Google is offering free directory assitance now via voiceplan http://labs.google.com/goog411/ Just in case you are (like I frequently am) caught in a car when I cannot get online to type in the number and talking would much much simpler. I've only tried it once, and it worked for me.
From their site:
Welcome to Google Voice Local Search
Google Voice Local Search is Google’s experimental service to make local-business search accessible over the phone.
To try this service, just dial 1-800-GOOG-411 (1-800-466-4411) from any phone.
Using this service, you can:
search for a local business by name or category.
You can say "Giovanni's Pizzeria" or just "pizza".
get connected to the business, free of charge.
get the details by SMS if you’re using a mobile phone.
Just say "text message".
And it's free. Google doesn’t charge you a thing for the call or for connecting you to the business. Regular phone charges may apply, based on your telephone service provider.
Note: Google Voice Local Search is still in its experimental stage. It may not be available at all times and may not work for all users. We’re fine-tuning the service to get better at recognizing your requests. It’s currently only available in English, in the US, for US business listings.
this sounds interesting
but it is only for US now, maybe if it is available for europe i will try it
heya,
I have a Google Voice account, that's already been activated - I live in Australia, and I used LocalPhone to patch it through to my normal VoIP line here, to do the activation.
So I can login to the Google Voice website, send SMSes, and I've even received a transcripted voicemail (appears to be a tele-marketer...haha).
Anyhow, my question is, is it possible to activate Google Voice on the Android, outside the US? It seems to require its own activation, outside of the normal Google Voice activation, not sure if there's a workaround for people outside the US?
Cheers,
Victor
oh you did it through your voip, good job i did it with a temp us number but found out that will just end up paying long distance regardless.
Try activating it with wifi and make sure you are using the latest version from the market.
I have a rooted Droid X and have really enjoyed finding ways to tinker with my phone to get additional benefits from my device. Previously, I have been getting completly free VOIP calls by running the hacked version of Skype that allows for functionality over both 3G and Wifi. I paid $30 (so not completely free) to Skype for an annual unlimited calling plan to all of North America. The quality is pretty good over 3G and even better over wifi. However, when I call people, my number shows up as unknown. I could pay Skype for an actual #
($60) to remedy this so that people could call me back, but I've held off for now. If someone wants to talk, it is easy for them to text me and I can call them back since I don't always leave my phone on 24/7.
Recently, I decided to play around with SIP technology as a way to have an alternative to Skype and to have a reason to tinker. I already had a Google Voice # and set up a free account at sipgate.com Then I set up my Google Voice # to forward all calls only to my sipgate #.
I also downloaded Google Voice Free Forwarding app from the marketplace and configured that so that whenever I make an outbound call via the standard dialer or through my CSIPSIMPLE widget, the call will pause, google voice free callback will intercept the call and allow me to talk to my desired # completely free with no minutes used. The drawback is that it can take 15-20 seconds for the call to go through and the call quality doesn't seem to be as good as when using Skype---both on 3g and wifi. But, to be fair, it is completely 100% free calling and cheaper than Skype.
Recently, I had the opportunity to acquire a Gizmo5 account and a Sip Sorcery account and am curious to know how I can use these to enhance my sip experience on my android phone.
I know there is a plethora of info on both of these services, so I don't expect anyone to hold my hand or reinvent the wheel. However, I just want to know what some of the possibilities may be.
Since I already have Skype and already have a sip service setup through Google voice, sipgate, and Google Voice Callback, will Gizmo or Sip Sorcery allow me to have a better experience in terms of quality, ease of use, or quickness when it comes to connecting the call.
It looks like Gizmo my have some integration through Google Voice that other #s don't offer but does it really offer any major advantages?
Personally I only use SIP when connecting to my asterisk server on my VPS to make my calls untraceable and to spoof my callerid for free. Also, I don't really like the SIP services out there.... and I especially don't like Skype's VoIP service. If you are looking for a good SIP app however.... get SIPdroid. (I believe that's what I use)
Sent from my DROIDX using Liberty 1.5 with FC10 Linux chrooted!
I received the invite awhile ago and I'm not sure what I want to do. There are a few unanswered questions about this that make me hesitant to switch anything.
1. Has Google fixed the occasional call routing to the wrong number or saying the number is disconnected?
2. Is the lag still present at times when making or receiving a call?
3. If we decide to choose our Google voice number as our sprint number, how will that affect my account details (online, *2, in person, or at in store payment kiosk)?
4. If I decide to keep things the way they are with having a sprint and gv number and using it "the old way" will I still be able to use it this way after the changeover?
