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southrncomfortjm
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Google Voice questions

Tue Jun 23, 2015 9:58 am

Hey everyone,

So, I'm considering porting my main number to Google Voice and using a different number as the one directly associated with my phone. I'm ready to port - so I've got a SIM card with a new number ready to go into my current phone once Google takes my number. All set on that front.

My question is, should I do it based on what my needs are?

Basically, I have really crappy reception in the basement of my new home, plus I need a local number for call forwarding at work. I spend a lot of time in my basement (gaming PC and home theater are down there), so I'd like to take advantage of WiFi calling. I would continue to give out my number that I am porting to GV as my main number and I would have calls to that number forwarded to my new number.

I'd install the Hangouts Dialer app on my phone to use for making and receiving WiFi calls when in the basement.

My question is, what about when I'm not in the basement? I'm guessing any call made from my cell network will only show my new mobile number unless I decide to use my data for VOIP calling using Hangouts Dialer, right? Is there any way around that doesn't involve using my data network?

I'm also guessing that I could just use the free number that GV gives me to make and receive WiFi calls in the basement - people will just need to call my GV number instead of my cell network number. Not as great because I only want people to have to call one number to reach me.

Also, what about SMS/MMS? Would I be able to use those services, through GV/Hangouts, using my GV number?

Any help would be appreciated! Thanks!
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HorseIicious
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Re: Google Voice questions

Tue Jun 23, 2015 10:35 am

southrncomfortjm wrote:
My question is, what about when I'm not in the basement? I'm guessing any call made from my cell network will only show my new mobile number unless I decide to use my data for VOIP calling using Hangouts Dialer, right? Is there any way around that doesn't involve using my data network?

I'm also guessing that I could just use the free number that GV gives me to make and receive WiFi calls in the basement - people will just need to call my GV number instead of my cell network number. Not as great because I only want people to have to call one number to reach me.

Also, what about SMS/MMS? Would I be able to use those services, through GV/Hangouts, using my GV number?

Any help would be appreciated! Thanks!


I'm not sure how it will work for you. But on my phone you can install the GV app and there is an option to use GV to "make all calls." I believe this uses a very small amount of data just to initialize the call (essentially sending the caller info to GV, so that it can then "call" your phone back to make the call via your GV#) - but the call itself is over celluar network.

Also, you can have SMS forward directly through to your regular celluar #'s text message app. MMS I think varies by carrier - on mine if I get an MMS to my GV#, then it will come to my email inbox after a short delay.

Hope that helps

-EDIT
A note about call logs for calls made over GV. You can always see your call log history in the GV app or website - but in the phone's call log it may not show up correctly. My old phone used to not keep correct logs for calls made via GV (it would have a some random Google forwarding # instead of the # I actually dialed. However, with my newer Android device this seems to be fixed for me now.
 
SuperSpy
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Re: Google Voice questions

Tue Jun 23, 2015 12:06 pm

This is way off your initial topic, but if your main concern is reception in your basement, why not try out a cell booster? It's far simpler than all the number porting gymnastics you're describing.

I used to have signal issues in my house, so I installed one of these units and I went from 1 bar in 'good' areas to 3-4 bars everywhere in my house.
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localhostrulez
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Re: Google Voice questions

Tue Jun 23, 2015 12:15 pm

The interface and such on GV could definitely be better - ex. looking at call logs from the app, needing to sign into the website to view attachments from the Chrome thing, etc. Could also be a little more reliable. That said, it otherwise works for me. SMS/MMS is supported. I recall it using your cell connection before, but at least through Hangouts, it uses data - keep in mind that phone calls are pretty small in regards to that. Not sure about tying it into another number - I simply have 2 independent numbers, GV and tmobile. I don't use my mobile number (only 100 minutes on this plan), so it works for me.
 
southrncomfortjm
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Re: Google Voice questions

Tue Jun 23, 2015 12:19 pm

Thanks guys. Still figuring this all out and seeing whether it is worth the trouble.

