Google Voice in the US

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Google Voice in the US

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January 2, 2015
1:34 am

Cellnut

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I’ve been using Google Voice a lot on my home phone line to make long distance calls for the past two years. I have to say, I quite like the service, it’s simple and it acts sort of like a free calling card. You may ask why I use it and not just use my cell phone, well, I don’t have all that great reception at home with any provider in my area, so we need a physical line at home of some sort. I basically call a local number that I setup on my Google voice account via speed dial on my home phone and have it setup to enter my pin automatically, and I can basically call almost any number in the U.S. and Canada for no charge at all. Do any of you do something like this? It’s saved me money and frustration with the local phone company, that’s for sure.

January 5, 2015
1:08 pm

Talla

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I wish I can profit from Google Voice, I love that you can unify your communication through one single phone number, but I don’t think it’s available for users outside of the US.

January 5, 2015
3:16 pm

thethunderchild

Cheyenne, WY

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I’ve been using Google Voice a lot on my home phone line to make long distance calls for the past two years. I have to say, I quite like the service, it’s simple and it acts sort of like a free calling card. You may ask why I use it and not just use my cell phone, well, I don’t have all that great reception at home with any provider in my area, so we need a physical line at home of some sort. I basically call a local number that I setup on my Google voice account via speed dial on my home phone and have it setup to enter my pin automatically, and I can basically call almost any number in the U.S. and Canada for no charge at all. Do any of you do something like this? It’s saved me money and frustration with the local phone company, that’s for sure.

I’d never heard of this before!

The things one learns in this forum are truly impressive!

I’ll have to check it out.

January 6, 2015
5:21 pm

thethunderchild

Cheyenne, WY

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The following info is from Wikipedia – copyright free.

Looks like its only available to Gmail members! Too bad, as I really dislike the Gmail interface.

Google Voice is a telecommunications service by Google launched on March 11, 2009, after acquiring the service GrandCentral.

The service provides a U.S. phone number, chosen by the user from available numbers in selected area codes, free of charge to each user account. Users must configure this and/or additional phone numbers that ring simultaneously when their Google Voice number receives a call. For incoming calls, users must have an existing U.S. telephone number to activate their own Google Voice phone number. Inbound calls to this number are forwarded to other phone numbers of the subscriber. Received calls may be moved between configured telephones during a call. The user may answer and receive the call on any of the ringing phones or through the web-based app.

Users in the U.S. may place outbound calls to domestic and international destinations from their cell phone app or from the web-based application. As of August 2011, users in many other countries also may place outbound calls from the web-based application to domestic and international phone numbers.

Many other Google Voice services—such as voicemail, free text messaging, call history, conference calling, call screening, blocking of unwanted calls, and voice transcription to text of voicemail messages—are also available to users resident in the US. In terms of product integration, transcribed and audio voicemails, missed call notifications, and/or text messages can optionally be forwarded to an email account of the user’s choice. Additionally, text messages can be sent and received via the familiar email or IM interface by reading and writing text messages in Gmail or by adding contact’s phone numbers in Google Talk respectively (PC-to-Phone texting). Google Voice multi-way videoconferencing (with support for document sharing) is now integrated with Google+ Hangouts

The service is configured and maintained by the user in a web-based application, styled after Google’s e-mail service, Gmail, or with Android and iOS apps on smart phones or tablets. Google Voice currently provides free PC-to-phone calling within the United States and Canada, and PC-to-PC voice and video calling worldwide between users of the Google+ Hangouts browser plugin (available for Windows, Intel-based Mac OS X, and Linux).

Domestic and outbound calls to the United States (including Alaska and Hawaii) and Canada are currently free from the U.S. and Canada, and $0.01 per minute from everywhere else. International calls are billed according to a schedule posted on the Google Voice website.

As of October 2009, Google Voice had approximately 1.4 million users, of which 570,000 used the service 7 days a week. This number has risen markedly since Google made the transition of its Google Voice service from “invitation only” to be available to all Gmail subscribers in the United States. A Wired Magazine blog post quoted a figure of 3.5 million in 2013

January 7, 2015
11:18 am

thethunderchild

Cheyenne, WY

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https://www.google.com/voice/?setup=1#setup/

Doing yet more research, I see that Google Voice is only available in the US. (Skype is available everywhere).

I don’t really like Google’s “one account, all of Google” slogan.

I don’t really want friends and family to know everything I do, everything I post, etc.

Rather scary that there are kids growing up today who think it is essential that they tweet, “Just going to the bathroom, brb,” and then a minute later, “Back from the bathroom.”

So silly!

January 7, 2015
6:12 pm

Talla

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thethunderchild said
https://www.google.com/voice/?setup=1#setup/

Doing yet more research, I see that Google Voice is only available in the US. (Skype is available everywhere).

I don’t really like Google’s “one account, all of Google” slogan.

I don’t really want friends and family to know everything I do, everything I post, etc.

Rather scary that there are kids growing up today who think it is essential that they tweet, “Just going to the bathroom, brb,” and then a minute later, “Back from the bathroom.”

So silly!

Looking at it that way, you’re right! It’s kind of scary, it could be dangerous as well, as you know there are some creepy people on the internet.

January 9, 2015
6:22 pm

thethunderchild

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Looking at it that way, you’re right! It’s kind of scary, it could be dangerous as well, as you know there are some creepy people on the internet.

Yeah….I wonder what the solution is..kids need to be taught the dangers of the internet on a country-wide, even a world-wide – basis!

January 23, 2015
1:57 pm

Costin

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thethunderchild said

Looking at it that way, you’re right! It’s kind of scary, it could be dangerous as well, as you know there are some creepy people on the internet.

Yeah….I wonder what the solution is..kids need to be taught the dangers of the internet on a country-wide, even a world-wide – basis!

Although we were to teach them the dangers of online communication, they wouldn`t take in account

I kept arguing to my nephew that he should be careful about what he is posting on social networks and chatting, he said that`s what his friends weren`t doing, he couldn`t miss the group`s vogue