What Is Google Voice

Google Voice (abbreviated below as GV) is a VoIP service provided by Google. It started as a company called Grand Central and was acquired by Google in 2009. Since then, it has offered free calling within the U.S. and Canada. At the moment, however, it is limited to use inside the United States (once registered, you can use it outside the U.S.).

Google Voice Features

In general, GV has the following features

Choose Your Own Number or Port In a Number

If you choose your own number, you can freely specify area codes, number combinations, and letter combinations. You can first use the letters on the keypad to map to the corresponding numbers, then search on GV to see whether the number is still available. You can also search directly for the digits you want. At this point, the good number ranges (such as sequential numbers) have already been scooped up by scalpers.

If you port in a number, it works the same way as porting a number with a regular carrier. This lets you keep your main number. This method requires a $20 fee, and after that the number never expires.

This is especially useful for readers who are about to leave the U.S. but still want to keep their old number. That way, after returning to China, you can still receive text notifications, and app and email push notifications bypass the firewall.

Manage Voicemail

Another benefit of using GV is that you can manage voicemail through the Google Voice app or the GV web interface. The visual interface is much better than the original voicemail management screen. At the same time, GV can use Google's speech recognition technology to transcribe voicemail into text and display it. Based on chanye's experience, the accuracy for English recognition is solid.

In addition, GV can be set to transcribe voicemail into text and then forward the transcribed text and voice message as an email to the mailbox of your choice.

After installing the app, remember to turn on notifications so you can see incoming text messages right away, regardless of firewall restrictions.

Make International Calls

This is an extra GV feature. Right now, calls to U.S. and Canadian numbers are free, and calling mainland China costs only one cent per minute, which is very cost-effective. And because GV international calling works like making a regular domestic call, rather than using a VoIP client (except when using Hangouts), call quality and stability are much better than many VoIP-client-based methods.

Also, as mentioned above, using Hangouts outside the U.S. to receive or place calls to U.S. and Canadian numbers is free anywhere in the world.

GV Still Lets You Register the Following Common Accounts

  • PayPal, eBay
  • QQ (web registration), AliPay, and TaoBao
  • Most banks allow you to use GV as the billing number
  • You can link certain banks' Zelle, such as BofA, which works well
  • Credit card and checking purchase alerts, balance updates, and bank notices work with almost all banks
  • Registering various merchant accounts and applying for email accounts (no country restriction, YMMV)

Google Voice Drawbacks

Google Voice is now pretty much as usable as a regular physical phone. Precisely because of that, the main drawbacks now come from restrictions imposed by some merchants and banks, summarized below:

  • It is a virtual account, so without broadband or mobile data you're done
  • In places behind the Great Firewall, it's not very convenient to use, but the restrictions can be bypassed; download the Voice or Hangouts app, and email push notifications are instant
  • It cannot be linked to Zelle for some banks, such as Chase Checking and Morgan Stanley investment accounts (the AMEX MS Platinum one does support Zelle)
  • It can't receive login verification texts from some banks, looking at you, Chase
  • It can't be used to register WeChat anymore. It used to work, but now you need to register WeChat with a physical number first, then change the number to GV (note: WeChat linked to an overseas number has a WeChat Out feature, which is also a cheap calling feature and will be introduced in another post) [downside: if you switch a newly registered WeChat account to a GV number too soon, WeChat may ban it]
  • It cannot be used to register some apps or merchants, such as Venmo or Target

App and Feature Summary

Let's sort out the functions of the various apps. At present, the apps that work with Google Voice are Voice, Hangouts, and Hangout Dialer. On Apple devices, only Voice and Hangouts are available; on Android, all three are available.

Google Voice

This is what the app looks like. Its everyday functionality is pretty ordinary, but it also has some unique uses.

  • Usually used on mobile to choose a number and forward calls
  • It can't take calls itself; you can set incoming GV calls to forward to your physical mobile number. This is usually the default after registration, and you can turn it off anytime
  • You can make and receive calls and texts, but calling +1 numbers outside the U.S. requires a fee
  • You can enable notifications, and see text message content even behind the firewall

Call forwarding setup path: forward calls to any number you want (path: GV app️Settings️Calls️Forward calls to linked Numbers).

Here, you can think of GV as a disguise. The other party only knows your GV number, and does not know your real number, nor do they need to know it. That way, even if you change your number, as long as your GV number stays the same, you only need to update the forwarding number in the GV interface. For the caller, all of this is hidden.

Applying for and Using Google Voice

Requirements

To use GV, first of course you need a Gmail account. If you don't have one, you can apply for one for free.

Second, you need a real U.S. phone number. This number cannot be another GV number or a Google Fi number. You only need it when activating GV to receive an SMS or voice verification. After that, you do not necessarily need to use that number to answer GV calls, and you can unlink it after you get GV. At present, each physical number can bind about 1 GV number [it used to be 2]. If you don't have a phone, you may be able to ask relatives or friends in the U.S. for help, or buy a cheap prepaid phone card to register.