The cell signal booster isn't cheap, but it seems to be a pretty simple solution.
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frumper15
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Re: Google Voice questions

Tue Jun 23, 2015 12:25 pm

I've been using GV for close to 5 years at home. Our GV # is actually our old home phone number that I accomplished through a hop through my wife's cell phone at one time (ported to cell > Ported into GV) but it sounds like you don't need to worry about that. My recommendation for your home situation is to get an Obitalk and link it to your google voice number. it's dead simple, one time cost, and nice to have a phone at home that you can simply pickup and make a call using your GV number. It's also nice if you put your phone on a charger when you get home and to not have to run to get it when the phone rings. Maybe your idea of using the hangouts app works too, but for us this was the best option. http://www.obitalk.com/obinet/
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southrncomfortjm
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Re: Google Voice questions

Tue Jun 23, 2015 12:36 pm

SuperSpy wrote:
This is way off your initial topic, but if your main concern is reception in your basement, why not try out a cell booster? It's far simpler than all the number porting gymnastics you're describing.

I used to have signal issues in my house, so I installed one of these units and I went from 1 bar in 'good' areas to 3-4 bars everywhere in my house.


I see that it has to be registered with wireless carrier. Any issues using it with a prepaid carrier? I use Cricket, which is basically AT&T, so I'm guessing it would be fine.
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SuperSpy
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Re: Google Voice questions

Tue Jun 23, 2015 12:56 pm

southrncomfortjm wrote:
SuperSpy wrote:
This is way off your initial topic, but if your main concern is reception in your basement, why not try out a cell booster? It's far simpler than all the number porting gymnastics you're describing.

I used to have signal issues in my house, so I installed one of these units and I went from 1 bar in 'good' areas to 3-4 bars everywhere in my house.


I see that it has to be registered with wireless carrier. Any issues using it with a prepaid carrier? I use Cricket, which is basically AT&T, so I'm guessing it would be fine.

I haven't really looked into it since the registration requirement (I bought mine before), but from what I heard all the US carriers gave up-front permission to use them without registration.

EDIT: Some info here on registration: http://www.zboost.com/fcc/
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dmjifn
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Re: Google Voice questions

Tue Jun 23, 2015 2:30 pm

southrncomfortjm wrote:
Any help would be appreciated! Thanks!

For a little over 2 years, GV has been my ONLY phone number. Based on the questions you're asking, I think you will be able to do what you want to do though the experience may not quite be what you're expecting. Obviously I've gotten away with it but to be honest I'm not 100% happy.

More specifically, with GV, you can place/receive calls and send/receive SMS from any phone (landline or cellular) without any data. This is not VOIP (on your end... in the middle may be another story). With Hangouts over GV, you can do so from any internet-connected device using your GV number. This is definitely VOIP.

Personally, I normally have my GV calls forwarded to Hangouts and my office landline. When I'm out, about, and not around data, I turn off Hangouts forwarding and turn on forwarding to my cell in which case calls come in through the stock dialer instead of Hangouts.
 
southrncomfortjm
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Re: Google Voice questions

Tue Jun 23, 2015 2:36 pm

dmjifn wrote:
southrncomfortjm wrote:
Any help would be appreciated! Thanks!

For a little over 2 years, GV has been my ONLY phone number. Based on the questions you're asking, I think you will be able to do what you want to do though the experience may not quite be what you're expecting. Obviously I've gotten away with it but to be honest I'm not 100% happy.

More specifically, with GV, you can place/receive calls and send/receive SMS from any phone (landline or cellular) without any data. This is not VOIP (on your end... in the middle may be another story). With Hangouts over GV, you can do so from any internet-connected device using your GV number. This is definitely VOIP.

Personally, I normally have my GV calls forwarded to Hangouts and my office landline. When I'm out, about, and not around data, I turn off Hangouts forwarding and turn on forwarding to my cell in which case calls come in through the stock dialer instead of Hangouts.


But when I call out from my cell when I am away from my house, will they see my GV number? Or, to show my GV number, would I have to use data. I think you answered that as "no data usage and they see your GV number" but I want to be sure.
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dmjifn
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Re: Google Voice questions

Tue Jun 23, 2015 8:10 pm

southrncomfortjm wrote:
But when I call out from my cell when I am away from my house, will they see my GV number? Or, to show my GV number, would I have to use data. I think you answered that as "no data usage and they see your GV number" but I want to be sure.

