Making Calls with Google Voice

Chapter : 1 What is Google Voice?

Google Voice and Sprint - Sprint customers can easily enable Google Voice on their phones without having to get a new number. They can also choose to display their Google Voice number when making calls using their hand phones

Number porting - use number porting get all the features of Google Voice without changing your phone number

Google Voice for iphone - .making calls from your Google Voice number. Cheap rates for international calling and free texts to US and Canadian numbers. Get push notifications when you receive new voicemails and texts.

Phone calls from Gmail - With .your Google Voice number you can receive calls from within Gmail. Free calls to the US and Canada and very low rates for international .calls.

Sign-ups - free sign-ups for anyone without invitations.

Do Not Disturb - this feature can be set .to a predetermined length of time and with this setting, all calls to your Google number will go straight into your voicemail.

Videos - 10 short videos to help you get the most out of Google Voice

SMS - can be used to send to 5 recipients concurrently

Play voicemails within Gmail - you can listen to messages without leaving your inbox through Google Voice player

Email - Receive texts .messages free. Reply to those emails to save on text message fees.

Change of Google number - With .a $10 fee you can change to another new number while the old one .remains active for 3 months.

Chapter : 2 Google Voice for small business

Google Voice is a good .application with intelligent phone features that allows you to enhance the existing capabilities of your phone for free regardless of which type of phone you have or which carrier you are using.

These features are very beneficial to small businesses .where operational costs are kept to a minimal wherever possible to be competitive in their pricing and market industry.

One of the main reasons .why Facebook is used by many companies to showcase their products and testimonies. It's free and has a database of millions logged on daily.

Some of the features available with Google Voice are:

Intelligent Call forwarding - Set up rules on how .you want your calls routed. For example, if you want calls received before 5 pm sent to your office phone or calls after that sent to your personal phone, Google Voice can easily do that. You can also set customized ringing for calls to your home or straight to your voicemail.

Cheap calls - Cheap calls worldwide and free calls and free .text messages to the US and Canada. This would enable a small business to expand globally with minimal cost and with good instant communication. This feature itself is reason enough to get this Google Voice application.

Web Interface - you get web interface to your .phones and services with Google Voice. This means you can manage your messages online while on the go and no need to return to the office. Speed to market is important for any business to thrive. You can manage you messages by filing and archiving.

Google Voice for iphone and .OS X address book - Google contacts can be synced with them. .Powerful speed dialing tools.

Recording calls - This is another feature that is handy in a business world. You can record calls with the permission of the other party and it can generate .transcripts too.

Chapter : 3 The Google Voice features

The Google Voice application allows .you to enhance the existing capabilities of your phone for free regardless of which type of phone you have or which carrier .you are using.

Some of the features are:

One Number - The use of a single number that rings you anywhere and to connect to your other phones

Cheap calls - Cheap calls worldwide and free calls plus free text messages to the US and Canada. This is great for small businesses Number porting - use number porting to get all the features of Google Voice without changing your phone number

Online voicemail - Get transcribed messages delivered to your inbox instantly

Google Voice and Sprint - Sprint customers can easily enable Google Voice on their phones without having to get a new number. They can also choose to display their Google Voice number when making calls using their hand phones

Voice recording - You can record calls with permission from the other party and get it transcribed too

Phone calls from Gmail - With .your Google Voice number you can receive calls from within Gmail. Free calls to the US and Canada and very low rates for international .calls.

Do Not Disturb - this feature can be set .to a predetermined length of time and with this setting, all calls to your Google number will go straight into your voicemail.

SMS - send messages to 5 recipients concurrently

Play voicemails within Gmail - you can listen to messages without leaving your inbox through Google Voice player

Email - Receive texts .messages free. Reply to those emails instantly to save on text message fees.

Change of Google number - With .a $10 fee you can change to another new number while the old one .remains active for 3 months.

Chapter : 4 Saving money with Google Voice VoIP

The Google Voice VoIP application .will save you tons of money on local as well as international calls and text messages. Since you get a web interface with this application, then once you have installed it on your phone you will be able to make free calls to the US and Canada and also international calls with cheap rates.

To get started you .have to head to Google Voice and sign up. This is free and with no cost. You can use your Google account for this. When this is done, you will be able to receive calls on your desktop as well as through your mobile phone .or a landline phone in your home.

