Google Voice first take
I got a Google Voice invite a few weeks ago, and since I’m also sporting an Android phone I thought this might be interesting.
In a nutshell, you get a Google phone number (I even got a local number) and you can configure the service to interact with all your other numbers – cell, home, work, etc. You can set which phone(s) ring in what order, and on Android installing Voice gives you to option to make a call from the handset from either your carrier’s number or your Google number. But here’s the issue, if you can’t port your main number, you have to go through the pain of changing your number, which is no fun at all. Google says you may be able to port over a number later on. For now, I’m not going to give out my Google number.
But here is the awesome part of Voice even if you don’t use it as a primary number – the voicemail is outstanding. I am now using it for my primary VM instead of T-Mobile. Here is how I set it up, and why its great:
1) I change my Android options to point my phone at my Google Voice number as my “voicemail” number instead of the T-Mobile default. This means that if I dont pick up my cell phone the call is sent to my GV number.
2). Set Google Voice to not forward to any numbers, and set it to go directly to voicemail when the Google number rings.
At this point if I don’t answer my cell, it forwards to google and straight to voicemail. So the caller can’t tell the different.
Now, GV has some great options to set for voice mail. It will transcribe your messages and txt or email them to you! Its not perfect, but over the few dozen messages I’d gotten so far, its close enough to know what the caller really said.
I setup GV to txt my cell when I get a VM. This is KILLER if you are in a meeting or a movie or a loud location. I can read my VM on my phone.
Second, the GV Android app will download the VM to my phone along with the transcript in the GV “inbox”. So later on I can go listen and/or read the message again.
Also, I can log into GV from any computer and get all my messages, send txts, even make calls, directly from the web interface.
Its not perfect yet, but so far its pretty amazing.