I understand. Here is exactly what you want to know:

Method 1: Google Voice app
If you download and install the Google Voice app, it can integrate with your dialer and prompt you whether to use your cell or GV number. I just screencaped from my own phone just now to illustrate:
Image
* Pros: Works pretty much like placing a regular call.
* Cons: Due to "The Issue" (see below), you need to have called them at least once when your phone has data, whether wireless, 3G, LTE, etc. This is just a quick hit to the GV servers. It doesn't make it a VOIP call and doesn't place the call over your data line.

Method 2: Call your own Google Voice number
If you call your number, you get options to check voicemail, etc. One option is to place a GV call. You then enter the number you want to dial and from then on it's like you called them directly, and it uses your GV. This is how a lot of long distance calling cards used to work.
* Pros: Doesn't need any data ever. Can use from any phone you can call out on, be it hotel room, loaner cell, office, etc.
* Cons: That extra step of calling into your own number.

Method 3: Initiate a call from the web
So when I'm at work, I have access to the internet at my workstation but not to the wireless for my phone. If I want to make a GV call, I don't even pick up my cell. I pop open GV in the web browser, type the number, and have it ring my desk:
Image
In case you're wondering, that's my dentist's office. That screencap shows my Nexus 4 is selected, but you can have it connect with any phone you can confirm you own. In that case, GV central calls your phone first then connects you to the other person.
* Pros: It's quicker to do this than unlock my cell phone, start the dialer, and dial.
* Cons: It's not bad but surely it could be better.

Now here is "The Issue":
How GV appears to work via cell network is that it assigns an intermediate forwarding phone number for each real phone number you dial. Example: You are using Method 1 and you want to call Mr. Wasson. Because I KNOW you guys are buds!
1. SoCoJm dials 1-800-DAMAGE.
2. GV app intercepts and asks if you want to use GV. SoCoJm says "Yeah".
3. GV app appears to hit GV central and say "Yo, I need a GV number for 1-800-DAMAGE". GV returns 1-800-867-5309.
4. GV app dials 1-800-867-5309, which calls Google, which connects you to 1-800-DAMAGE and shows Wasson your GV number, ala forwarding.
5. The next time you call him, you appear to be able to skip step 3.
6. But if you call DMJIFN, GV app has to go get another intermediate GV number for you.

If you use SMS, this becomes really obvious. If you SMS 1-800-DAMAGE, Wasson sees a text from your cell and you get texts back from 1-800-DAMAGE. If you SMS 1-800-867-5309, Wasson sees a text from your GV and you get return texts that say "1-800-867-5309 SCOTT WASSON".

Maybe they will or have started changing how this works. But if you have no data - this is what you get. I've been stuck in the middle of rural Michigan with roaming voice only and gotten by just like this.

There's a lot to hate about GV, IMO. Explaining to people how I sometimes don't get MMS correctly is annoying. VOIP feels like cell service from 10 years ago. But otherwise, it does alright making good on the promise to have one number ring everywhere.

One thing that I hope really stands out is how fiddly all this is when all you wanted to do is make phone calls and send texts.
 
southrncomfortjm
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Re: Google Voice questions

Wed Jun 24, 2015 6:52 am

dmjifn wrote:
southrncomfortjm wrote:
But when I call out from my cell when I am away from my house, will they see my GV number? Or, to show my GV number, would I have to use data. I think you answered that as "no data usage and they see your GV number" but I want to be sure.

I understand. Here is exactly what you want to know:


Excellent explanation, that is basically everything I wanted to know. Definitely some cool features, like calling from any device using the same phone number. Lots of little stuff that can get irritating if I haven't figured it all out yet. Need to chew on this a bit and see what I want to do.

Thank you!
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localhostrulez
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Re: Google Voice questions

Wed Jun 24, 2015 11:50 pm

Hmm, so I just discovered today that GV doesn't support group MMS. And to be frank, they only added MMS last year. How long exactly is it going to take them to hit feature parity with traditional cell service? (If they're pushing this as the future and all...) Sounds like it's coming soon though... one can only hope.
 
dmjifn
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Re: Google Voice questions

Thu Jun 25, 2015 12:50 pm

localhostrulez wrote:
Hmm, so I just discovered today that GV doesn't support group MMS. And to be frank, they only added MMS last year. How long exactly is it going to take them to hit feature parity with traditional cell service? (If they're pushing this as the future and all...) Sounds like it's coming soon though... one can only hope.

