Google Voice Question

[dpw2atox]

So im not 100% clear on the purpose of Google Voice and was curious if anyone could explain it to me a bit better?

Does it use VOIP via the data plan?
Does it use Wifi?

If both of those are no, why use it over say the default setup on my droid?

 

[jcstarr]

I'd be interested to know this as well...

 

[Malvado]

Google Voice (formerly GrandCentral) is a free Google-owned Internet service that uses voice over internet protocol (VoIP) to link customers. Google Voice is free except for international calls.

Google Voice gives you a separate phone number which you can give out as if it is your regular phone number. You can then change your settings to have calls forward to any of your phones.
You can forward to one group of phones during the day and another at night. You can have calls from certain numbers forward differently than calls to other numbers. You can block spamming callers and send some calls straight to voice mail.
You can send yourself an SMS message or an email whenever you get a voice mail message, and you can check your voice mail from the Web or from your phone. As of this writing, Google Voice is limited to users within the USA.

 

[Jef]

FYI - Google Voice is NOT VOIP. When I first heard of it, I thought it was to, but it's not.

This is why you can use it without the App on a dumb phone, or your home phone.

from Google Voice - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

According to Google's official statement to the FCC, the Google Voice application uses the carrier's voice network to place phone calls,[30] dispelling any rumors about it being a voice over IP application.

It is a great centralized Voicemail service for multiple phones you may have, even if you don't use it for calling.

 

[searayman]

So im not 100% clear on the purpose of Google Voice and was curious if anyone could explain it to me a bit better?

Does it use VOIP via the data plan?
Does it use Wifi?

If both of those are no, why use it over say the default setup on my droid?

Here is a review I wrote that describes what Google voice is and what it is not:

What Does Googel Voice Have to Offer, and What it Does Not - Associated Content - associatedcontent.com

If you have any more questions after reading please feel free to ask

 

[Chigga311]

OK.... Still a bit confused.
So when I use Google Voice to make/receive calls I am still using my Verizon minutes?

I've read somewhere that I can stop Google Voice from forwarding my SMS (texts) to my Verizon phone. That way Verizon will not be charging me for Text messages.
Therefore I can cancel my text plan and just keep my voice and data plans.
Does anyone know how I can do that?

 

[Jef]

Go to http://voice.google.com
Go to Settings
Go to Phones Tab
Edit the Phone you don't want to have SMS sent to
Uncheck the Receive SMS on this phone (mobile phones only)

 

[Chigga311]

Hey Jef,

I tried that, it doesn't work.
It stops sending calls to my phone.

I only want to stop the Text Forwarding.
Is there a way to do so?

 

[Jef]

Weird, I have it set like I said above and calls work fine, but no SMS are sent.

Are you sure you have the check box next to the phone in the main Phones list (Where you have the Edit button)?

 

[Chigga311]

OK I found it.
I didn't hit the Edit button.

Thanks!!!
I'm kinda slow.. lol

So will I still get SMS on the phone, but from Google Voice and not from Verizon?

 

[Malvado]

Hey Jef,

I tried that, it doesn't work.
It stops sending calls to my phone.

I only want to stop the Text Forwarding.
Is there a way to do so?

what i did was call verizon to stop my phone from gettin any messeges (block texting)...

 

[jjb]

Why does it never know who's left me a message? The Voice mail prompt always starts out with "call from, unknown caller" even though all of my contacts are in gmail? Also, when it sends me a text that I have a new voice mail, it just has the callers number displayed, not their name (even though they are in my contacts) Am I missing something?

 

[bluedust]

Why does it never know who's left me a message? The Voice mail prompt always starts out with "call from, unknown caller" even though all of my contacts are in gmail? Also, when it sends me a text that I have a new voice mail, it just has the callers number displayed, not their name (even though they are in my contacts) Am I missing something?

Must be, mine shows me who called.

 

[takeshi]

Check to make sure that Google Voice recognizes your contacts. Go to http://www.google.com/voice on your PC and check out your contacts there.