When calling through your computer it .is recommended that a proper headset is used for privacy and better audio signals. You will also be able to call all your Gmail contacts through Google Voice for free if they are in the US or Canada.

This feature is great when you can connect .to people; friends and relative for free and while you are on the go. This feature is very similar to Skype, Fring, Viber and others offering the same mobile and internet services.

How you want to make .or .receive .calls can be setup in Google Voice in phone settings. This will allow you to make settings on how you want to receive calls at certain times and where you want the calls forwarded after certain times. That means you can also set to receive calls made to your office phone, to ring your home phone after certain time. Or even set the calls to go into voicemail when you plan on an extended holiday. This feature is the "Do Not Disturb" feature found in Google Voice...

Chapter : 5 Privacy features of Google Voice

Like any new application available in the market, .the Google Voice application has its benefits and also its downside.

Let us start with the benefits.

Routing - this eliminates the use .of having multiple numbers for multiple purposes. After signing up and have a Google Voice number, you can tag all your numbers, mobile, office, home onto this Google number. Then when you get a call, all your phones or any specific phone will ring if you choose. This setting can be managed by the Google router.

Screening - you can .choose certain options to do after picking up the call and while the caller still hears the phone ringing. The caller's name will be shown and you can either answer the call, send it to voicemail, send it to voicemail and listen live or answer and record the call.

Voicemail - You can listen to messages in voicemail .live as they are being recorded and pick up call in mid-message. Text transcription of recordings are available.

SMS - All texts sent or received are .archived.

Some of its downside.

Privacy - every call and text message is kept ?in Google servers. Some may be personal and intimate in nature and is now considered public property. Are you comfortable with this knowledge?

Reliability - All technology is fallible. In some of Google's service outages, there have been failed call recordings as well as unable to receive emails and RSS feeds and call .routing to wrong numbers. These are important factors when considering committing to a new system.

Caller-ID - regular calls from .your cell phone will show up as your old number. This can be confusing as the number you called from is different from the number you gave out. This can be detrimental especially in cases where businesses are established through Google Voice and there is confusion in communications resulting in lost deals.

Chapter : 6 Costs and the final word

You are able to sign up for Google Voice and utilize many of the features for free including making calls to the US and Canada. Here we will look at utilizing Google Voice on your cellular phone might impact your cell phone bill.

Using domestic calls

If you utilize Google .Voice on your cell phone, domestic calls will utilize the standard minutes .from your cellular phone plan.

Every time you place .a call, rather than dialing the number you wish to reach, Google Voice dials a US-based direct access number. The Google Voice server then sends on your call to the actual destination number. This lets faster call setup happen and the power to place calls without a data connection. These direct access numbers might show in your calls log, or on your phone bill.

A unique direct .access number is assigned to every person that you call. The direct access numbers are stacked away in the Google Voice application, not in your Contacts. They may be chucked from your phone at any time by signing out of the Google Voice app.

Direct access numbers are delegated randomly, and .might include numbers that are out of your local calling area, or even out of state. If you don't have a countrywide calling plan, you might be charged long distance rates by your carrier.

Using international calls

If you utilize Google Voice on your mobile phone, international .calls utilize the standard minutes from your cellular phone plan and are charged against your Google Voice credit, at Google Voice international rates. International calls are likewise placed through direct access numbers, as described previously.

For international calls, you ought to hear a .cost prompt, which lets you know that the call is going through Google Voice. You ought to hear the prompt for each international call. If you don't hear the prompt, your calling isn't being routed through Google Voice, and might be subject to charges from your provider.

When you have a US based telephone .number, and try to place calls via Google Voice while you're in another country, you'll be charged the Google Voice international rates, and might likewise be subject to added roaming fees from your carrier.

Sending and getting text messages

If you utilize Google Voice on .your cell phone, text messages are sent with your data plan, as opposed to your text-messaging plan, so there won't be any text messaging charges for messages that you send out to numbers in the U.S.A. or Canada.

Note: when you have .your mobile phone listed as one of your forwarding telephones in your Google Voice account, responses will come to the Google Voice app, however will likewise be duplicated in the Android Messaging app. Depending upon your carrier, you might be charged for your received text messages. To disable this and simply have messages sent to the Google Voice app, sign in at voice.google.com, and then go to Settings > Voice settings > Phones > (your mobile number) > Edit > Receive text messages on this phone > Uncheck and Save.

Google voice is !an awesome tool. Make sure you learn as much as you can and use !this as much as you can!