5. Is Google voice going to just handle the voicemail side of the sprint integration or will our calls be routed from sprint to Google then out?
6. If I choose to adopt my gv number as my sprint number, will any incoming or outgoing calls "technically" be using a landline number, thus eating away at mobile to mobile minutes reserved for non cellphone callers?
7. Is this Google's answer to making it possible to send attachments with text messages?
8. Will using gv app for texting be redundant since, if I choose to, my gv number will be associated with SMS/mms anyways?
Since I am running out of questions, I will post the email for those who don't know what I'm talking about.
Hello,
You have been invited to start enjoying the benefits of the Sprint integration before anyone else! We are interested in your feedback as we roll this out to the entire user base and have listed a link to a form where you can send feedback and/or questions.
There are two ways to enable the integrated service:
1. Option 1: Keep your Sprint number (all the benefits of porting without the need to). In this case, your Sprint number becomes your Google Voice number so that when people call your Sprint mobile number, it rings all the phones you want.
How to enable this: click on the "change/port" link next to your GV # in the settings page, choose the option to use your existing number, enter your Sprint number and select the Sprint option.
2. Option 2: Replace your Sprint number with your Google Voice number (all the benefits of the app without the need for one). In this case, all calls made from your Sprint phone will display your Google Voice # natively (same for SMS).
How to enable this: click on the "enable Google Voice on your Sprint phone" link next to your Sprint forwarding phone. If the link does not show, click on edit and use the link to verify whether your phone is eligible.
In both cases, Google Voice replaces Sprint voicemail (pressing one on your phone links you to your Google Voicemail) and international calls made from the Sprint phone will be connected by Google Voice. Integrating your account with Sprint means you will still get the benefits of Any Mobile Any Time if that is included in your service plan.
Important Notes:
The integrated service only works with a valid Sprint mobile number.
For this early release, Sprint support channels will not be available for support, including Sprint Retail Stores, Sprint Customer Care, Sprint Telesales, Sprint Direct Sales Reps, etc.
If you need support, or have feedback, please fill out this form
If you use the Google Voice app on Android, you will need to log out and log back in to make sure the app stops using call interception.
Thanks,
Vincent Paquet, on behalf of the Google Voice team
© 2011 Google Inc. 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043
You are receiving this email announcement because you requested to be notified when the Sprint integration was available.
I don't use GV, but it has been my experience that Sprint usually ****s up any Google app they try to "improve" upon.
Sent from Bonsai 7.0.3
I like the idea of having my Sprint number ring any and all phones I choose but I'm not going to change until I see how it affects others with respect to their minutes. I wouldn't use it if it's just a way to con people out of their M2M.
In short, if I were you OP I'd wait.
I'll just keep them separate like I do now. I prefer it that way.
I pulled the trigger last night and used my gv number. I'm thinking I might have a problem. Would someone that hasn't integrated try a test then tell me what happens. With the stock texting program, send a picture attachment to yourself (your phone number) and tell me if you have both a sent and received text. I'm sending a pic to my sprint number and it acts like it sends but I don't receive anything.
Unfortunately google voice doesn't support mms.. that's one of the reasons I never made the full switch.
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA App
This is a little different, kinda. Anyways I turned off Google voice integration and logoff then back on it gv app and I tried sending myself an mms with the stock text program. It worked this time. Do I don't know if it actually sends it out when gv integration is on but it definitely doesn't receive mms. I am not talking about the gv app. I might send Google some feedback and leave it turned off. Off until at least they enable the mms feature from gv app.
That is really stupid though, you can send mms through stock messaging app with Google voice integration but you can't receive any. Retarded!
herbthehammer said:
That is really stupid though, you can send mms through stock messaging app with Google voice integration but you can't receive any. Retarded!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can you not recieve MMS from anyone? That would be a HUGE down fall for a lot of people. I find my self relying on MMS a lot any more.
I didn't get anyone to send me anything but I did run a test. I did the Google voice integration and chose the option to use my gv number. If I send anything from stock mms then it will show from the gv number. If I send a text to my sprint number with stock messaging it shows up on both the stock app and Google voice app. If I try to send a pic with stock to my sprint number, it acts like it went out but I receive nothing. If I go and turn off Google integration and restart the gv app, then I get the choices back to make calls through Google, etc. The way it is now. When you integrate you lose the option to choose to use with or without gv. I send a pic to my sprint number from the stock app after turning it off and the pic goes out then comes back to me.
