jakewill's GoogleVoice How To: Free Minutes, Texts, Visual Voicemail, and Calendar

soleilvie said:

Online, when I go to settings > phone, there is an option to forward to a mobile number. I don't have this option checked, so I was wondering if it was checked, would calls be forwarded to my mobile as well as text messages, or just calls? Meaning, would I see a text message in the GV app AND the HTC message app?

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With JUST that text box, I think that only calls forward. BUT, if you hit the "Edit" button for that mobile phone, there's a checkbox under SMS Settings to "Receive SMS on this phone". That probably forwards the texts (or doesn't if unchecked! )

mntbighker said:

Newb question number 37... anybody looked at GVoice Callback app on AppBrain care to comment on how it's use plays into all this? Too many onramps and offramps on this highway starting to give me a headache.

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If you want simplicity, just use my guide at the top. The "Non-Google Inc" apps on the market are not usually necessary and often cause extra problems if you are using the official Google Voice app...

That being said, that app probably uses GV's online "Callback" feature so that when u wanna call someone, you hit "Dial", it asks if u wanna "callback", then it uses Google's web interface to call you -- This would show your GV number as the caller and would keep you from needing the "access number" that the official GV app uses (Specific to each calling area). Using that app for your dialer prompt, you avoid needing two numbers in you F&F (GV, and GV Access), at the expense of clunkiness and instability.

Clementine_3 said:

Good info, thanks for taking the time to write it up.

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No problem!

Stole 71 said:

Thanks for the write-up!

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You got it! Thanks for the praise, guys, I'm a simple human and a little thanks makes my heart all big!

theguuff said:

New user here, I've had the Incredible for about a week now and just activated google voice. I just want to know how I could switch back to my default voicemail settings from before I activated GV. I've noticed that voicemails take about 5-10 minutes to reach my inc.

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If you go to www.google.com/voice from a computer, go to Settings>Edit>Advanced Settings>Forwarding Options/Deactivate. That will give you the code u need to dial in.

If you just want faster access to your voicemail, here's a couple things you can do:
-Make sure your 3G is on (Hold Power button>Mobile Network / Connect to Internet is ON)
-Make sure Sync is on (Power widget, Sync set to Green)
-If someone calls, you can check it "Ebay style" (yeah, I'm going to copyright that phrase ) by opening Voice a minute or two after the call and hitting Menu>Refresh.

kmoore11 said:

Just a question about this CallTrack app... well actually, more about the standard calendar app. I want my calls to be logged on my calendar, but I want to put them on a separate calendar from my gmail one. The only options I have in CallTrack is my gmail one and US Holidays. Is there a way to create a new calendar? I've looked everywhere and can't seem to find it. Thanks

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I had to figure out the same thing back when I was running this on XDAndroid on my Touch Diamond . Open www.google.com/calendar from a computer (or maybe ur Android browser) and log in. Create a new calendar there. Open CallTrack a minute or two after creating the Calendar and select your newly made GV calendar. If it doesn't show in Calltrack, go back to your apps and open up Calendar on your DInc, THEN open Calltrack and see if it shows up.

Hope it helps, guys!

Jake

theguuff said:

Thanks Jake!

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No worries!

jakewill

nyngbld said:

if i select the new phone number option instead of only the voicemail setup via google voice, do i still get all the voice mail features?

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Yes.

nyngbld said:

also, once i start using the google voicemail, is there anyway to revert to the normal verizon voicemail setup?

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Yes, again. post 37 has instructions.

sodaboy581 said:

The normal way of calling Google Voice in this thread is to add the Google Voice access number to your F&F plan. (Which can change...)

There's another way of doing it and that's to add your own Google Voice number, not access number, to F&F. Dial your Google Voice # from a phone assigned to Google Voice and you should get a prompt to press 2 to make a call. (I think it's 2.) Just press 2 and then dial the number you wish to call and you'll be connected.

Just letting people know in case their access number changes on them while they're out and about and don't feel like calling Verizon... Having your own GV # on your F&F will let you make that free call.

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Good point... Along those lines, you can easily add or change ff numbers from www.myverizon.com . Thanks for the tip!

litleclay said:

Thanks for the writeup. I've enjoyed it and the lifehacker article.

A question though, does anyone know how to upload your contacts from your phone to the google voice website?

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How did you have contacts on the phone, but not in your google account?

If you actually have two google accounts, one for email, one for voice, I would highly recommend inviting your email account to GoogleVoice, as your Gmail account and GoogleVoice account share contacts...

If you want to keep two separate accounts, and you do indeed have all your contacts at your gmail account (syncing to your phone), go to your gmail contacts from www.gmail.com in a web browser, and export as a google contacts file. Go to your googlevoice account and import the google contacts file.

If you have a different phone, then try to get it synced to Outlook, then export as a csv file, the import to gv contacts.

If u give more info on why ur phone isn't contact synced w/ your google account I can help more here.

nyngbld said:

thank you. i read over it at work, but certainly missed the info. I KNOW, SEARCH FIRST THEN POST BAD MONKEY!!!

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Again, no worries. I'm not an angry forum-kid (or angry forum-adult), I understand (ESPECIALLY ON THESE FORUMS) that there is SOOO much to sift through. I really don't want people to be turned away for fear of asking a "dumb" question. I've gotten so much help from forums, I really do just want to give some help back for a change. Plus work can be SUCH a distraction when trying to read phone forums!

Stole 71 said:

I set up GV, but I didn't set it up to get a GV number. Is there a way to edit my account so I can get a number?

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I.. have... no.. idea... Sorry, man, I never signed up for JUST voicemail, so I really don't know what the upgrade path is?? I assume that you just need to sign up to receive a GV invite and wait it out (or get an invite from a giving soul, there's lots of threads for that, here.) Good luck in your endeavor... God speed.

jakewill