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I got my Droid - How do I get Google Voice?

Most people say they get theirs in a couple days. I made the mistake of signing up and not getting a Google number...so I requested an invite from Google for my secondary email address about 2 weeks ago...not a word yet.

Should I get a Google number? Does that really buy me much as far as functionality?

More importantly, will I only be able to use Google Voice with the Google number, or can I use Google Voice with both my Google number and my cell phone number?
 
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Should I get a Google number? Does that really buy me much as far as functionality?

If you get a GV #, you can have calls placed to that # forwarded to any other phone you have; cell, home, office etc. like a switchboard service. If you use your existing cell #, you only get the voicemail features.

More importantly, will I only be able to use Google Voice with the Google number, or can I use Google Voice with both my Google number and my cell phone number?

You can use both- GV app can be set to use one or the other, or ask you which to use on a call- by- call basis. You can receive calls to both #'s, but only calls to your GV # can be forwarded to other phones. In the GV settings, you can opt to transfer cell # calls to your GV voicemail, bypassing verizon's VM service.
 
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Ok, so whats the real advantage of GV I don't get it.

You can get a personal phone number you choose and it is not tied to a cell company. You give this number out and whatever phone you want to ring when your GV phone number is called will ring. I have changed phones from ATT to Sprint to Verizon already this year and not once did I need to tell anyone I have a new number or port over a number. Also GV has a ton of cool features - just Google GV and go to the home page and read about the features.
 
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So one of the members on this forum was generous enough to send me an invite to GV.

What I'm wondering now is can I set this up as my default voicemail without having to give out my new Google #?

For now, I'd like to primarily would like to use this for the visual voice mail feature, much like you mail.

Any tips would be appreciated.
 
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Yes, you can make GV your primary voicemail.. It's a little clunky, if you don't answer your phone, it forwards it to your google number.. now your google number will ring whatever phones you tell it to.. Then your google voicemail will pick it up... As far as the befits of GV..

If you have a plan with 10 numbers you can essentially have unlimited calling.. You setup one of your 10 free numbers with your google voice number, or something like that, there are threads here on how to do it...

Also, even without the 10 free number plan, you can use your GV nubmer for unlimited texting.. after you install google voice on your phone and you go to send someone a txt, it will ask you to send it as a "message" or "google voice" Just make sure the people you are sending the txt to know that it's "you" You also have the option of telling google voice (on your phone) to always use "messaging" or "google voice"..

So yeah, you want GV if you text alot, could save you $20 if you're currently paying for unlimited texting..

As far as getting it, you have to ask for can invite from the site listed above.. Some members are able to send invites, but not everyone can.. I have GV, but i don't have the option of sending invites.

Or, just go to ebay and buy one.. They're about $3.00.. Well worth it
BUY TWO GET ONE FREE UNUSED Google Voice Invite DEAL - eBay (item 180435973850 end time Dec-22-09 08:14:51 PST)
this guy is legit, and i had my invite within a few hours (for my wife's phone that is)

-=< aaron >=-
 
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...What I'm wondering now is can I set this up as my default voicemail without having to give out my new Google #?....

Assuming you've told google your cel phone #..

login to your google voice (google.com/voice)
go to settings > phones > under your cell # click "activate google voicemail on this phone" (i'm not exactly sure of the wording because i've already done it.

It will ask you your carrier, and then tell you some numbers to call from your cel phone.. Pretty simple actually.

-=< aaron >=-
 
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yes, but still didn't understand, how I would use it in a day by day

I use this as my "work number" so when my agencies call, and I don't pick up they get a personalized voicemail greeting and I get a lovely notification from GVoice whereby I can use the GV app to READ their voicemail and listen if the transliteration isn't quite righ (hit or miss depending on how clearly the caller speaks).


Say you talk alot and you've got several phone lines, well, give out your google voice number and you can set up ring conditions. Grandma calls? - House phone rings and cell phone rings, whichever you want to use you pick up.

You can also switch phones seemlessy during a call. You get a call on the house phone and want to switch to your cell, you can do so without the person on the other end knowing.

You want people to have your number, but you want to control their access to you? GoogleVoice has lots of features. You could set up a group that always gets voicemail. Your phone wouldn't even ring, and they wouldn't ever know your cell #.

I have my googlevoice # in my signature on my email, as well as on certain accounts (facebook) so that I can have more control over who has my information. If wanted to , anyone who's NOT in my contacts (google and GV are the same contacts) could go straight to voicemail.

You can play your visual voicemails on your phone, or on your computer, you can forward them to other people via email.

Eventually, just like every other google product, they'll be interconnected with gmail, calendar, youtube, orkut, picasa, blogger, GoogleWave, etc.

I'm hoping they will add fax receive options in the future so I can use this as an incoming fax #.

If you get a GV# you can give that out to people and never have to give anyone your real work, cell, or home phone number, or even tell them if you've changed phones, stopped using one of those phones or even moved. For $10 you can even change your googlevoice # and they will automatically forward calls to your old GV# for 3 months.
 
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