Google Voice open for all

[Silvertag]

Topic says everything
Official Google Blog: Google Voice for everyone

 

[vikingisson]

swell however,

"Google Voice is not available in your country.
Thanks for visiting Google Voice. We're not yet open for users outside the US, but are planning to expand our service to additional countries in the future."

 

[Silvertag]

Yeah they just updated the topic

"Update 10:53AM: Just to clarify, though we've opened up sign-ups, Google Voice is still limited to everyone in the U.S. for now."

 

[mjschmidt]

Yeah they just updated the topic

"Update 10:53AM: Just to clarify, though we've opened up sign-ups, Google Voice is still limited to everyone in the U.S. for now."

Which is dumb and annoying hard to understand since they also say this:

We introduced one number to ring all your phones, voicemail that works like email, free calls and text messages to the U.S. and Canada, low-priced international calls and more

Don't get us all excited with a sentence like this, and then not let us sign up!

NEway... if you really want to sign up, use something like Hotspot Shield to spoof your ip address as a US address, then you can sign up.

Of course, the number you get will be a US number, so it will be long-distance for others to call.

 

[jdodds]

NEway... if you really want to sign up, use something like Hotspot Shield to spoof your ip address as a US address, then you can sign up.

Of course, the number you get will be a US number, so it will be long-distance for others to call.

Note you will also need either a US based telephone number to confirm with or us lucky southern Albertans can use out 403 area codes. I signed up ages ago, but rarely use it due to my GV number being US based. Also the GV App dials a US based access number to get your "free" long distance. Obviously Rogers likes to charge us long distance when our phones dial a US access number.

Hopefully they fully support Canada soon, then I will start using it!

 

[vikingisson]

I don't understand what the issues are with the Canuck blackout but for now I'll keep doing what I've been doing for years, VoIP and a good provider that does nearly everything that GV does.

 

[oop]

Note you will also need either a US based telephone number to confirm with or us lucky southern Albertans can use out 403 area codes. I signed up ages ago, but rarely use it due to my GV number being US based. Also the GV App dials a US based access number to get your "free" long distance. Obviously Rogers likes to charge us long distance when our phones dial a US access number.

Hopefully they fully support Canada soon, then I will start using it!

you're using gv wrong. yea you shouldn't use the gv app to make calls since it would call long distance to your gv number. but instead go sign up for a US number at sipgate or something and get the sipdroid app and put in your sipgate settings. then set up your sipgate number as one of your numbers on GV. then use apps like Gvoice Callback. that way when you make calls gv calls you instead of you calling gv. gv calls your sipgate number and sipdroid will pick up and connect you. free north american calling and free texts!

 

[vikingisson]

That's one way to do it except for us that can't get GV because google knows we're not in the u.s.

I avoid the call backs and just make it simple, call LD via sipdroid and pay the $0.01/min. Texting is very low on my list so I don't worry about it.

One handy thing is that I give out my VoIP numbers instead of the cell number. When called it will also ring my cell number so that I don't need to run sipdroid full time. I have local numbers and numbers in the u.s. and this ring group feature works great. If I travel I'll load Sipdroid and avoid roaming charges inbound or out. This way I can easily dump the cell service without the pain of loosing my cell number, I keep the VoIP numbers and don't care about the cell number.

 

[mjschmidt]

you're using gv wrong. yea you shouldn't use the gv app to make calls since it would call long distance to your gv number. but instead go sign up for a US number at sipgate or something and get the sipdroid app and put in your sipgate settings. then set up your sipgate number as one of your numbers on GV. then use apps like Gvoice Callback. that way when you make calls gv calls you instead of you calling gv. gv calls your sipgate number and sipdroid will pick up and connect you. free north american calling and free texts!

How do you _receive_ free calls this way? Don't people have to call your US Sip number?

 

[oop]

How do you _receive_ free calls this way? Don't people have to call your US Sip number?

you can receive calls by signing up for a free alberta area code number at freephoneline.ca (area code 403). once you've signed up, set it up so that it forwards all calls to your cell number.

after that add this 403 number as one of your phones in google voice.
for some reason 403 is the only canadian area code google voice allows you to forward calls to.

so when people call your gv number, it rings this freephoneline.ca number which forwards to your cell. u should be able to use gv callback to dial out too.

 

[vikingisson]

I didn't know about the 403 code, we'll see how long that lasts since whoever up here is delaying GV will not let it go on if they can stop it. Been 3 years waiting on GV already...

I setup a U.S. voip DID to make GV work. For other people I have Canadian VoIP DIDs that forward to the cell but don't use GV. We can already do what GV does with traditional VoIP. The big telcos up here of course don't want this to happen but it is too late.

 

[TriC]

Its working for me and I have a London 226 area code. just called my cell from my gmail account.

 

[vikingisson]

Its working for me and I have a London 226 area code. just called my cell from my gmail account.

You used a London area code as a forwarding number? You got lucky. It won't let me use an Oakville number. I tried a cell number and a landline and a VoIP number. No go. So I used a u.s. voip number that ends up here and ring groups my cell etc. That works fine.

 

[vikingisson]

Has anyone been able to use google voice directly from their rogers cell? I'm assuming that GV dials a toll free access number and that seems to be blocked in Canada. I can dial from gmail and from web GV which then rings me back on the cell for the connection. Just can't do it direct from the cell. thanks canada