Once registered, as long as you meet Google's "no-reclaim" criteria, it won't be taken back. You can use it long term. KUKU personally thinks GV is a must-have for bonus hunting (after all, it can be used to register some throwaway accounts and do things).

Apply for a Number

This time, log in to the Google Voice website with your Google account. It will first ask you to enter a U.S. physical phone number for SMS verification (it cannot be Google Fi). After verification, you can choose your own GV number.

Of course, as mentioned in the previous section, you can also choose to port in an existing number, but you have to pay. Once you've selected your GV number, changing it later will also require an additional payment.

Backend Settings

Once you have your number, you can go into Settings and enable the features you want. Most of the features have already been introduced above. Their settings are straightforward, and the help is pretty powerful, so I won't go through them one by one.

Using the Phone

As mentioned in the previous section, there are several ways to use GV:

  • Call forwarding: set up incoming call forwarding and SMS forwarding in GV.
  • Using Hangouts: in the Hangouts app on your phone, set it to ring.
  • Using the web version: the Hangouts web version can also make and receive calls.

Old Sign-In Page

After Google rolled out the new sign-in page, the old sign-in page was still kept. The path is shown below (go to the GV homepage, click the left-side hamburger menu, and choose Legacy Google Voice):

How to Port Out of Google Voice

If you've been using your GV number happily and want to port it to your physical SIM, one way is to convert it directly to Google Fi, free of charge. If you're porting in to another network, you'll need to do the following:

  • Go to Google Voice Unlock to unlock your number: https://www.google.com/voice/unlock, for a fee of $3.
  • Go to the carrier you want to port to and make an online porting appointment, or go directly to the store, or buy the SIM card first and then port in.
  • After the transfer, your ability to receive texts may be affected for a short period (up to three days), but in practice it usually returns to normal very quickly.
  • After the number is ported out, all of GV's original texts will automatically be saved in your Google account.
  • The transfer cannot be canceled. If you like, you can port it back into GV, paying $20, or port it into Google Fi for free.

Google Voice Number Reclamation Policy

Google Voice numbers will be reclaimed if they remain inactive for a long time. It used to be 6 months, but now it's 9 months. Numbers ported to GV will not be reclaimed. The official policy says:

If you have a Google Voice number, but within 9 months you neither place nor receive a call, and neither send nor receive a text, Google will reclaim that number. However, Google will not reclaim numbers that have been ported into Google Voice service or numbers that have been granted permanent use rights.

  • Having some activity within 9 months is still pretty easy. We can set up multiple ways to receive texts, such as checking-balance text alerts and credit card balance alerts, which can be set up in each bank's online banking interface. But to be safe, it's best to include at least one phone call or one outgoing text. You can also use IFTTT to set up mutual texting to keep the number alive, but I don't think that's very useful for most U.S. readers, so I won't go into details here.
  • It's said that if there is a balance in the GV account, it won't be reclaimed even without activity. But there aren't many DPs. I usually top up $10 as well, since it won't be lost anyway. Even if you port it in to Google Fi later, that balance will transfer over too. [This top-up feature, combined with the AMEX streaming-service reimbursement, is amazing!]

This is especially suitable for those of you who are about to leave the U.S. Keep your U.S. phone number, and you can still receive texts and calls later. When necessary, you can port it into Google Fi or another U.S. physical mobile line.

Google Voice Top-Ups

Top-ups now require going to the old top-up interface, click here. The Credit under Your Number is the balance. At the moment, this top-up can trigger the AMEX streaming-service reimbursement benefit. If you hold multiple Platinum cards, you can add credit to your GV, and when you later want to use Google Fi, these credits will automatically convert to Fi Credit and become stored value for future phone bills!

Other Settings

Path: https://voice.google.com/u/0/settings (if you have multiple accounts, the number will be u/0, u/1, u/2, and so on)

Google Voice User Experience

  • Inside China: on a network inside China, if you set up the app's notification pop-up feature, you can still see texts immediately. It will also show the phone ringtone, but you won't be able to answer it. If you need to get around the firewall, you can click this tool.
  • As a free U.S. phone number, although it isn't a physical line, it's very useful for card churning and overseas shopping. This is especially true if you're about to leave the U.S. but still have bank accounts or need to shop remotely.
  • Outside China: needless to say, it's very good. The only drawback is that it requires an internet connection.

Conclusion

Using GV together with Hangouts can help you avoid missing calls and texts from the U.S. while traveling abroad. In addition, GV's very cheap international calling is another reason to use it. In the extreme case, if you always have Wi-Fi, then GV + Hangouts alone is enough to send and receive calls and texts, without any plan at all. Set up the app and Gmail notification features, and you can receive text alerts even behind the Great Firewall.

If you're interested, I recommend signing up for one and trying it first~

Related Articles

https://www.uscreditcards101.com/google-fi-review/