I don't know if when its on the mms actually goes out or not because I didn't have anyone to test it with. I'm not about to try the other integration option because I don't want to give up my gv number I chose and paid for. I picked one originally but later decided I didn't like it so I had to pay to choose another. Trust me, its mind numbing to go through pages and pages of available phone numbers in my area code until I found one I liked.
I got the message too. I am not switching at least for now. I have found google vm cumbersome. I really don't like that I have to download vm messages and then I can not play them through the earpiece. It is played through the speaker. I haven't seen any real benefit to integrating so far.
You can play them through the earpiece.....
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA App
herbthehammer said:
I received the invite awhile ago and I'm not sure what I want to do. There are a few unanswered questions about this that make me hesitant to switch anything.
1. Has Google fixed the occasional call routing to the wrong number or saying the number is disconnected?
2. Is the lag still present at times when making or receiving a call?
3. If we decide to choose our Google voice number as our sprint number, how will that affect my account details (online, *2, in person, or at in store payment kiosk)?
4. If I decide to keep things the way they are with having a sprint and gv number and using it "the old way" will I still be able to use it this way after the changeover?
5. Is Google voice going to just handle the voicemail side of the sprint integration or will our calls be routed from sprint to Google then out?
6. If I choose to adopt my gv number as my sprint number, will any incoming or outgoing calls "technically" be using a landline number, thus eating away at mobile to mobile minutes reserved for non cellphone callers?
7. Is this Google's answer to making it possible to send attachments with text messages?
8. Will using gv app for texting be redundant since, if I choose to, my gv number will be associated with SMS/mms anyways?
Since I am running out of questions, I will post the email for those who don't know what I'm talking about.
Hello,
You have been invited to start enjoying the benefits of the Sprint integration before anyone else! We are interested in your feedback as we roll this out to the entire user base and have listed a link to a form where you can send feedback and/or questions.
There are two ways to enable the integrated service:
1. Option 1: Keep your Sprint number (all the benefits of porting without the need to). In this case, your Sprint number becomes your Google Voice number so that when people call your Sprint mobile number, it rings all the phones you want.
How to enable this: click on the "change/port" link next to your GV # in the settings page, choose the option to use your existing number, enter your Sprint number and select the Sprint option.
2. Option 2: Replace your Sprint number with your Google Voice number (all the benefits of the app without the need for one). In this case, all calls made from your Sprint phone will display your Google Voice # natively (same for SMS).
How to enable this: click on the "enable Google Voice on your Sprint phone" link next to your Sprint forwarding phone. If the link does not show, click on edit and use the link to verify whether your phone is eligible.
In both cases, Google Voice replaces Sprint voicemail (pressing one on your phone links you to your Google Voicemail) and international calls made from the Sprint phone will be connected by Google Voice. Integrating your account with Sprint means you will still get the benefits of Any Mobile Any Time if that is included in your service plan.
Important Notes:
The integrated service only works with a valid Sprint mobile number.
For this early release, Sprint support channels will not be available for support, including Sprint Retail Stores, Sprint Customer Care, Sprint Telesales, Sprint Direct Sales Reps, etc.
If you need support, or have feedback, please fill out this form
If you use the Google Voice app on Android, you will need to log out and log back in to make sure the app stops using call interception.
Thanks,
Vincent Paquet, on behalf of the Google Voice team
© 2011 Google Inc. 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043
You are receiving this email announcement because you requested to be notified when the Sprint integration was available.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I would add the question of international sms.....
Sent from an Epic with 4G
I didn't get the invite, and am assuming therefore I can't participate?
I'd like to...
dieselg5 said:
You can play them through the earpiece.....
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How? That, plus having to download my messages killed the Google vm experience for me.
-Just to be clear, when I said ear piece, I meant the part of the phone where you put your ear. Not an ear piece that you plug into the 3.5mm headphone jack.
I can listen via the earpiece or speaker phone. Having to download the messages is a pain and I miss VVM but it works fine and I like that I cna check my voicemail on my laptop or anywhere else right now. I dont use google voice for phone calls or text though. just the google VM
MMS has been one of the constant feature requests since we launched Google Voice and we’ve been hard at work trying to make this happen.
Today, we're happy to announce that we've made the first step in our efforts to bring this feature to our users. Google Voice users are now able to receive pictures and other multimedia messages from Sprint subscribers. The multimedia attachments will display on their mobile forwarding phone and in their email inbox when they enable text to email forwarding in their Google Voice settings. We are also planning on making them display in the Google Voice inbox.
We are working with other mobile operators to make this work across all mobile phones and will update our users as more and more operators offer support for this.
Posted by Ilya Frank, Senior Software Engineer
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
About Time!