If you can't make your GV number a 'friend or family' then minutes get charged.

 

You need to make your Google Voice number be in your 'friends and family'. Then, VERY IMPORTANT, you need to tell Google Voice to -NOT- deliver the caller ID of the person calling... instead, deliver your GV number in Caller ID. In other words, Verizon needs to see the incoming call as coming from your GV number in order for the F&F thing to work. If it delivers the caller ID of the person who called your GV number, then Verizon will charge for that call.

Hope that helps.

 

Does anyone know why he is being charged minutes each time someone calls him? Is it because they have to connect to Google Voice to leave a voicemail?

I only have 450 minutes so I don't get the F&F options.

 

AG, you will notice (in time) that if someone doesn't leave a voicemail,sometimes you'll get one anyway where you hear the "To connect, press 1, to send to voicemail, press 2" due to the other person hanging up, but GV still holding the line for you to choose an option. When this happens, you are still being rung up minutes.

 

I think I am being charged 1min everytime there is a missed call to my verizon number and someone is forwarded to my GV voicemail

 

I don't understand why Google Voice would be eating 1 minute at a time with missed calls? It doesn't make sense.

 

Someone calls into your GV #, it routes to your VERIZON number (GV is not an actual phone service provider). Since your GV number is not a verizon number, you are billed for that 1 minute. It doesn't register the same as if someone called and it was forwarded to your verizon voicemail.

Additional minutes may be billed if, like I said earlier, it starts recording the "press 1 to accept, yadda yadda"

 

Bottom line:

If you don't have a plan with friends and family, you are screwed. I still use GV as a voicemail service because I don't miss enough calls to add up to disaster. Hardly ever use half of my 700 minutes due to almost all my calls being inside the Verizon network.

 

Ditto.

 

Is this true if you are only using GV for voicemail and you are using your existing cellphone number? Do you still need to turn off caller ID? I like being able to scroll through my GV voicemail inbox and see who left each message. Thanks!

 

Any calls using google voice are charged using your minutes. This has been confirmed on other forums.

Calls that are fowarded to your google voicemail are charged minutes when they are forwarded.

Calls forwarded to your verizon voice mail are not charged.

Calls to Check your Verizon voicemail and/or your google voice voicemail are charged against your minutes.

(Calls to check your verizon voicemail have always always always been charged to your minutes. Its not an "in" call)

As far as how F+F work into it. Doesnt google voice use a different system. I havent tried in a while, but isnt it like the number coming in is set up with a 403 area code, or something like that?

I like the voicemail part of google voice, however I dont use the number for calls. Cheapest voicemail transcription service available (free).

 

GV is a nice idea, but the carriers haven't embraced it and won't support it. I like the voicemail, and use it. VZW visual voicemail I have to pay for and it doesn't transcribe. Youmail is free, and I like their caller I'd based greeting, but I have to pay for transcription.
GV may get better rates on international long distance, but Skype is available for that and doesn't use your minutes, Skype just charges you their rate.

I went thru the same thing when I first got my invite for my blackberry. At least you know now and not at bill time.

 

When you call others with GV does it show your actual Google Voice number or some sort of 403 area code Google number?

 

i am in this boat also; mostly txt. thank you to OP for getting all this info in one thread, very helpful!! glad i read more before i started mass converting people to my GV number..

 

Perhaps I can explain this one, as I have just finished researching this for myself.

When you set up Google Voice voicemail, what you are doing is setting up a service with Verizon that says "If I don't pick up my phone, forward my call to my Google Voice number". Forwarded calls get charged minutes, regardless of whether or not the number is on your friends and family or whatever, because that is the charge for forwarding your unanswered calls.

If you are using GV as your primary number, then a series of things happen when you miss a call. The person calling you dials your GV number, which gets forwarded to your phone appearing as your GV access number (unless you have it set up to show the person's real number). If you don't pick up, then Verizon forwards that call to your GV number (not your access number). You are then charged the minutes it takes for the person to leave a message because the call was forwarded.

I believe what I have just said to be correct, but someone please correct me if I am wrong.

 

Technically, your GV number and Verizon can't be the same. GV doesn't do number porting yet. My current situation is that I wanted to keep my Verizon phone number because I wanted to get all those wonderful mobile to mobile minutes on my 700 minute family plan in which I don't have friends and family numbers. I did want to use GV voicemail. When you sign up for GV voicemail, they direct you to dial a number to set it up, that number begins with "71" I believe, and they are taking you through the process to have verizon forward your unanswered calls to your GV number where it is immediately sent to voicemail.

In this case, yes, I am charged minutes for each forward, regardless of the origin of the call or time of day/day of the week.

 

Wow. Are you guys saying that if I only use GV for my voicemail that all messages left are charged against my minutes?

If so, the transcription service and playback of voicemails through GV is not really "free." Is Youmail a better option or does VZ charge for minutes using that too?