Personal computing discussed

Moderators: renee, David, mac_h8r1, Nelliesboo

 
tanker27
Gerbil Khan
Topic Author
Posts: 9444
Joined: Tue Feb 26, 2002 7:00 pm
Location: Georgia

Google voice

Tue Jul 31, 2012 9:23 am

So here's my dilemma; My management wants to start an on call rotation, in the past I have given up my hard line house phone, but they want me to use my personal cell phone. (they will probably give me a company cell but I dont want to always carry two phones)

In the past 11 years I have worked here I have kept my cell number off any call list and have only given it to a very, very select few and never to management so as to protect myself from abuse and the like.

I think Google voice is my solution but I dont know how to set it up.

What I want to do is:

Provide a Google voice number that I can freely give out that when someone calls it will ring through to my iPhone. By all accounts everything will look like that Google Voice number, caller ID, number blocking (spam and others), and the whole 9-yards. The caller would never know that they have actually called my real cell/mobile. I also need this to work in reverse, where I would call out from using my Google Voice number on my iPhone, thus masking my real cell number.

Can anyone guide me or point me in the direction of how to do this?
(\_/)
(O.o)
(''')(''')
Watch out for evil Terra-Tron; He Does not like you!
 
Philldoe
Grand Gerbil Poohbah
Posts: 3045
Joined: Thu May 13, 2004 12:12 pm
Location: Turn around...

Re: Google voice

Tue Jul 31, 2012 9:39 am

Good choice. Just download the app, go through the set-up inside the app and it should give you a google voice number. All people need to do is call that GV number and google will route the call to your phone. Make some test calls from inside te app to make sure it's set up right.
Fastfreak39: I feel like they should change the phrase "jumping on the band wagon" to "sailing on the pirate ship"
 
Forge
Lord High Gerbil
Posts: 8253
Joined: Wed Dec 26, 2001 7:00 pm
Location: Gone

Re: Google voice

Tue Jul 31, 2012 9:40 am

Pretty easy to do, actually. Just sign into a Google account, go to http://voice.google.com, and set up. It'll give you a number, ask you where to call (your real number), and you're all set. You can even set fun filters based on incoming caller id, time, etc, etc.

Now, the only mildly tricky part: To call out, you MUST use the Google Voice app. Have it call out. It will dial you and then the number you're calling and conference them. If you do not do this, your "real" number will show on the caller id. This is just unavoidable, beyond Google's control.

Please let me know if there's anything else I can cover for you.
Please don't edit my signature for me. Thanks.
 
SecretSquirrel
Minister of Gerbil Affairs
Posts: 2726
Joined: Tue Jan 01, 2002 7:00 pm
Location: North DFW suburb...
Contact:

Re: Google voice

Tue Jul 31, 2012 10:20 am

I did the exact same thing in order to not carry two phones, though my personal phone was Android based. On Android you can set the phone to automatically use GV for all calls, or with an app, you can set it to use your personal number or GV number based on some simple rules like whether the number you are calling is in a particular contact list or category. Do know if such capability exists for the iPhone.

One thing I found was that GV could not properly dial conference bridge lines if you included the access code in the dial sequence. Something about it not handling the "wait for connect" and "pause" sequences right.

Still, overall I was quite happy about it. I even ported my original work cell number over to GV so as not to have to change cell numbers.

--SS
 
druidcent
Minister of Gerbil Affairs
Posts: 2510
Joined: Wed Aug 07, 2002 7:55 pm
Location: Earth, Sol, Milky Way
Contact:

Re: Google voice

Tue Jul 31, 2012 11:11 am

I don't know about the iphone app, but on my android phone, there is a setting in the Google voice app which, when I call out will do:

1) Never use Google Voice
2) Use Google Voice only for international calls
3) Ask to use Google Voice every time I make a call
4) Always use Google Voice to make a call

I can keep a widget on one of my home screens that I tap to cycle through options. Generally I leave it on either option 1 or 3, depending on how many calls I'm making that I don't want to give out my real number.
 
Forge
Lord High Gerbil
Posts: 8253
Joined: Wed Dec 26, 2001 7:00 pm
Location: Gone

Re: Google voice

Tue Jul 31, 2012 11:22 am

Yeah, Android has very nice GV integration, unfortunately, with iPhone you can't do that, have to use the app.
Please don't edit my signature for me. Thanks.
 
tanker27
Gerbil Khan
Topic Author
Posts: 9444
Joined: Tue Feb 26, 2002 7:00 pm
Location: Georgia

Re: Google voice

Tue Jul 31, 2012 12:15 pm

Thanks for all the info and how to's. I will work on this tonight.
(\_/)
(O.o)
(''')(''')
Watch out for evil Terra-Tron; He Does not like you!
 
tanker27
Gerbil Khan
Topic Author
Posts: 9444
Joined: Tue Feb 26, 2002 7:00 pm
Location: Georgia

Re: Google voice

Wed Aug 01, 2012 6:26 am

I have to thank you all for the help. I got Google Voice up and running, its a little quirky but it works wonderfully. I am sure once I get used to it I can work out all the kinks.
(\_/)
(O.o)
(''')(''')
Watch out for evil Terra-Tron; He Does not like you!

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 1 guest
GZIP: On