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Google voice Questions

elitenoob

Newbie
May 7, 2010
14
0
Hi, I haven't jumped into the wagon of switching to a new google phone number yet, but I have a few questions, even after reading the whole guide in Google voice's help site.

If I switch to my new google phone number, what happens when people call my old phone number (the non-google phone number) or when they text me using my old one?

Since most of us here have Sprint as a carrier, does Sprint impose any hidden fees if use any of google voice's services (except the international calling)?

What is the difference between Call screening vs call presentation, in Laymen terms?

If you make outbound domestic calls with google voice number, it's free right? (might be a stupid question but ill ask anyway)
 
I guess I was misinformed then - I do not use it for calls, only voicemail. However, I thought that the whole point of Google Voice and using the number for outbound calls was to get off of Sprint voice network?

Right now, GV is basically just a call forwarding service. The idea is you have one phone number. People can call / text you at that number and it doesn't matter if you are at home (using your home phone), work (using your work phone) or out and about (using your cell phone).

When I make a call using the GV app, I pick a person in my contacts and hit talk like I normally would. I have the GV app ask me each time I make a call if I want to use my GV number. If I say yes, there is some data transmitted between my phone and Google's servers, then it switches to a regular phone call. The phone number that my cell phone is actually calling is a 615 area code number. What Google does is say my cell phone (123-456-7890) is calling the 615 number and it knows to connect me to the number I originally called (987-654-3210, for example).

That being said, Google did buy a VOIP company a while back, so I would imagine in the future, GV will be VOIP and then voice calls would be using data, not your cell phone minutes. But no idea when that will happen.
 
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If I switch to my new google phone number, what happens when people call my old phone number (the non-google phone number) or when they text me using my old one?

As answered above, your cell phone still gets calls / text to your cell phone number.

Since most of us here have Sprint as a carrier, does Sprint impose any hidden fees if use any of google voice's services (except the international calling)?

No hidden fees. Everything is either normal voice calls or data (if using SMS in the GV app).

What is the difference between Call screening vs call presentation, in Laymen terms?

Call screening - when turned on - if someone calls your GV number and they are not in your contact list, GV will ask the person what their name is and it will be recorded. That name is played back to you if you have call presentation on (see below).

Call presentation - when turned on - when someone calls you, instead of directly connecting you to the person, GV will ask if you want to talk to them, send them to voice mail or listen is as they leave voice mail (in this case, you can choose to "pick up" the phone while they are leaving a voice mail).

If you make outbound domestic calls with google voice number, it's free right? (might be a stupid question but ill ask anyway)

Correct. Sprint sees your Google Voice number as a land line, so the "any mobile any time" doesn't apply.


Hope that helps.
 
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Oh, and another thing, if I want to use my google voice number as a hub for all my calls, how does smg work? Lets say I sent a message to a friend with the handcent application. Would my friend see my smg as my old phone number (non-google number) or my Google number? Do I always have to go to the google voice app and send a message to someone (in order for them to see my new google number), or can the google voice smg service be integrated with the handcent or stock messaging application ?

Just curious, because it destroys the purpose of shifting to a new phone number if they see me my old phone number when I send a text. I also wanted to know if google voice made it convenient for users to send a smg via our handcent or stock messaging app.
 
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Oh, and another thing, if I want to use my google voice number as a hub for all my calls, how does smg work? Lets say I sent a message to a friend with the handcent application. Would my friend see my smg as my old phone number (non-google number) or my Google number? Do I always have to go to the google voice app and send a message to someone (in order for them to see my new google number), or can the google voice smg service be integrated with the handcent or stock messaging application ?

Just curious, because it destroys the purpose of shifting to a new phone number if they see me my old phone number when I send a text. I also wanted to know if google voice made it convenient for users to send a smg via our handcent or stock messaging app.

OK, this might get a little confusing, so I will try and be clear....

Lets say these are the phone numbers in question. I will use letters instead of numbers for clarity.

Your friend Joe: JJJ-JJJ-JJJJ
Your Google Voice number: GGG-GGG-GGGG
Your cell phone number: CCC-CCC-CCCC

If you text Joe (JJJ-JJJ-JJJJ) from Handcent, Joe will see your cell phone number. If you text Joe from the GV app (or GV website / desktop or mobile version), he will see your GV number.

However, lets say Joe texts your GV number. If you have GV set to forward SMS messages to your cell phone, you will receive a text message you can view in Handcent. But, it will not be from Joe's number (JJJ-JJJ-JJJJ). I will be from a number that starts with 406. For example, 406-123-4567. In the text message, Joe's name will be the first part of the message (if he is in your Google contact list, if not, his phone number will be the first part of the text message).

Now, at this point, save Joe's 406 number in your address book as an additional phone number for Joe. Now you have two numbers for Joe, JJJ-JJJ-JJJJ and 406-123-4567. If you call or text Joe from your phone (for example, using Handcent) and you use Joe's 406 number, he will see it coming from your GV number. If you call / text Joe's "real" phone number, JJJ-JJJ-JJJJ, he will see your cell phone number, CCC-CCC-CCCC.

So, the trick is to get your contacts to send you a text message before you contact them. Then, note the 406 number it came from. Save the 406 number as an additional phone number for your contact. Use the 406 number for texts / phone calls and the contact will see your GV number.

Basically, Google knows your cell phone number and combines it with a 406 number to know who to dial. Multiple people can have the same 406 number, but it goes to different contacts. For example, let's say my cell phone number is DDD-DDD-DDDD. Here is what your number and my number would look like (using a contact's 406 number).

DDD-DDD-DDDD + 406-123-4567 = 999-999-9999
CCC-CCC-CCCC + 406-123-4567 = JJJ-JJJ-JJJJ


Is that clear as mud???
 
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That kinda makes sense now. So to make it easier for myself should I put the 406-XXX-XXXX of my friend as the default number or add it as an additional?

If google can distinguish between contacts with the same 406-XXX-XXXX number, how does it do that? Is the distinction made when I add the number to my corresponding friend?
 
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That kinda makes sense now. So to make it easier for myself should I put the 406-XXX-XXXX of my friend as the default number or add it as an additional?

If google can distinguish between contacts with the same 406-XXX-XXXX number, how does it do that? Is the distinction made when I add the number to my corresponding friend?

Yes, it would be good to put your contact's 406 numbers as either their default number or as an addition number.

Google distinguishes between the 406 numbers by concatenating your cell phone number with the 406 number of your contact. That produces a unique number, which Google uses to know who to call when you use your cell phone to call / text the 406 number.

I used to use this technique when I had a Windows Mobile phone and didn't have a native GV app. I didn't care for the 3rd party apps. Now that I have an Android phone, I use Google's Voice app, so the above technique, using 406 numbers, isn't needed anymore. I use the GV app to send / receive text messages. When I call a person's number (their real number, not their 406 number), the GV app asks if I want to use my cell phone number or GV number.

You said you wanted to use Handcent. Doing so would require you to keep using the 406 number technique (as far as I know).
 
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If I am reading it properly, the 406 number is kept distinct for your direct cell phone number, so if you send to a 406 number using your phone it will route as expected. If you attempt to send to the same 406 number on a different phone you will send to another person, or send it to google, and it will fail because a number doesn't exist.

Whether google is smart enough to forward properly for multiple cell phones in your account, I don't know based on what I read above. But I would guess that it assigns 406 numbers by account so it would work, and if so, it would work for all phones on your account...

That is correct. I only called / texted with my cell phone to the 406 numbers. I never tried calling the 406 numbers from my home phone. I am not sure what would have happened if I did that....
 
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