It's not fully supported but it's not fully absent. I do get group MMS in Hangouts, but they don't look any different from normal messages in Hangouts. Weirdly, I want to say there was a window of time between MMS's rollout and me switching to Hangouts where I could see and respond to the whole group with the GV web client. I'm pretty sure group MMS is present in GV, just not in Hangouts.
Another example is integration with contacts... I've got some that Hangouts won't let me use SMS until I go in and re-add the contact. Contacts recognizes I'm adding the same person, merges them, then Hangouts will let me use SMS instead of only GChat.
When I complain about Hangouts software, it has to do with stuff like this - going backwards on features, the relentless push to join Google+, unintuitive actions (calling my contact instead of bringing up their info panel), etc.
 
localhostrulez
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Re: Google Voice questions

Thu Jun 25, 2015 7:27 pm

dmjifn wrote:
It's not fully supported but it's not fully absent. I do get group MMS in Hangouts, but they don't look any different from normal messages in Hangouts. Weirdly, I want to say there was a window of time between MMS's rollout and me switching to Hangouts where I could see and respond to the whole group with the GV web client. I'm pretty sure group MMS is present in GV, just not in Hangouts.
Another example is integration with contacts... I've got some that Hangouts won't let me use SMS until I go in and re-add the contact. Contacts recognizes I'm adding the same person, merges them, then Hangouts will let me use SMS instead of only GChat.
When I complain about Hangouts software, it has to do with stuff like this - going backwards on features, the relentless push to join Google+, unintuitive actions (calling my contact instead of bringing up their info panel), etc.

Man, that nail is totally getting hammered right now. :wink: I can't say I often find myself wanting shiny new features; more like reliability and doing what I actually need to do well. And it seems like new software isn't necessarily any better in this regard. (Ex. OS X 10.6 was solid as a rock, 10.10 had wifi drop issues. 7 was pretty solid from the start, but 10 still seems to be too focused on crap few people asked for to bother.)

If I revert texts back to GV mode, think I'll get group SMS ability? (Granted, not that I use it much.) Only problem is Hangouts handles decently well... once these bugs/glitches are (eventually) fixed.

And on the PC Hangouts apps, notice how it loves to shove G+ people you don't know in your face rather than your contacts? (No you idiot, I'm not trying to message some random person, I'm trying to SMS a person in my contacts. What do you think I'm trying to do?) And only for messages, not voice. Android app gets this right though.

Simply put, it's got potential, but they need to quit being stupid if they want to make it particularly good.
 
dmjifn
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Re: Google Voice questions

Thu Jun 25, 2015 8:39 pm

localhostrulez wrote:
Man, that nail is totally getting hammered right now. :wink:

As far as trying to switch back to getting SMS in GV goes - I don't know. I've switched back and forth a few times and haven't noticed a penalty for doing so. If you do, you might try the GV app - I may have been misremembering whether I saw this in the app or the web. But I know I've witnessed my wife and sister-in-law having a text discussion about our dogs.

I'm the same on new features. Progress is nice and all but there needs to be stability and some predictability. Sure, it's a first world problem but SMS/MMS is pretty much standard and essential nowadays and I just don't need the novelty here. If my car did that, I'd turn the ignition and see I had an update, then be playing the "guess which pedal works the gas" game when I just want to **** get to work without any drama.

Speaking of rage - that whole "shoving G+ people at you" is infuriating. The web Contacts interface does that too. It has "Search for anyone" but not "Search your own contacts"?
**shakes fist at Google**


**shakes fist at LRH for the reminder**
 
dmjifn
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Re: Google Voice questions

Fri Jul 10, 2015 9:12 pm

Necro?

I'm reading Google's articles on what happens if you sign up for Project Fi and do/don't port your GV number to it. It explicitly says GV handles group MMS but Hangouts does not. To use group MMS it says you need to use Messenger or some other texting app and route through GV. So that answers that!

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