I can have them go directly to voicemail, have the voicemail automatically deleted and never receive any notification that this ever happened. I can also choose to have a caller receive a number disconnected message.

https://www.google.com/voice: If I'm at a computer I can initiate calls via the PC. I can listen to voicemail on the PC. I can forward voicemail via email though I haven't actually used this for anything yet. I can send/receive SMS. I don't care how great a mobile's keyboard is (and my Blackberry has an excellent one) I'll still prefer my IBM Model M for any typing. If I want a record of conversations I can leave them in the SMS box. If I don't then I delete and purge them -- or else they sit in trash for quite a while.

Number virtualization: Not really a feature but think about it -- if you're trying out a new carrier you don't have to hand out a new number. People just call your GV number and you can answer on the new carrier you're trying out. Or, say your number porting hasn't fully completed yet. Doesn't really matter except for any people that you had calling your number directly (which is why everyone gets my GV number).

Other features that are interesting but I haven't used

Individual as well as group voicemail greetings: Not only can you set a specific greeting for a specific person but you can also set specific greeting for specific groups of contacts: say, one for work, one for friends, one for family, etc.

Call recording: IIRC on inbound calls only.


The info's all out there. Read up and see if any of it sounds useful or interesting to you.

I could add it to my 10 number list that comes with my plan. I don't think my friends would like that, though. All your verizon friends/family that call through google would still have to use minutes (unless they also have the 10 numbers list).

Sounds like a YMMV thing. I don't know of anyone that worries about such things. And frankly, I wouldn't mind if the Scrooges of my family and friends called me less anyway.

 

[fuller]

invite

Hey guys, wondering if I might be able to snag a GV invite if anyone has a spare. Signed up for an invite about a month or two ago and no luck. I've got invites to some music and movie private trackers if interested. PM me...Tanx!